Collectors: how do you collect ?

Ha strange title I know but what I mean is recently when I've bought stuff I've been buying coins from all over the. Commonwealth and empire, I sorta have a lot of African coins so I guess Africa is my first port of call with finishing (need 1/4 George VI penny, 2 shillings and crown to have a full set for South Africa of every denom' but ill have to also get the 2 types of crowns and the other way of writing 2 shillings as I collect by type however, I often will shoot too guiana, Fiji and the likes all over the world bargain hunting. So far I've managed to get some great coins through this like my 1/4 Anna sailana state Edward VII but I can't help but think that maybe I should have a single focus ? How do you all do it as I'm still pretty new to this and I'm learning all the time I thought I would pick the brains of me peers :D

Until now I've always collected by country and from a fixed period where the coins are more interesting. For example:

UK
1837 - 1967 the most consistently beautiful coinage ever
Switzerland
1850 - present finely designed coins which the Swiss don't feel the need to constantly tamper with
Germany Third Reich
There is a connection between the oppresiveness of the regime and the quality of the coins, see also Italian coins from the same period and Soviet Commemorative Roubles
India EIC - Raj
Mogul coins are crude, modern issues very poor quality but who can't love a Victorian Rupee?
Rhodesia
An earthly paradise sold out by the west and ruined by the psychotic Mugabe. The coins tell the story far better than I can
Poland
I'm still at the hoarding stage but I'm pretty sure I want to stick with the older issues and avoid the overproduced commemoratives

I'm thinking of adding a few even more specific collections. I already have a few leper colony coins which are vastly interesting and may add communion tokens. Then coins which may be from unpopular countries but are a really nice series. For example the Panamanian Balboa coins with the conquistador, Portuguese Escudos with the female head and the Argentine coins with a similar device.

Although these are the areas I concentrate on I would guess that over 50% of my collection is "other stuff". I collect exonumia stuff, scripohilia, anything which I find interesting really.

That's a great list. But, I am like you Mark, I seek out what I can cheaply. It is just now, I see the point in other ways of collecting. So, I am everything UK, Switzerland, Italy, France, Japan. All dates and types.

I just added Indian Temple Tokens. I got one recently and just spent the morning doing a little research and I'm hooked.

There are a lot of modern fakes made for collectors (no more immoral than the RBC producing hundreds of "collectable" quarters) but they are easy to spot as they have a token obverse and a British India coin reverse, usually fractional Annas. Genuine temple token feature a depiction of one of the Indian gods on each side, usually in the form of a scene from one of the epic poems.

Mine is Kali Mata/ Krishna from the 19th century and is struck in brass washed with tin which gives it a nice circulated appearance.

The best news is they are cheap, $2 for the modern issues and $5 - $20 for the vintage types.

I'm going to post some pictures soon.

I have three main foci:
1: A coin from each UN member state
2: Irish and British predecimal pennies
3: every denomination circulating in the eurozone immediately before changeover

Until now I've been all over but I think concentrating in one area does you well - like South Africa I have a lot of QEII & KGVI coins so really I'm gunna collect the varieties of each value for those two and probably stop there.. then move on, just Africa as a whole as a focus, but if something elsewhere comes up I won't say no, especially in India - it's a nightmare to collect lol

   i love these type  

I found that focusing on one area can get stagnant and boring over time. I hit walls and fell into ruts trying to acquire tougher dates. So I began expanding, but I was concerned my collection would be too random and unmanageable.  So to make it interesting while still trying to retain some focus. I decided on a theme.  In my case I follow a historical trail. Though I find myself sometimes redefining the theme, to include or exclude certain issues, I find when I can make the connection it makes it that much more satisfying. When ever I feel I have hit a wall or in a rut I simply branch out, usually that opens the door to some other fascinating series of coins.    

I have two collections. Pre-1950 silver coins with a minimum of 80% silver and Fijian pre-decimal coins.

I am working on collecting pre 1783 coins because of my interest in the American revolution, I need some Mexico city, or any new world mints, 8R and 2R, that's what was very commonly used in the colonies.

  http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Sp-Silver.intro.html

my main collections are from Colonies of the 18 and 19 century up to maybe the early 20th, Swiss Cantons, and Italian States but these are just my main collection focus. I do go and buy in many other fields too but mainly 19th century coins. I also collect tokens of the 17th, 18th and 19th century with boats on them .

For starters, with my eyes open.  I can be all over the place, but, within a few limited areas of interest. I like finding deals. The odd time, I look at my empty Air-Tites and try to find a nice coin by diameter, to match the inner white ring. Bet you that's a new way to add to a collection.

definitely !