Minimalism and Numismatics

by Numinimist

I started loving old coins when I was ten, after my grandma gave me a Morgan silver dollar and a couple Franklin halves, and my grandpa gave me a Whitman album to hold Lincoln cents minted since 1941. I picked through pennies over many months to fill all of the album's slots that I could, even finding some wheaties from the '10s, '20s, and '30s that I ended up putting in 2x2 cardboard holders. Until I went to college, I collected mostly average circulated coins and a few common-date marginally uncirculated (slider) coins that would not interest real collectors.

During college financial "hard times" put an end to my collection. I sold it and did not resume collecting until my mid-forties. I then bought a Krugerrand, a bullion coin, and a 1915 Indian Half Eagle (a $5 gold piece) – raw. Every coin I had collected in my youth was raw, though no one made that distinction then.

Raw coins are uncertified coins. In 1986 two companies, PCGS and NGC, changed that. They began a service that professionally graded coins and placed them in sonically sealed slabs denoting their grade. This made it easier to buy coins with the assurance that they were genuine and of a certain quality or grade. By 2004 slabs were becoming accepted and many real coin collectors, or numistmatists, had slabbed their raw coins and were buying new coins already slabbed.

I paid $225 for that raw 1915 $5 gold coin. I picked up more raw coins on ebay, including what I judged a high-grade uncirculated proof-like 1881-S Morgan dollar for $30, a 1935-S uncirculated Buffalo nickel, and some less impressive coins. I sent them to PCGS for grading. I was surprised and thrilled when the 1915 Half Eagle came back in a holder graded MS-64. (MS stands for Mint State, a coin stuck for circulation that has no visible wear.) I (and the dealer) had under-graded it as About Uncirculated (AU). I sold that $225 coin for $4800. The 1881-S Morgan dollar was graded MS-66, but not proof-like. I didn't understand proof-like coins very well back then. I sold it for $300. The '35-S Buffalo nickel was MS-63; I broke even. The rest were problem coins. They were not slabbed but returned in "body bags." They were not granted a grade due to being improperly cleaned or having PVC residue. I salvaged the PVC residue coin, but lost on the cleaned ones.

The proceeds yielded a down payment on a house and enough left over for my first slabs (certified coins) purchase. I bought an MS-64 Proof-like Barber half, MS-67 Star Morgan dollar, MS-65 Full Head Standing Liberty quarter, MS-64 $20 gold Liberty, and a couple lesser gold coins. Since 2005 I have been collecting consistently.

I accelerated buying in 2008 and '09 and began participating in the PCGS and NCG registries, where collectors list their coins in sets and compete. I first pursued a 20th Century U.S. Type Set with a 40-coin composite. I hurredly completed this set and achieved its number one rank in about a year. Then I discovered how much the quality of each coin matters, that seasoned collectors knew this, and that I was not yet one of them.

The slots in the PCGS Type Set I had completed were weighted, where the expensive, harder-to-find in high grade coins were given a greater multiplier than the common coins. The difficult coins had 5x to 8x multipliers; the easy ones, 1x or 2x. My 8x example was low-end for its grade, PR-67 Cameo, with barely OK eye-appeal. (PR designates a Proof coin, not struck for circulation, with pristine, polished dies using high-quality planchets or blanks, and often have highly mirrored surfaces.) My 7x coin was also low-end for MS-66 and unattractive. Two of my 5x's were low-end MS-67s, one of them with only average eye-appeal. I realized that my "number one" set wasn't great. I had to upgrade how I collected coins.

I hastily de-registered my set and sold off the coins I didn't like, partially considering what I thought seasoned collectors would think. I had not yet developed my own inner voice as a collector. I first depended on a CAC (Certified Acceptance Corporation) green sticker to determine whether coins were solid or high-end for their grade. A CAC sticker is a good indicator, especially useful for novice collectors, that a coin hasn't been messed with (doctored or artificially toned, for example) and that it is not in the lower third of its a grade or a grade lower than that stated on the holder. I owned several non-CAC coins. I later discovered that some non-CAC coins are desirable. (I will elaborate later.) Many of them are not.

For two more years I accumulated over 80 PCGS and NGC certified coins. I did not rebuild the 20th Century Type Set. Instead I started a 41-coin U.S. Basic Coin Design Set of copper, nickel, and silver coins. I then completed a number five ranked ten-coin Five Cent Type Set and number four ranked three-piece Barber Type Set. I had collected 29 of the 41 Basic Design Set when my finances collapsed. Not only could I not buy more coins, I had to sell them. In less than two years I sold 97% of my collection for basic living expenses.

It would have been wiser if I had spent half as much on coins over those years of accumulating and saved the rest for a rainy day. Our business had a major downturn that did not reverse for two years. I was preparing to sell the rest of my meager collection when the business produced enough income for me to cancel the sale. During this time I temporarily became a minimalist.

I read minimalist blogs, books, and learned to be grateful for the "little" I had left. Actually in the world scheme, I was still in the top two percent. Most of the Occupy Wall Streeters did not realize that so were they. In the early 2010s a family was making an equivalent of $32,000 a year was in the top two percent of the world's families.

In about two more years things improved and I was able to start collecting again. Compared to the prior frenzy I moved slowly. I bought slightly lower grades at first and gradually transitioned to higher grades, but I set limits on how lofty the grades would get. Even if I could afford better, I did not want to spend it all on this hobby.

I soon became "Numinimist," which is a cross between Numismatist and Minimalist. My passing experience with minimalism left an indelible impression of the impermanence of things, especially the aesthetically beautiful coins that I loved. I was renting my collection (as well as my house, car, body, and virtually everything else.) I could lose any or all at any time, or I would no longer be here to enjoy them. I could, however, enjoy renting them.

I no longer was pursing number one sets. I was "renting" the finest, colorful, eye-appealing (to my eyes) coins I could find. I found a level that makes me happy and allows my to enjoy numismatics. The spectrum of collectors is huge. The majority is like my grandma and grandpa who enjoyed pretty ordinary coins. They ushered me in at that level and I remained there until college. I attempted to rocket to the top experiencing not a few mishaps. I have now settled into my own niche, my Goldilocks zone.

I used to buy only CAC-approved coins. I still appeciate them, and most of mine have a green CAC sticker. I have found that there are "ugly" CAC coins and very eye-appealing less-than-CAC coins. If a coin is beautiful yet in the lower third of its assigned grade, then I am still happy to rent it. This is also part of being Numinimist. I run with the dogs, but I do not have to be the big dog, or even one of big ones. I am just a happy dog that loves and is grateful for his borrowed coins.