Differences between Coin Collecting and Coin Accumulating

The collecting instinct is a common trait among people; it shows up in many ways. You’ll discover that many of your friends are collectors of something Who do you know who collects baseball cards, Hummel figurines, beer cans, Coca-Cola memorabilia, books, or dolls? Even people who claim to collect nothing probably have accumulations of some thing they haven’t even realized they’re accumulating — tools, newspapers, shoes, you name it. There’s a special comfort in collecting, in surrounding yourself with familiar objects and building a store of assets — perhaps in response to some primeval instinct that prepares you for a rainy day.
The allure of money is especially strong. Coins represent real value. Coins can be exchanged for other objects we desire. Coins travel throughout the world and through time itself, representing and absorbing history as they pass from one person to the next. Oh, the stories coins could tell if they only had voices! And they’re everywhere, because no one anywhere ever throws away old money.
Pull a dime out of your pocket and what do you see? If all you see is 10¢ to spend, we’ve got a lot of work to do. But if you look at your dime and wonder at the artistic work of the engraver and the meaning of the symbols and the words, or if you see Franklin Roosevelt, the Great Depression, and the New Deal, man, you’re hooked. You’re going to make a great coin collector and, perhaps, one day, a numismatist!
We make the distinction in this book between numismatists (those who study coins) and coin collectors (those who collect coins). You can be a numismatist without being a coin collector, you can be a coin collector without being a numismatist, or you can be both.
Not sure whether you have that collecting instinct? Here’s a great way to find out whether you’re an accumulator or whether you have the potential to become a coin collector:

1. Visit your local coin store and purchase a folder made for the pennies from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. A folder is a cardboard holder with holes for every different date.
2. Raid your change jar or go to the bank and buy $20 worth of pennies.
3. Sort out the coins and fill as many different holes as you can. If possible, find the best-looking coin to place in the folder.
4. After you’ve gone through all the coins, sit back and take a look at your work. Do you wonder why some coins were harder to find than others? Do you wonder why you couldn’t find even a single example of some coins? Are you interested in completing the set? Did you have fun searching through the coins?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve discovered the difference between being a collector and an accumulator — and in case you’re wondering, you’re a collector.