Carving Out A Collecting Niche Of Your Own – And Not Being Afraid To Do It!

In numismatics, some collectors take the tried-and-true paths of pursuing popular series like Washington Quarters and Morgan Dollars, while others take the road less traveled – maybe Bechtler gold coinage of North Carolina and Georgia or Lesher Dollars hailing from Colorado. It doesn’t really matter how many or how few fellow collectors trod the path you’re on alongside you, you’re creating your niche in the hobby when you follow a particular numismatic discipline and specialize in it to the point of becoming a true student of your area. Even generalists, in an ironic sense, have a niche – their “niche” being a penchant for pretty much everything (or at least “everything” within the confines of perhaps the coinage of a certain nation, period, or other organic parameter).

The question for you is, do you have a collecting niche? Or are you at a point in the hobby where you’re collecting a little bit of this and a little bit of that? There’s certainly much to be extolled about a collector who doesn’t adhere to any “rules,” as it were, and collects whatever their numismatic heart desires. I think many, if not even most collectors experience a period of roaming – collecting where their whims take them. It’s a journey that may last for one’s entire hobby experience, or sometimes just for a while before resettling to a more focused area of collecting.

Interestingly, there seems to be a small number of collectors who either avoid collecting a certain series or type of coin because it’s deemed too popular or too unpopular – either by them or by someone in the hobby they look up to. How many collectors openly declare their love for the Susan B. Anthony Dollar? It was, after all, a series once disparaged by much of the American public, yet it is now finding its rightful place as a modern (though increasingly vintage) numismatic collectible with a storied history. Or what about the Lincoln Cent, which is occasionally referenced by some as a “beginner’s” coin when, in fact, it is one of the most complex U.S. series around and pursued by countless advanced collectors? And don’t forget the United States commemorative coins – a series that has seen relatively few active collectors in recent years but enchants just about everyone who does collect them.

The numismatic community is a wonderful place that is full of true camaraderie, but always keep an especially keen ear out for the mainly and mostly positive voices – and don’t let anyone discourage you out of collecting something just because it isn’t necessarily popular, “hot,” or – well, whatever. Some of the most successful collectors out there are those who took their own unique paths in the hobby and embraced it with all of their heart. Some even made entire careers out of their novel numismatic passions, becoming the leading authorities in their respective fields. You can probably name some of their names if you think about this for a moment or two.

Even if nobody else collects what you do – or if everybody else does, for that matter – you do you. Embrace your passions, and follow your heart down the numismatic road that feels most comfortable for you. That’s the collecting avenue that will surely be the most successful and rewarding for you.