Delmatius

[David M3]

I also got my first Delmatius can't make out the ex but the coin looks ok from the potos not the best but again one I could aford. The wife is ready to shoot me she says I've bought my chirstmas presants for the next ten years. Over 300 again this month. But I am getting some nice coins at good prices. I try to tell her its an investment. But she is not going for it. Any other ideas out there to console the wife. I have the habbit I don't go to the methadone clinic but I just as hooked. When I see a coin not in my collection and at a good price I have to buy it.

[daverino]

Dave, perhaps I can save your marriage . Here is what I do to put a lid on addictive coin buying. Which, by the way, I find usually leads to buying fakes, junky coins and repetitive types.

First, having spotted a coin you like do not buy it unless you have had at least two or three days to think it over- Check fake reports, look up info on the coin, compare prices etc. If at the end of that time you still want it, go for it. This means you have to jump ahead a few days in your on-line searches so as not to be pressed to act in auctions ending right away. Often my momentary interest in a coin will fade if I have a couple of days to think on it.

Second. never buy more than one coin at a time and never another coin until the one you just purchased has arrived. Having searched the internet for a coin I find there are always others I would like. Having seen so many coins on the internet it is easy to be "over-sensitized" and hitting the "bid now" button is just too easy to do. Before beginning the search again take some time to photograph the coin, discuss  it on the forum, add it to the gallery etc. 

I might add that I occasionally break my own rules but I do find them helpful.

Regards, Dave R.

[David M3]

very good advise I find that I will be bidding on one coin that I like just to have another better example come up so that I end up with two. I will try to follow your advise no matter how ingained my brain is with its old ways. Not to mention that I always have somthing in the mail on its way if I wait till I got my coin I would save alot of money.

[Sosius]

I also got my first Delmatius can't make out the ex but the coin looks ok from the potos not the best but again one I could aford. The wife is ready to shoot me she says I've bought my chirstmas presants for the next ten years. Over 300 again this month. But I am getting some nice coins at good prices. I try to tell her its an investment. But she is not going for it. Any other ideas out there to console the wife. I have the habbit I don't go to the methadone clinic but I just as hooked. When I see a coin not in my collection and at a good price I have to buy it.

David,

It's hard to get off the smack, so to speak.  The internet makes it so easy to buy coins.  And ancients sometimes seem impossibly cheap.  

I still buy too many coins, but now what I do, especially with online auctions, is add a number of coins to my watch list, then spend some time researching them.  Then I prioritize, and focus on those coins that either fill a hole in my collection, or that I would be proud to show to others in person or online.  I find that this approach leads to me buying fewer, but nicer coins.  

Interesting article by Reid Goldsborough on when collecting becomes unhealthy here: http://rg.ancients.info/guide/compulsion.html

Still, it's always hard to pass on a rare emperor or a good deal.  I bought a Delmatius last week just because it was cheap, and bought a large lot of coins this week just because it's fun to sort through them.  

Another way to thin the herd would be consign or sell some coins to a dealer.  I will probably do this one day, once I get over my Gollum-like greed/lust for my collection!  

Cliff



 

[SC]

David,

A few other possible tips.

1)  Squirrel away your coin budget first and don't touch anything else.  For several years I only spent money in my paypal account on coins.  I was getting this income by selling off another collection.  As I lived in an area with zero ancient coins for physical sale buying off internet was my only real means.

2)  Buy uncleaned coins and clean them before buying more.  If you have a strict "buy no more till I clean what I have" then you can put serious brakes on your purchasing.  (No, I don't do this.  Long, long ago I did but I now have over 1000 coins uncleaned and still buy more.  "Saving uncleaned for my retirement" is my motto thus proving I need help!!!  But it is a good theory.)

3)  Take a tip from the Goldsborough article and do more research.  That is fully attribute and read up on each coin before buying another.

Nice Delmatius by the way.

Shawn

[David M3]

I like your idea but I no longer buy uncleaned coins I found I ended up with lots of slugs and Contatine coins. I now buy only cleaned coins so that I don't get alot of seconds. I will buy another of the same type if the condition is much better and only then. I started collecting about 30 years ago. So I have amassed quite a few coins. I have just started looking through my Constantine coins I ended up with tons of them when I use to buy bulk uncleaned. But I can't make myself sell even one of them when I might have 50 or more I just put the attributed coin in a coin folder and then in bulk storage. But thanks for the advice.

[David M3]

Not to bad for a 9.00dallor coin from flebay. But from a seller I have been buying from for some time He now gives me first choice without bidding on it. I buy anything he will sell to me that I don't have, and he gives me great deals without bidding but he also saves money by not listing it on ebay and paypal fees. All the coins he has are in very good shape.