I recently had a series of conversations with a fellow collector that I thought would be worth sharing in part with you all. Some of you may be in similar situations and for others it may give you another way to look at your collections. 

This gentleman has been a coin collector for over 50 years and has a wide variety of coins, everything from poor quality junk silver to high-grade certified type coins. In the last 10 to 15 years or so, he has almost completely lost interest in his collection and has acquired very few new pieces. In part, he has been overwhelmed by so many coins being offered by the mint each year. A collector is no longer able to simply buy the annual proof and mint sets each year!

More importantly, this collector is on a much more limited budget in his retirement years and just can’t afford to buy coins like he once could. This inability to buy new coins for the collection, especially the higher-end pieces, is even more challenging as the prices seem to rise a bit faster than the cost of living.

I recommended that this collector take the time to review his existing holdings with a new perspective. Trends change over the decades, even in coin collecting. What was an average coin then, may be a sought after piece today. Coins that were junk silver in the 1970s and 1980s may not be junk silver today. New varieties are continuously being discovered too. Those common BU rolls you stored away each year decades ago, may suddenly be in demand as collectors search for varieties that were unknown until recently.

The bottom line is that you can always stay active and find new ways to enjoy your collection without buying new pieces. Becoming an active member in your local coin club is a great way to keep up with current trends in our hobby and you will regularly learn new things and get new ideas that can be applied to your own collection.

I hope you all continue to find ways to forever enjoy this great hobby of coin collecting. Take care and have happy holidays!