Collecting like a Kid

I was fortunate enough to have grown up when collectors were searching bankrolls and speculators preferred stocks. I hunted for old Lincoln cents and Buffalo nickels in pocket change. On rare occasions, I stumbled across a ruddy silver piece smoothed by a thousand fingertips -- a mute witness to decades of saving and spending.
   Now folks lament that the Golden Era of collecting has passed. The silver is gone. And, wheat-back cents are few. Nary a nickel dated prior to 1960 can be found. So, we gather together to sing nostalgic tunes while wondering if coin collecting will ever be the same.

This is Fun! Coins are Fun. Are you having Fun?
Or, have you lost the ability to appreciate a ruddy nickel?

   Slabs are everywhere. Mint products flood the marketplace. Circulating coins made of pot-metal offer little intrigue. But this is not why many collectors feel lost. Rather, they have been seduced by the Angel of Numismatic Correctness.
   Consequently, many collectors have allowed their brain to be white-washed into thinking that new and shiny is the only way to go. The best-selling coin books are filled with valuations. Coins are treated like stocks. So boring.
   Is this how you want to spend your leisure time up until the day you die?
   Once upon a time, a Buffalo nickel found in pocket change was reason enough to huddle together with friends. Everyone elbowed in to see and touch. An old coin looked old. It was exciting to imagine how it survived. The experience was so good that many of us (kids) spent our allowance on old coins. For me, this was a whopping $0.75! But, a cool Buff was only a quarter or less. A deal! 
   It was great fun to search for all the dates. Some nickels could be found, and some purchased. Some nickels just had the last digit showing -- but no matter, it was cool to be able to decipher it. The heavily worn pieces were interesting in their own right. Wear patterns, oxidation, odd nicks and scrapes -- these features added to the allure.
   Nowadays dealers label these coins as "junk" or (pejoratively) "collector coins." What does this clever phrase mean? Collector Coins. I guess it means junk.
   Too bad that many dealers have lost their soul. I see YNs, dressed in sharp suits and ties, sitting behind tables full of slabs at coin shows. They look serious, wielding fancy pens, spreadsheets neatly folded to the side, like stock brokers. A ruddy nickel never gets a look. Too bad. Instead, they obsess about full horns. Who cares about full horns?
   Did you know that some folks have paid big bucks (many allowances added together) for a 1926-S full-horned buffalo? Mushy strikes make the horn a coveted feature. Yet, rarely do you see regular folks elbowing in to inspect the horn. Such a beautiful coins reduced to a horn! Oxidation looks better.
   As for me, and the other necromancers, we want to explore old coins that look their age. These are the coins with stories. Collecting is most fun when we are driven by curiosity and imagination. Collector coins are full of intrigue.
   The way of the necromancer is to recapture this youthful exuberance. It is not about spreadsheets: gray, red, or otherwise. And, it is not about full horns.