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Why Are You Selling Your Collection?


Kealia

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It seems that there are more and more people who are selling off thier collections lately.

 

I'm curious as to why it seems so many people are getting out of the coin collecting now. There's no need for anybody to reveal anything personal, but I'll throw the question out there...

 

I know a lot you have scaled back to only personals, state/org, etc. so I'm not talking about that. I'm referring to those who have either quit collecting, or gone a step further and are selling them off.

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I can't speak for others, but we've about stopped buying coins except for the ones we think are the absolute coolest. No real reason, other than Mrs 4BOWS looked around at all the coins in binders, and waiting to be put into binders, and realized that there is a lot of money invested in there, and it's only there to have something shiny and pretty to look at. The trading part is fun when the occasion arises, but it seems to not happen very often.

 

Guess a lot more of ours will end up being set free into the wild (no mad dashes into Idaho please!)

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Let me be first to respond! :rolleyes:

 

My first trades occured when the local caching club made a new coin. I purchased a larger about of these and started trading. It was cool to get coins (and meet cachers) from around the world.

 

When I first made my own coins, I traded folks for personal coins, and in some cases state or organizational coins. Then, as more coins were offered for sale - I would buy 5-50 of each coin for caching, trading and collecting. I also joined a subscription service and enjoyed this for about 6 or 7 months.

 

Needless to say -- there are just too many coins coming out to keep up with this. It started costing a few hundered a month and I started getting less pleasure.

 

So....I plan to keep my collection of items I traded for forever. To me, they represent the "community" of caching and the only value they have for me is that I enjoyed trading for them and having them. The ain't going anywhere.

 

As for duplicates of coins I purchased: I cached a bunch (I estimate somewhere over 50 coins -- I have placed up to 4 coins in a cache at a time). So, recently I just sold about 25 extras via auction.

 

Maybe this isn't a direct reponse -- it seems you were directing your query to those that sell completely, but this explains why I now collect, cache and cash-in some of my coins.

 

In the future? I will get coins on a catch as catch can basis. Hopefully for and from cachers I meet (in person or in the forums) and buy the odd few (BC, Toronto, and the Telling Time coin to name a few)

 

One of my favourite items is your shotglass. Why? I don't know. Maybe in some posting way back someone called me an idiot and you disagreed. Maybe you called me an idiot and it turned out I was. haha!

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Maybe you called me an idiot and it turned out I was. haha!

 

Only if you don't use it! :rolleyes:

 

We're in the same boat. I really enjoy my collection and I may be one of the only people who doesn't keep his coins in a binder. Mine are displayed in coin racks and cases. The last coins I bought were the APE coins and the Original Stash coins only because I couldn't trade for the APE and the Original Stash was cool.

 

I'm really curious as to why some folks have totally stopped and are selling as well.

 

Hope all is well LFD.

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I have not stopped. I just constantly sell extras on eBay to fund the purchase of other coins. Even when I do decide to quit collecting newer releases, I don't plan on parting with any of my collected coins. They are signature items and I want to keep them all. In addition, I've launched close to 50 trackables into the wild as travellers.

 

I am also helping another cacher scale down her collection through selling. Her feeling was along the lines of 4BOWS in that she has all these coins stored away and for what purpose. This person only wants certain coins now and the rest she is letting go.

 

In answer to your question, collecting coins was somewhat of a fad. Some folks simply quit because of boredom and others quit because it is too expensive to keep up with. Not everyone who gets into this will stay into it. That's a given with any hobby.

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If I don't get more trades for my older extra coins, I may start selling the extras off. It would probably take quite a bit for me to get to the point of selling off my entire collection. I have changed an I have stopped buying personal coins. I'd like to stop buying regional and state coins, if I can find some newbies that want to get some older coins and do some trading.

 

As for the storing them in binders... I don't know if I started it, but i've seen a lot of people start doing it after I posted my colllection being housed in them. My binders are quite popular when I take them to events. I even broke down and got one of those crates on wheels to stick the binders in.

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While we are not selling off our collection....I have been trading and selling off all our extras and not buying much.

 

Times they are tough right now...for us anyways and for a lot of people I know. Gas is high, food cost is high, utilities bills are rising.....everything across the board.

 

We own a small business....so when the economy is bad we do bad as well. So maybe it is the same is with geocoins. They are an extra luxury and will be the first things to go...if need be.

 

So maybe times are rough for a lot of folks. Or we all just need a little extra liquid equity.

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I've completely lost the desire to collect coins. Back in the day you knew you were buying coins at cost or just above. It is now blatantly obvious that people are out to cash in on the craze. I have a box of probably close to 100 spares sitting here and two binders with about 300 coins that I never look at. Unfortunately I don't even bother taking them to events anymore.

 

I drop most of my GBA coin club coins in local caches or when I'm traveling since I'm not interested in trading for other coins anymore.

 

To be honest I do plan to start selling off the whole collection soon to recoup my vast investment. I'll release the activated ones as travelers and I'll keep the special ones; local's, Moun10Bikes, oldies, GBA, ones that I found in caches etc.

 

When I followed in ND's footsteps and fired up the GBA coin club there was a certain excitement to building up a collection of state coins and trying to trade for the older coins. You never felt like you were being overcharged on the early coins but as more and more coins were released at increasingly higher prices it became obvious that we were padding people's pockets and it quickly lost its allure.

 

As others are doing, I'll produce my own coin soon but it won't be available for trade, it'll just be dropped in caches that I enjoy.

 

Now back to planning that weekend hike :rolleyes:

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Geocoins are not as fun to find and collect like they used to be. I plan on selling off my collection as soon as I get home from Iraq. I will keep the ones from friends and sell of the ones I either bought, found or recieved in trade.

 

I'd rather spend my time outside than hover over a computer and wait for a geocoin to come up for sale. Besides I would rather spend the money I once used for geocoins and put it towards something like my Harley or Jeep...

 

A few of the rare coins I own will either be placed in a cache or given back to the owner.

 

Look for my collection on ebay :rolleyes: .

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Whoa! I never expected Cav Scout to sell his collection!

 

I guess there is a large number of folks just getting "tired" of the coins. The prices really are too high for them. A trackable coin should cost no more than $6 to produce -- tracking code included. So coins at any price above this are making a profit of some sort.

 

If that profit is for a caching organization -- I am inclined to pay a premium knowing that I am supporting the hobby to some extent.

 

However, I still like the coins! Not every design, not every one....but I do still like them and I still plan on making more of my own design for trading and caching. I would just never want to try and collect everything under the sun (which I really was trying to do up until October of 2005).

 

In fact, does anyone even know how many different coins there are? (not including all the metal variations). I suspect it is what is causing some people to sell entire collections.

 

Any collectible has a "set" mentallity. You have a set or you don't. If it's a set of Spider-man comics -- no problem (expensive yes, finite though). People that see that a set is not possible become tired of collecting. (I am not sure why, but it's true).

 

So...where is the future? Like stamps, coins, comics, cards, and all the other collectibles -- it will either become a fad of the past with a few diehards, OR.... folks will start collecting sub-sets:

 

- states

- countries

- cachers you've met F2F

- cachers that you *know* (forums, locals)

- coin club coins

- topicals (themed coins such as those with satellites)

 

Of course, most cool people will want coins in the shape of dogbones.... :anicute:

 

I still plan to collect and I have my own "themes" I like. What is currently difficult is the very limited availability of coins on release. For example, the Telling Time coin fits my themed collection very well -- but I had to pay for it at a higher price ($25).

 

Now I have rambled on into the whole coin and collecting menatality and evolution....sheesh!

 

My final answer - I think that folks are selling their collections because they are tired of missing coins they want and feel that the "missing" coins diminish their collection somehow. So it becomes less valuable to them. Combine this with the fact that the coins command a pretty penny and you have pretty strong pressure to liqidate them. Personally, I won't be selling my collection any time soon (I would in a heart-beat if my kids got sick (heaven forbid!)). Each of my coins represents a connection to a cacher, event, or is something I really enjoy (I also keep them in a couple big jars -- so I "rediscover them every so often).

 

...end rant.

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We are also NOT planning on selling our collection anytime soon....

Any of you that are selling, if you have one of our coins, please give us first chance at it :grin:

I love the coins and look at them quite often :anicute:

We'll keep on collecting, but not at the pace we were....

Some are too cool to pass up.

Personally, I like the personals best (hehe) They are more creative IMO.

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We are also NOT planning on selling our collection anytime soon....

Any of you that are selling, if you have one of our coins, please give us first chance at it :grin:

I love the coins and look at them quite often :anicute:

We'll keep on collecting, but not at the pace we were....

Some are too cool to pass up.

Personally, I like the personals best (hehe) They are more creative IMO.

 

Ditto that. Anyone thinking of selling a joefrog coin -- please don't. Give me first crack at it.

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I quit buying coins because of the coins that were coming out.

I started seeing some coins being made that had nothing to do with Geocaching, some were ridiculous. I still try to trade for the nice or interesting personal coins, and occasionally a very nice coin reflecting Geocaching, but for the rest, I'll pass.

There were 5-10 new coins a week. I couldn't keep up with that if I wanted to.

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I'm not planning on ever selling my entire collection but I've been selling older non-trackable coins and extras I have lying around although I'll never sell personal coins I've traded for. It got to a point, probably like LFD, around October of 2005, that collecting got too overwhelming. I had a pretty good up-to-date spreadsheet of all the coin issues but when I found myself getting behind in updating because of all the coins coming out, I knew it was time to stop trying to obtain every single coin out there. I've stopped buying most coins out there, with the exception of coin designs I really love, like the SEPAG, or for a good cause, like the Boy Scout coins. I've also started to release most of my activated, trackable coins. I'm up to 66 traveling or will be traveling with more to come. It's too bad the market has become over-saturated, although I do like some of the "commercial" coins. I miss the days when a trade was never turned down for your personal coin.

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I miss the days when a trade was never turned down for your personal coin.

 

I agree with this, I have had two or three traders pass on my coin. I never asked them why, but it might be that it's not trackable or maybe because it's not "Politically correct"

 

 

 

edited for spelling

Edited by Cruiserdude
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I've read a lot of posts on this thread. I have way too many coins now, and I have stopped buying a lot of them. For the most part, I'm looking at some personal coins. I'm tired of seeing organizations sell their coins at inflated prices. I know for fact that coins can be made and sold at around $6 as someone suggested above. I charged $6.25 and didn't break even (I'm not complaining as I didn't want to profit on it). I have thoroughly enjoyed the contact with other cachers regarding trades etc. That's what really made coins special. I did sell a lot of my personal coin and I appreciate everyone who supported it.

 

I may indeed one day sell off my whole collection, but I doubt it as I wouldn't want to offend anyone who traded w/ me. In other words, I wouldn't want someone to feel like their coin was less special than another. People have their reasons for selling their collections: I've seen reasons from computers to bills. I do agree with others who have said the influx of non-caching related coins has gotten out of hand, but rather than complain each time one is posted I move on.

 

I guess I'll keep enjoying what I've got and focus on hiding more caches soon (I hate the summer weather so tis the reason you will find me inside and on the computer). Meanwhile, let us enjoy what we have and carry on with a lively conversation!

 

:anicute:

 

PS - I also agree if you are looking to get rid of your Blind Acorn, please email me first. I'll take it back from you for $6 and likely let it travel.

Edited by The Blind Acorn
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Nothing too earth-shattering in here, but I didn't expect there to be. I know there were a few folks who hit financial harships or wanted to make a big purchase and that drove some of the sales.

 

My reasons for stopping echo those of those who replied already as well (LFD, Mauison, etc.). I just wasn't sure if the reasons I stopped were the same as others - but I don't have any other agenda, either. I just thought it would be interesting.

 

I'm sure there are some who just got bored with it, just like some do with caching (or any other hobby) as well. Just a passing fad.

 

FWIW - I don't plan on selling my collection. I enjoy having them hanging in my office to look at while working, etc.

 

I'm still collecting the coins I like, but doing it mostly through trades for older coins that I have that some of hte newere collectors may not have.

 

Thanks for the responses so far.

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My geocoin collection will never be for sale, at least while I'm alive and kickin. They will have to pry my coin binders from my cold dead hands! Actually I'm hoping to pass these on to my kids/grandkids someday. My kids cache with me from time to time and my coins will be a reminder of some good times we had together while caching and of the people we've met while caching. Any extra state, group or organization coins I may someday sell, but most likely they will be placed in caches to travel or left as swag items. With so many new coins coming out since late last fall, it's too difficult to try and get all the coins I'm interested in and way too expensive. I've too have been trying to trade my personal coin for other personals as much as possible instead of buying. I've met a number of very nice people through trades, we've swapped stories and such and I can honestly say that I've never had a bad experience with a coin trade. For reasons just mentioned alone, I could never sell any of my personal coins, they mean too much to me. My brother is trying to convince me to get a fireproof safe for the home, and my wife made the comment that we couldn't afford one big enough to store all my coins, and of course the important papers and such. :anicute:

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I'd like to clarify that we will never sell any coins that we have traded. Personal trades have been awesome. We're not planning on actually selling any of the coins we've bought in the near future, but will probably be leaving more of our duplicates in caches for others to collect or to activate and set out into the wild.

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I certainly haven't been collecting geocoins as long as many of you, and my collection still fits in one binder (barely). I might occasionally put up a coin for trade/sale that I spot in my collection that doesn't really trip my trigger, but I plan on keeping most all of them.

 

I have several extra geocoins that I've been trading for some of the newer ones that have come out or for older ones I'd like. I'm also thinking of including some of the extras in the prize packs we're putting together for our poker run event coming up in September (seems like a good use for a few of the extra coins).

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Part of the reason I sold off my collection was they collecting resulting in me not having as much fun geocaching. I was too worried about what new coins were out and how I could afford this new coin or another one of these...

 

So I sold the coins and paid off a couple of bills that popped up unexpectantly...

 

And used the rest of the money to reinvest into geocaching...

 

a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx :anicute:

 

Had to sell my old GPSr and an old laptop too though, but now I have a new toy to play with and have enjoyed caching like I did when I started the game.

 

I did keep a few coins:

 

2LUKNF8 (I used to mark my FTFs)

Serenity (Will be used to mark favorite caches)

USA 2006 (I use to mark my 1st cache and all 25 multiples)

Junglehair Garmin (I'm gonna attach it to my GPSr)

Micro (gift from a cacher)

Pacman/MrsPacman Black Nickel

(3) GeoWoodstock IV (In case I get back into trading)

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Theres just too many coins out there now. most are lame IMO.

 

I still like personals, i will trade for personals (i still have several of mine available)

 

as for organizations, states and other coins, i've kept a few coins i like, the california coins because i was born there and lived there untill i was 30, and the USA coins as they were the first mass market ones, the real silver and gold leaf alaska..

 

other than a very few other types i like (AZ coins since i live here now, and Original Stash) i'm sticking to personals now. ive sold off most of all my extras on ebay for what I consider reasonable start prices $4-6, with $1 shipping. just to get them gone. they do me no good sitting in a bag on my shelf.

 

I have not decided on coin club coins, i have all I have received so far in a binder, same with signal coins.

 

at one time i wanted every one, now i know i'll live without.

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I've worried that people will think I'm selling my collection because I recently started selling some coins for a friend. He bought a BUNCH in the beginning of the coin craze so they are mostly older coins. Some are trackable and some are not. He traded a few and then gave up on that and decided to use the rest to sell on ebay. I have more time than he does so I'm selling his for him. That being said... the only coins my friend is selling are coins he was allowed to buy.

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We're keeping our collection, but not buying every coin as it comes out and buying few of each coin we do purchase because we just couldn't keep up. Trading seems to have slowed down a lot, but that could be in large part to us not updating our trading list recently. (We need a weekend of rainy days to sort the coins and get them into binders...many of them are still in their original mailers.) Personal trades are continuing, and those have been especially nice interactions with cachers across the country. Extra coins we have are being activated and dropped into our new caches or launched from especially nice caches we find. Some have traveled, some have disappeared quickly...hopefully into the hands of the next generation of geocoin collector.

Edited by Ladybug Kids
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I'm really curious as to why some folks have totally stopped and are selling as well.

 

A year+ ago it was possible to collect a whole set which permitted a certain silly sense of closure/accomplishment as a collector. For me, I was trying to get all the state coins ala the quarters coming out periodically, concentrating on states/cities I'd cached in.

 

What got to me was the insane prices (Ohio? cardinal one) and the frenzy+attitude that started to appear (PDX not selling to folks not in the area, with an attitude in their forums), as well as the emerging need to hover over the forums to get a chance at a new coin. When folks reacted and tried to overly restrict purchases to meet some goal of 'exclusivity' the attitude increased to where I bailed.

 

By last Christmas I had a few dozen state coins assembled perhaps half in trades and half purchases. Met a lot of nice people, hopefully they liked their trades too. Around last Thanksgiving I reached the conclusion that (1) it wasn't fun any more and (2) it wasn't getting any better culturally so I bailed. A minor reason was all the funny shapes and sizes coming out which made it impossible to purchase AirTites that the coins fit into, which I was trying to do to keep the coins in fingerprint-free display shape. The 'tude' and need to hover over the forums to get a new coin is what drove me out.

 

So I sold mine privately pretty much at cost to three or four folks who were trying to start up collections, making enough minimal profit to pay for the few coins I kept. Glad I did so.

 

I held onto a few that mattered to me, my USA coins (mileage trackers), Canada+EU (favorites in terms of quality), plus PA and SEPAG (where I'm originally from) as well as a Original Stash coin+pin (visited geo-Mecca a couple years ago, and liked the style of the coin+pin).

 

This year I've bought almost nothing, a Meuller memorial coin (released) since the proceeds went to the family, and a Wyoming coin (released) that I couldn't cancel the order for. Other than that I think the SEPAG Liberty Bell coins I bought (one for me, one to eventually release) are all I've bought this year. Don't miss it at all.

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I can't speak for others, but we've about stopped buying coins except for the ones we think are the absolute coolest. No real reason, other than Mrs 4BOWS looked around at all the coins in binders, and waiting to be put into binders, and realized that there is a lot of money invested in there, and it's only there to have something shiny and pretty to look at. The trading part is fun when the occasion arises, but it seems to not happen very often.

 

Guess a lot more of ours will end up being set free into the wild (no mad dashes into Idaho please!)

Keeping my collection, almost all of them from trades with other cachers.

 

I have had a few people turn down trades for my coin, saying "I only trade for trackable coins.", but I guess it is their loss!!

 

 

 

Speaking of mad dashes to Idaho, i am going to have to get one of those 4bows coins next time I am in TF.

 

Bruins Class of '92!!!!! :laughing:

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Just my two cents as well. I am in line with Cruiser Dude and Mauison...and others as well. When I came out with my personal coin, I traded a few, dropped a few off at caches that I thought stood out or the owners had put a little more work into, or I traded for other "personal" coins. But like mentioned above, ***50% of the coins out these days have absolutly nothing to do with Geocaching.....at all!*** I never tried collecting everything under the son, and only recently started buying coins off of e-bay or coin stores. But I ONLY buy coins that in one way or another catch my attention. I always buy two if they are trackable and I keep one and then set one free. Personal coins that aren't trackable I buy one if I really like the design and keep it for my self. Personally I like any coin that has something to do with Jeeping, off-roading or any outdoor recreation sport, why? because I love Jeeps, I'm from the Northwest and being an outside person is who I am. All in all, there are too many people trying to cache in on fellow geocachers and saturating a market with coins that have not a thing to do with caching.

Edited by JEEOCASHER
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I can't see any reason now or in the future for me selling my collection. I got into collecting geocoins because it's a natural extension of my hobby collecting coins. As most have mentioned above I only buy coins that I think worthwhile and would prefer to trade for coins I want. I doubt that I'll ever feel the need to sell off my collection as I'm a bit of a packrat and keep things like that around just because. I would prefer to put them into caches and let others enjoy them before I sell them. My personal coin was just that, personal and if people like it then great. If they wanted to trade for it great. If they didn't that was ok too. Honestly I'm glad I never sold it as I think it means more to people when they trade for a coin they want than when they buy one.

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I have no plans on selling any of the personal coins I've aquired, especially through trades with those individuals, those are the prized coins in my collection.

 

I have considered selling off many of the not so caching related coins. As others mentioned, it really got crazy. There were some series that I thought would be nice to collect, but then if you were 5 seconds too slow you couldn't get part of the set, and no one seems too interested in trading those much. So far I have been keeping then as trade material for newer coins that I may be interested in (though since I haven't come here much I don't even know what has been released in the last few months), or maybe to eventually complete partial collection sets. or help someone else complete their set.

 

Our personal coin has been ordered, it will primarily be to place in 'special' caches. Though personal trades will be accepted, I know there are several individuals I will contact looking for trades. It isn't trackable or numbered, nor sold.

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Bella's collection is safe, it's hers to do with as she decides when she is old enough to know, mine however is being sold a little at a time due to personal reasons that I wont go into here. A couple people know and that's all that needs to. I guess I can say that I would not be selling any of them if I didn't absolutely have to.

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Never gonna sell my collection (800+). In fact I am working on a HUGE wall display for my office made of Oak Wood with small Oak rails for shelves. I am incorporating this into a complete wall shelving unit. When I am finished I'll post pics here on a thread. The coins are quite an investment but I don't want to part with the activated collection. Lots of stuff out there and like many of you I am now buying only the ones that really appeal to me......really like many of the foreign ones right now.

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I quit buying coins because of the coins that were coming out.

I started seeing some coins being made that had nothing to do with Geocaching, some were ridiculous. I still try to trade for the nice or interesting personal coins, and occasionally a very nice coin reflecting Geocaching, but for the rest, I'll pass.

There were 5-10 new coins a week. I couldn't keep up with that if I wanted to.

 

Ditto here. I would rather have a well thought out, non-trackable personal coin than most of the commercial coins that are out there.

 

LemonFresh, I still would love to get one of your Dog Tags!

Edited by 501_Gang
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LemonFresh, I still would love to get one of your Dog Tags!

 

There are several on eBay.

 

I'm slimming some of the fat out of my collection. I have to. With 2800 coins, storage is getting to be a problem. Mainly multiple metals of the non-personals. I'll eventually slim the commercial personals for multiple metals too. But for the most part, the collection is staying intact.

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Why do I limit myself now? It used to be all about the icons for me, but alas, who the heck really cares about icons? :anibad:

Now I just collect for the coins. From people I know (in person or online), from my home state of California, and ones that just appeal to me in a way most others don't.

 

Oh yeah, and the cost was crippling me! :D

 

I thought I could make back some of the money I had spent on coins by selling my I-10 coins instead of doing the thing with the mints for free coins etc. When I found out what coins like that really would cost to make (much much more than $6 by the way), I realized that was a silly goal. I made them anyway, because I loved my design and so I could have traders. :anitongue: When I started wondering if I could break even on them I started to question why I had spent so much money on "worthless" coins, both mine and my collection. :laughing:

 

So now I only buy according to my "rules" as described above. :laughing:

 

In closing... I'm definately still addicted and I can't see myself ever selling my collection!

:anibad::anibad::anibad:

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I was'nt gonna sell my collection, but I was gonna sell enough to fund my own coin awhile back...which in turn was gonna be sold and funds used to help out with a few things in recent times of need.

 

I have since decided not to sell any of em due to lack of time and frustrations in the whole selling process...Just too much sellin em off one by one.

 

Cant think of ever sellin my whole collection!...OUCH!

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