#1007678 - 12/21/0512:40 PMHow many years of income is your collection worth?
lighthouselighthouse
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
TOTAL NEWBIE
Registered: 07/31/02
Posts: 6711
Loc: San Diego, CA
I was having a debate yesterday with a buddy of mine over the ridiculous amount of money he spends on his car collection. He tried a number of methods to try to put it into perspective for me. And by the end of it, we were haggling over years of income as a measure.
Talking about this guy having a $10K coin collection or that guy having a $200K collection tells you nothing about whether they are wasting money on coins. Or for that matter whether they have invested very wisely and their collection is out-appreciating their lifestyle.
So I thought I would open it up. Ballpark the value of your collection, and divide it by what you make in a typical year. What do you get?
As an example, if you make $40K a year and your collection is worth about $10K, that's about 3 months worth.... I started this poll down in the Comics area and the results have been a bit surprising. I am curious how different things will be here.
Actively Collecting RAW: Yearly Mint Stuff, Type Set Actively Collecting Slabbed: Ikes (PCGS, MS-65-7 / PF-69DC), SBAs (PCGS, MS-66 / PF-69DC) Passively Collecting: Circulated Lincolns, Jeffersons, Roosies, Washington quarters, Kennedies, SBAs, Sacs, and Pres dollars Type Set Goal: (20th-21st century to start with) First year of issue (or 1901), Philadelphia Mint, low-grade Uncirculated, ALL varieties, RAW
I am disabled but if I were to tally up the total value of My collection, I could buy 2 of the duplex's We live in now! Thanks to My Dad, God Rest His Soul!!
I would have to say less than a years income, but in my defense, I'm new to the coin world. On the other hand at the rate I'm buy coins I may be divorced by the end of the year!!!
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Lem
No problems, Just solutions!!! Question the answers!!!
This measurement is very sensitive to the length of time you have been collecting. If you've been collecting for a year or two, I wouldn't expect you to have more than a small fraction. But if you've been collecting for 10 years, or 30 years, or longer, then I would expect the fractions could get rather high. Also, if you are good you can buy things at a discount, cherry pick, or buy sleepers or during a bust time. These would all increase your percentage, but not have any bearing on the propriety of the amount spent. As a result, the numbers on the graph from the poll are very close to what I would expect.
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I reserve the right to change my mind with new facts, experience, opinions, or viewpoints.
