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Author Topic: Please help! I think I am an addict.  (Read 5410 times)

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Offline SRukke

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Please help! I think I am an addict.
« on: February 20, 2009, 11:14:52 pm »
I am new to this. I am addicted. Bought my first coin 3 weeks ago. A Vespasian Aureus. Can't stop buying now. I am also buying books to figure out what I'm buying. I know, I know I am doing it backwards. I have been digging and collecting bottles for 30 years. I also collect colonial American documents. But now I have a new passion, Roman coins.
Please help me understand what is happening. I have had to hide my purchases from my wife. I am thinking of selling some of my other historical items to purchase more Roman coins. I have this site 'bookmarked on my work computer. It's Friday night and I am checking to see what's for sale to make sure I don't miss something important. I have no idea what I'm looking at and I only go by what looks "neat" or "cool". I am afraid of what will happen if I don't get this under control.  What if my wife finds out. What if I can't pay my mortgage, will Obama support my addiction. I am afraid.

Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2009, 11:26:41 pm »
Wow!  I wish my first coin was an aureus!  Welcome to the support group, remember the first step is admitting you have a problem...and you have!  Congratulations!  Be careful though, not all that glitters is gold, buy from reputable dealers who have 100% return policy if it is proved to be a fake (not that yours is). 

Start a gallery so that everyone can enjoy your coins along with you, then add a tag to your signature with the link (like mine below).  Enjoy your new passion! 

Got to go...bidding on another Mark Antony coin (My addiction)  ;D which ends......soon!

Offline SRukke

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2009, 11:50:07 pm »
Good advice. David Sear has the Aureus now. His recent email (after my email) indicates that it's authentic but that he needs to study it more. I have a guarantee to return it if not authentic. Bought it on an impulse, not sure why. But the price seemed reasonable for an ancient coin, especially gold and I just did it. Now I have this urge to buy more. But like most, my resources are not unlimited and I need to slow down and enjoy my new passion. 

Offline Enodia

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2009, 02:55:31 am »
I am new to this. I am addicted.
and the only cure is more cowbell... eh, i mean, more coins!
and i have to agree with Pullo about starting with an aureus. you really jumped right in at the deep end didn't you?!

the enthusiasm will continue i'm afraid, and as you discover more you will begin to realize all the cool things you don't have... yet.   8)
however i would advise backing off just a tad until you have done some good research. i started this over twenty years ago (although i took a long sabbatical in between), and i now wish i hadn't been quite so impetuous. the good thing is the coins i bought that no longer interest me were cheap. i cannot imagine losing interest in such a lovely piece of gold.

good luck with your addiction, and please do as Pullo suggested and start a gallery. i love nothing more than browsing through other people's collections.

Quote from: Titus Pullo
Welcome to the support group, remember the first step is admitting you have a problem...and you have!  Congratulations!
dude, that is funnier than hell!  :laugh:

Offline Potator II

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2009, 07:05:47 am »
First, you SHOULD tell your wife. She will be of some support for you, better than if she happens to discover by herself.
She might consider having been fooled  :'( :'(

Regards
Potator

romeo

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2009, 08:16:00 am »
i have to disagree! dont tell the wife, she will watch whatever you spend, moan when you buy something new, tell you its taking over your life, and it will all end in a bitter nasty divource  :evil:

Offline Arminius

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2009, 08:26:48 am »
Do all wifes react in the same way concerning expenses on coins?

Is there a common genetic reason?

 ;)

Maffeo

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2009, 08:31:39 am »
Auction off the wife as soon as possible and buy more coins - unlike wives, coins increase in value as they get older.

:evil:  :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Offline David Atherton

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2009, 09:23:16 am »
That is a fantastic first purchase! Not particularly rare, but a wonderful example of an early precious metal issue of Vespasian.

My very first Roman coin purchase was a Vespasian denarius... at first I thought one would be enough. How foolish I was!

Please do start up a gallery. It looks like you have very good taste.  ;)

Offline Akropolis

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2009, 11:13:44 am »
FWIW, I agree with Potator II: tell your wife.
It IS an addiction. She may apply a healthy check on your purchases.
PeteB

Offline Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2009, 04:47:00 pm »
If you're short on finance, collect cheaper coins! It's better to have a medium-sized colection of bronzes than a small one of aurei, as the more coins you have, the more interesting it gets! Limit your spending strictly, decide how many coins you realistically want to buy per month, and that'll give you an idea of how much you want to spend per coin. Then look for an area within that budget.
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Roy M

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2009, 08:22:34 am »
Welcome to the world of addiction.

You are damned if you do tell the wife and damned if you don't.... :evil:
I honestly think that it would be easier for me to admit to having a mistress and say that I am spending my money that way than to say I am going to buy another coin ;)!

I would say you should get a doctors note confirming some sort of weird illness and then defend your purchases under the auspices of said same illness..... :evil:

Could work......then again....maybe not ???

 ;D

Offline Potator II

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2009, 09:32:12 am »
Not that it's a truth engraved in marble, but I have to say my wife is of great support about my addiction. She always want to see the new acquisitions, prefers empresses (almost all emperors have the same martial and ugly face, she says), has her preferences (the one she likes the most is the Augustus/bull denarius in my gallery), and owns a denarius (I gifted her the republican/hound denarius, as she's had a greyhound for 15 years. it's "on deposit" in my own    collection  ;D). And, last but not lest, NEVER asks about the money I spend.

But, there is a but, of course, she would NOT hear : "well, darling....about the holydays we have planed....there might be a problem.... not that I don't want to go, but the landlord sent me an email to cancel, for any reason, and so on...."

That would be TERRIBLE, I guess
Potator

PS : as for a mistress, I prefer not to imagine  :angel:

Offline Enodia

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2009, 03:07:28 pm »
my wife would never suspect a mistress. she knows, after all, that my thinking is more along the lines of "why would i want a beautiful young nubile lover when i can have a new Lucanian didrachm instead?".
i only hope this speaks more to my addiction than anything to do with getting older!

she is very supportive though, and helps me pick and choose amoung the many candidates for purchase that are always on my list.
the only conflict we usually have is whether to spend the hobby budget on my new coin or her new unguentarium.

crassus

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #14 on: May 30, 2009, 02:19:25 am »
your addiction will end, eventually, when i was young (er),  i was crazy about stamps and banknotes and expensive english figurines, it lasted about 6mths, than eventually i got bored and i hardly even look at it anymore, be very careful not to spend too much, as you will probably regret it months, years later. If i has the money instead of coins etc,... i would just buy a ferrari  and enjoy myself that way ::)

Offline Enodia

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2009, 03:35:24 am »
that's funny, as i was just telling the wife yesterday "think of all the coin shops we could visit if i had a Ferrari."

   8)

as far as the addiction ending?
well, i was about 8 years old when i started collecting coins, and in a few months i will be... hmmm, let's just say that was nearly a half century ago and leave it at that.

Offline areich

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #16 on: May 30, 2009, 03:39:26 am »
My addiction has lasted 4 years now but I would trade my coins for a Ferrari.
Then I would sell it and buy even more coins.  ;D
Andreas Reich

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #17 on: May 31, 2009, 09:34:58 pm »
Well, I would say not only do I like buying coins, but I may be addicted to Forvm boards. I have made it part of my nightly routine for over 3 yrs. I doubt I have missed more than about 10 days over the past 3 yrs.
I no longer watch any TV.
Perhaps I should seek help;)

Offline Barabus

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #18 on: June 02, 2009, 06:58:31 pm »
 I like you collected and dug old bottles for about the same lenght of time as you.I had to sell all my bottles when I lost my job and was waiting on disability.Once I got my limited disability I started buying uncleaned coins when they were cheap,but it got more and more expensive and the quality keep going down.Upon advise from this forum I started buying coins that were cheap,but nice.I pick the coins very carefully and watch the auction constantly.If the coin starts getting out of my price range I stop watching it,but check on its final price.Its not easy to do,but if the coin bid stays low at the end I will bid my top -price.Most of the time I lose,but I get lucky once in a while.Of course like I said I'm on a very limited budget.
Organized religion is the second oldest profession, and nowhere near as honest as the first.

IhsantheCursed

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2009, 02:23:32 pm »
First, you SHOULD tell your wife. She will be of some support for you, better than if she happens to discover by herself.
She might consider having been fooled  :'( :'(

Regards
Potator

I second this. Deception in this area is bad news all around, and if your home mortgage is involved...something is direly wrong to begin with my friend. Coin collecting in any form is a mere hobby, and should never, imo, come before lifes...requirments.

romeo

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #20 on: June 12, 2009, 03:23:26 pm »
naaa, sell your home, wife and kids and buy more coins, you know it makes sense  :evil:

Offline ecoli

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #21 on: June 12, 2009, 04:05:57 pm »
My wife doesn't understand coins, but she understands I need a hobby; so as long as I don't go out of control(skip morgage), she is okay with it.


Offline Enodia

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #22 on: June 12, 2009, 04:35:35 pm »
i guess i'm really lucky then as one of the nicest coins in my collection was a gift from my wife...


romeo

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #23 on: June 12, 2009, 05:16:07 pm »
i am ofcourse just joking, my wife dosent understand my passion for coins or history but she supports me in my endevours as i do hers.

Offline Potator II

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Re: Please help! I think I am an addict.
« Reply #24 on: June 12, 2009, 06:53:25 pm »
i guess i'm really lucky then as one of the nicest coins in my collection was a gift from my wife...



Same here. The other day, I told my wife my intention of biding on a coin that would be, if I'd be lucky enough to win, the most expensive in my collection ever. She eventually offered to buy it as a Bday present...
:) Lucky me

Potator

 

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