I don't know what it is...lack of coins for sale from my collection areas, lack of time, or just winter blues. But I'm really struggling to find enthusiasm for collecting at the moment. Anyone else getting into a bit of a collecting funk? I tried to jump-start my enthusiasm by starting my spring goals thread and give myself motivation, but it doesn't seem to have worked. I think probably the best course of action is just to step back from collecting for a month or so and see if time away will increase the enthusiasm.
Same here. (In my case, it's not winter but summer).
I try to solve the problem by getting some sets of circulation coins from exotic countries. Shiny and cheap, they bring more joy when there's nothing worthy around.
What usually gets my enthusiasm up is when I get a really decent bulk lot, but there's been nothing from my usual guy for half a year now, and stuff on trademe is all useless rubbish or really over priced.
Well I've been collecting since I was a little kid and that makes me a 25+year veteran at this lol. I've gone through ebbs and flows with coin collecting. Whenever my enthusiasm waned, I'd simply do the book keeping and administrative kinda stuff, plus reading and researching until I got the bug again to put money down on buying or effort in arranging swaps.
I went through my peak interest earlier this year and spent quite a bit on exchanging and purchasing. Now I really dont feel like doing anything coin related. But that is because I'm pre-occupied with a lot of outdoor activities including 5K runs, working out in the park, hanging out with my friends and going to summer festivals. I'm also kinda cash strapped since I've been on a sartorial shopping spree and I've been doing a lot of hotel/flight bookings for upcoming travel plans
In a nutshell, just put your coins away and do other things till the interest comes back.
Quote: "ashlobo"Now I really dont feel like doing anything coin related. But that is because I'm pre-occupied with a lot of outdoor activities including 5K runs, working out in the park, hanging out with my friends and going to summer festivals.
In a nutshell, just put your coins away and do other things till the interest comes back.
Perhaps that's it, I've been stuck inside over winter but recently the weather has been improving and I've been getting out for more frisbee golf, and tennis season starts in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'm just pining to get out and do some outside stuff for a while.
I know what you mean about bulk lots. One of the most enjoyable parts of collecting for me is rummaging through a lot and not knowing what you might turn up. Buying specific coins a la carte is a bit dull compared to the treasure hunt.
Way back around New Year's Day I completely emptied the bulk bins at my local coin shop of just about everything pre-1950, and since then the bins had been completely dead. I stopped in once a month and bought some US junk silver, filling a Roosevelt dimes folder and most of a Mercury dimes folder, but nothing was happening in the world coin bins, and I had almost given up on that shop. Then, I stopped in yesterday to pick up some National Parks quarters for a swap, and I saw that there was some new older stuff in the bins, finally!
Well, suffice it to say that after three hours of sifting coins I walked about with about 800 coins, almost all pre-1950. My desk is now covered in stacks of coins (sorted by country), waiting to be catalogued and put into folder and duplicates bagged for swap coins. Lots of good stuff, including a Prince Edward Island 1871 cent, two 2 1/2 cent coins from North Borneo, a handful of little German States copper and billon coins, some old Russian Empire coppers, and some stray silver coins that slipped into the bulk bins and that I bought for $0.25 each, including several Turkish 50 kurus and 1 lira coins from the 1940s, a 1950 Somalo, and a UK 1929 florin!
Neil, one of the coins was a New Zealand half crown from 1963 in beautiful AU condition. Not worth that much ($5?), but a really pretty coin.
Once I "accession" all these coins, I expect a lot of new pre-1950 doubles to swap with!
That sounds awesome, there's no coin shops in my city that has bins to rummage through, I have found a couple of sites to buy coins from the areas I collect, but it's pretty slow going. Because I'm paying book values mostly, I can only afford to buy 3 or 4 coins every couple of weeks.
