There is no Right or Wrong Thing to Collect

Mike Gumpel recently commented in a COINage Report:

Many of us find it simply amazing when we look at the current market to determine which types of coins are hot. I can remember old-timers telling me that at some point everything has its day, and today we are seeing coins minted most recently being the hottest coins out there. The statehood commemorative quarters have been the leading force in the popularity of modern coins, but Proof sets from the past 30 years, silver American Eagles, mint sets, Washington quarter rolls, Ikes, and the Sacagawea dollar are all extremely popular right now.

The driving force of this current market is simply new people. They are not only new people, but also new collectors in a general sense; in other words, most of them have never bought any kind of coin item before, but today they are buying the state quarters and placing them in albums and maps, giving them to their children or grandchildren, or saving them for themselves. But they are forming collections. They are buying the Sacagawea dollars and the quarters from the Mint in roll and bag form and putting them away, and they have discovered what they consider "older" coins by buying Ike dollars and Proof sets from the 1970s.

Most of us do not find these coins very exciting, although we are in most cases excited about the new business. But our adrenaline levels do not sky-rocket because we have the chance to buy a Georgia quarter. That is the beauty of a hobby business like ours: There is no right or wrong thing to collect. You simply collect what interests you or what you want. Look on the average bourse floor. One dealer will be salivating over a rare Morgan variety, while the guy next to him is doing the same thing over a pristine type coin.

Mike Gumpel is the Advertising Director for COINage Magazine.

Statehood quarters are popular among new collectors.

Statehood quarters are popular among new collectors.