Why do we collect?

[TonyS]

My son collects Japanese art simply because he enjoys it. (It's locked away from the sunlight).
Up until last year I collected champagne. (Last year twelve in and I drank two).
I changed my mind and went for silver bullion. (A bit less bulky.)

The common denominator, they are locked away.

Why do we collect something that is out of sight?

[SiliconToad]

My silver isn't out of sight. I keep an ASE in my pocket to fumble with during the day, have a stack of rounds on my desk that I play with and a display case in the sun room (tea room in the UK?) where I admire my shiny bits. But I'm not a heavy stacker, just have a number of different government coins (one of each type is sufficient for me) and bullion that speaks to me. Still not a cheap hobby, but less expensive than buying canvas art, restoring a vintage car or keeping a boat.  

[ilovesilverireallydo]

The joy of ownership and our inherent nature to hoard precious items

[TonyS]

1 hour ago, SiliconToad said:

My silver isn't out of sight. I keep an ASE in my pocket to fumble with during the day, have a stack of rounds on my desk that I play with and a display case in the sun room (tea room in the UK?) where I admire my shiny bits. But I'm not a heavy stacker, just have a number of different government coins (one of each type is sufficient for me) and bullion that speaks to me. Still not a cheap hobby, but less expensive than buying canvas art, restoring a vintage car or keeping a boat.  

As engineering apprentices a couple of us collected classic cars. Before the days of the MOT the cars we bought were classic death traps.

A mini being the worse:
The drivers side door fell off in the middle of Manchester, we just tied it to the roof with electric cable and carried on. There followed series of calamities and bodge ups until it caught fire. What do you expect for £7-50?

On being qualified I started collecting vintage electrical gear until SHMBO decreed it had to go. I now know of two museums that would take what the wife declared was “junk”. The junk filled two skips.

Cameras came next, that developed from a hobby in to a business to the point I was sponsored by Kodak.

Divorce put paid to my collecting for quite a while………….

 

[Wackattak924]

I started because I wanted to save money but couldn't keep it in a bank without finding some way of spending it.

In silver I found something that satisfies my impulse to spend money but at the same time holds a value unlike some of the bad I've spent on in the past. 

Keeping precious metals out of sight is just smart if you want to keep them but I would display some of my pieces if only they fit in with my wife's interior decor (her hobby that in my opinion is money down the drain lol). 

 

[motorbikez]

I collect coins as I like to look at them & I view them as small art pieces. I have framed a couple of sets & have them on my study wall. I use a 10oz Britannia bar as a paper weight & carry some sort of silver in my pocket (currently 1oz Britannia) lol.

[ChrisG]

I stopped smoking last September and started vaping, with the money I started saving I saw a website on the internet that showed that you could start investing in buying silver in small quantities.

I then started looking further into it and started buying silver coins, silver 1 oz bars and rounds, basically anything I could buy with the money I had set aside form stopping smoking.

I then started buying 1 gram gold bars for a while but soon got fed up with them and found that I was really drawn to all the different 1 oz silver bars that you could collect,  and that is when the 1 oz silver bug really bit me !

I would much rather have the pleasure of seeing something I can see and hold that is of value rather then see a collection of empty cigarette packets and tab ends!

 

[ilovesilverireallydo]

6 hours ago, SiliconToad said:

My silver isn't out of sight. I keep an ASE in my pocket to fumble with during the day, have a stack of rounds on my desk that I play with and a display case in the sun room (tea room in the UK?) where I admire my shiny bits. But I'm not a heavy stacker, just have a number of different government coins (one of each type is sufficient for me) and bullion that speaks to me. Still not a cheap hobby, but less expensive than buying canvas art, restoring a vintage car or keeping a boat.  

I recently got rid of my 1973 2 door cortina. It was a money pit...

[sovereignsteve]

It's a disease😜

[Wackattak924]

41 minutes ago, ilovesilverireallydo said:

I recently got rid of my 1973 2 door cortina. It was a money pit...

I've still got a 1984 Porsche 924 that is a money pit. But I won't part with it..... Yet lol. 

[StackSellRepeat]

31 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

It's a disease😜

Only cure - empty bank account 😜

[MikeG1978]

Its addictive I will say that  starting next month I will start collecting more

Question is when do you stop I reckon I have bought over 100 oz in about 3 months which isn't a lot compared to a lot on here but I think it is easy to get addicted 

[JunkBond]

8 minutes ago, MikeG1978 said:

Question is when do you stop

Like @StackSellRepeat said, when the money runs out. 😉

[MikeG1978]

I think that's the problem I am trying to find more money 😅

[ChrisG]

47 minutes ago, MikeG1978 said:

Its addictive I will say that  starting next month I will start collecting more

Question is when do you stop I reckon I have bought over 100 oz in about 3 months which isn't a lot compared to a lot on here but I think it is easy to get addicted 

You know when you are getting addicted, when you go on the internet and you go straight to the Silver Forum or ebay bullion/bars

[StackSellRepeat]

9 minutes ago, ChrisG said:

You know when you are getting addicted, when you go on the internet and you go straight to the Silver Forum or ebay bullion/bars

For me it’s the sleepless nights I go through, Awaiting for that shiny stuff we can’t get enough of 😉🤤

[JunkBond]

20 minutes ago, ChrisG said:

 you go on the internet and you go straight to the Silver Forum

Always, every day and for most of the day I am afraid. 😂

[NorthEast]

It is addicting and certainly has become my number 1 addiction over the past couple of years... I get paid once a month so it makes it really tough when two days in I have spent my allowance for the month and need to wait another 29 days...

[sixgun]

Although not quite the same question this poll is interesting.

 

[Fivepoundfred]

Some of the pleasure is actually trying to find what you are collecting and with some coins this can be a serious challenge, the frustration is finding one that you want then realising you don't have the money to buy it !

I vaguely remember a post where someone had taken a gold five pound coin to bed with them, this is taking collecting to another level !

[JunkBond]

12 minutes ago, Fivepoundfred said:

I vaguely remember a post where someone had taken a gold five pound coin to bed with them, this is taking collecting to another level !

 

On 20/02/2019 at 15:38, richatthecroft said:

Unfortunately not, the 2 Sovereign is a foreigner!- the one from this set got a 69- the 5 Sovereign from the set hasn't gone off for grading yet, I can't let it go... its tucked under the mattress and I take it out every night to have a quick ogle- my wife thinks I've turned religious and saying my prayers before bed 😉

😂

[Murph]

On 05/05/2019 at 03:47, SiliconToad said:

My silver isn't out of sight. I keep an ASE in my pocket to fumble with during the day, have a stack of rounds on my desk that I play with and a display case in the sun room (tea room in the UK?) where I admire my shiny bits. 

 

I imagine a sun room is what we’d call a conservatory.  A room, often added to an external wall of the house with lots of windows so you can still sit in the sun on cold days. In other words, most of the summer here.

as for collecting my family always asks why I have to have more than one of everything.  Why do you need so many computers?  Why do you have 3 phones or three cameras or two telescopes or two microscopes or .... on and on.  They are for different purposes I tell them but I don’t think they believe me.  I also try pointing out two or three of each item isn’t a lot.

[HighlandTiger]

Collecting is an addiction, no different to drugs or alcohol. Its a buzz when you get that item you have been searching for. As someone who has been collecting "stuff" for well over 50 years, (stamps, beer mats, panini stickers, page 3 girls, comics, Hagar the horrible comic strips, cigarette cards, tea cards, trading cards, signed memorabilia, pokemon cards, toys, amongst many others).

But with PM's I've finally found something that will not only satiate my spending and collecting urges, it holds its value like no other. I must have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on collecting stuff over the years, and most of it in hindsight was a waste of money. I would have made more money buying premium bonds instead of the crud i have bought over the years. 

I know if I didn't have this addiction and invested my money instead of buying tat, I could have retired 3 years ago with a very cushty life. I just wish I'd found pm's about 30 years earlier than I did. 

[Gildeon]

Two years ago a gold 20$ came to me from the family. This made me research it's value, read more about gold and silver investment and started to buy some. Quickly it turned to collecting, with more high premium items. The last 5-6 months I am trying to balance this between collectible, semi-numismatics and pure bullion.

One main advantage for me is that (knowing myself) most of the money I have used so far would have been spent in mostly useless stuff. I had been collecting several things in my life and in most cases the resale value was between 20% and almost zero (my DVD collection for example). One exemption was my older video games that fetched good prices in some cases.

Now I have a stack that is highly fluid and (hopefully) can make a profit after a spot increase and a collection I enjoy and I know that I can get at least 70-80% if and when I want to let it go.

[matrawr]

I collect because I like the certain varieties I'm collecting and because you learn a little history.

I know it's probably a big no no......but I don't have a definitive exit strategy yet!.....I have ideas it's just which one do I settle on.

It's money put to good use.....so much better than on cigarettes and gambling both which I've experienced.....just need to pack in the ciggies!

And yes it's an addiction!