Collecting Friends: Regrets

Regrets

Steve: I once worked with a person who, when making a mistake at work, would say in a casual way “oopsies.” The response was a casual recognition of a mistake, which could be used for either ordering the wrong size water bottle or leaving a door unlocked, resulting in a stolen laptop.

Likely every collector has had a “what was I thinking” moment when buying something and then getting it home and wondering, why?!? 

Covid-19 made folks stir crazy, reviving collectibles markets as many people had both more spare time and more disposable income than expected. A May 20, 2024, article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted six readers who had regrets. One person had unexpected costs after she bought a vacation cabin that required the Forest Service to remove infested trees at the property after a bark beetle attack. A couple bought a large pickup truck and a 22-foot travel trailer to visit national parks around the country, only to find out that even a large RV is small relative to a home and that it’s an inefficient way to travel if one isn’t comfortable. 

Another gentleman recalled back to 1984, when he was making $18,000 a year, spending $7,000 for a Rolex Submariner before realizing that he didn’t love it since the glow-in-the-dark hands were hard to read at night. Today it’s stored, and he wears a Garmin smartwatch that is more practical than the Rolex ever was. 

I’ve purchased paintings that were too large to fit in the car, requiring discreet disposal of the frame at an auction house. I’ve chased a bargain for an ancient coin, only to discover that it was a deceptive fake, and have compromised on quality to buy an entry level example of a classic American rarity. I’ve always loved the 1796 Draped Bust, Small Eagle quarter dollar – it represents the first year of the denomination and the denomination would not be produced again until 1804. I decided to purchase the cheapest one I could find at the August 2014 American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in metropolitan Chicago. Graded Good Details, Plugged, Whizzed by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., it was among the lowest-priced examples of the always-desirable one year type. 

[Image: One of Steve’s “oopsies” was buying the lowest-cost example of a rare 1796 Draped Bust, Small Eagle quarter dollar that had significant problems. While representing the one-year type with a mintage of just 6,146, it also felt too much like a compromise and he sold it a year later, breaking even. Coin images courtesy Stack's Bowers.]

Stack’s Bowers Galleries wrote in its offering, “This otherwise silver gray example exhibits warmer peripheral retoning in sandy tan-gray,” adding, “All major design elements are fully outlined, including those at the upper obverse and lower reverse borders that have been rather nicely engraved over the plug.” Of course, I knew that I was buying a “problem coin” when I purchased it and thought I scored a deal. It represented the issue, but didn’t feel aspirational and the re-engraving of details to compensate for the lost and added metal bothered me. I sold it after a year for around what I paid for it. 

Dennis, do you have regrets in buying or, as the unnamed co-worker would say, “oopsies?”

Dennis: Some of my “oopsies” come from my own neglect or laziness. An example that comes to mind: I used to have a big, heavy gun-safe that held part of my collection. When we moved a few years ago, I paid extra to have it transported from one house to the other, because it would fit perfectly in my new office. Most of its contents, though, I ended up transferring to other safes or bank deposit boxes, and I didn’t really use the gun safe anymore. No problem, it was still a nice piece of impressive-looking furniture, and would be there when I needed it. After almost a year I went to get something out of the safe, and found that the batteries in its digital interface had died and corroded their contacts, making it impossible to open the safe electronically. And there were coins and paperwork inside! You can imagine the burst of panic, and how hard I kicked myself for my neglect. “Do I have to call a locksmith? Can the manufacturer help me?” Suddenly that big heavy piece of furniture looked like a stupid, expensive mistake.

After my initial panic I remembered the safe’s manual override—a long, old-fashioned looking metal key that could bypass the electronics to unlock the tumblers. “Oopsie,” indeed.

I left the safe behind the next time we moved, and now I let the bank store my collection.

I’ve made mistakes buying pig-in-a-poke or sight-unseen coins. There’s usually a reason why they’re being offered at “bargain” prices . . . and without a return policy. I have an 1834 Bust half dollar that I bought many years ago from a mail-order dealer. I paid an Extremely Fine price for a beautiful Fine-12 coin. I treasure these mistakes for their “teachable moments”! (How’s that for eternal optimism?)

Be on the lookout for another installment of Collecting Friends next month or subscribe here and never miss a post! In the meantime, explore beautiful coins from the ANA's Edward C. Rochette Money Museum Virtual Exhibits.

About the Collecting Friends Blog

Hello! And welcome to the ANA’s blog series, “Collecting Friends.”

We decided to approach this much like a conversation between friends. One of us starts with a topic, then the other responds. Simple as that. Along those lines, we’ll keep the tone conversational as much as possible. 

We both write about coins professionally, and will keep our relative style guides in our writing. For Dennis, former Publisher at Whitman Publishing, that means capitalizing “Proof” and italicizing Red Book and never saying anything bad about Ken Bressett, who’s awesome anyway. 

For Steve, who’s written with Coin World for 15 years, it means Winged Liberty Head dime instead of “Mercury” dime, and similar nuances and oddities. And, it means writing A Guide Book of United States Coins (better known as the “Red Book”). 

Both of us started collecting when we were little, introduced to coins by a chance encounter with an old coin that sparked our curiosity. One of Steve’s interests is coin valuation, and he gravitates towards the intersection of art and coins. Dennis enjoys medals and world coins, and studying modern U.S. coins in the context of older series, what came before.

We met in 2012 at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia at an event hosted by the Austrian Mint where there was both a Ben Franklin and a Betsy Ross impersonator. We’ve become great friends in the past decade. We even were appointed together to sit on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee starting in 2016, but Steve resigned soon after he was appointed to accept a full-time job at the Treasury Department while Dennis was re-appointed in 2020.

We taught a course together on numismatic publishing and writing a few years ago at the Summer Seminar, and while life has gotten in the way of us teaching another class, we jumped at our friend Caleb’s suggestion that we write a column. We hope you enjoy it! 

About the American Numismatic Association

The American Numismatic Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and encouraging people to study and collect coins and related items. The Association serves collectors, the general public, and academic communities with an interest in numismatics.

The ANA helps all people discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of educational programs including its museum, library, publications, conventions and numismatic seminars.