I was looking at an old
Forum thread from early 2014 on Numismatic Resolutions. I'm pleased that I kept to several of the resolutions that I set that January. So, with equal
good intentions, here are my resolutions for 2016:
1. Strongly consider
selling certain stagnant segments of my coin
collection and non-numismatic hobby assets. In the coin realm, I have several trays of 4th century
Roman Imperial coins and English hammered silver that I’ve not added to in over a year, and I have bought very few
Greek coins in the past year. There is no shame in admitting that certain areas/hobbies are no longer of consuming interest, and the proceeds from the sale of these coins/items could finance several high-quality acquisitions in my current focus
area of
Roman Republican coins. My nature is to buy, not sell; so this may be hard for me.
2. Focus on “balancing” my growing
collection of
Roman Republican coins. I tend to think of my
collection in "blocks". Right now, I feel overweight in anonymous bronze and moneyer
denarii. It’s quite easy to get overweight in moneyer
denarii, as
good quality material is almost always available. For balance, I think I need to focus some
buying power on pre-denarius silver (i.e. didrachms/quadrigati), early
denarii (anonymous and symbol), “moneyer” bronzes and silver fractions. I cannot be too strict in this approach, because the availability of good-quality material dictates what I’ll likely add. I just try to pay attention to the lightweight blocks and buy
good stuff in those areas as available.
3. Despite resolution #2 (which is intended merely as a guide), don’t
shop for coins using a “want list”. I’ve never
had good luck building a
quality collection with a “want list”. A want list causes me to miss “off-list” market opportunities. Want lists are
good for more advanced
collections with very few holes.
4. Acquire the old
auction catalogues on my “short list”. This is in marked contrast to one of my 2014 resolutions, which was to stop
buying numismatic books and read the books that I currently owned; but one doesn’t really “read” an old
auction catalogue. Old
auction catalogues are for browsing and research.
What are your numismatic resolutions for the New Year?