Loving the Unloved: Gut Responses in Coin Collecting (and Zombie Coins)

Our gut rules! So go with it!

   We like to think that our heads rule, but this is not so. Yes, we can plan; we can execute; and we can evaluate. But the living that we do -- the real living -- is shaped by our gut.
   Of course, our gut is connected to our brain -- the limbic system, that is. This is where our emotions reside -- all of them: rage, excitement, awe. This is the power center.

What spirits lie within? This relic shouts!

   Don't you want a coin that hits you in the gut? A coin that jolts the limbic system? Maybe not all the time, but at least some of the time?
   Relic coins do this.
   You cannot explain or analyze the allure of a relic piece in full corrosive bloom: you just feel it. This simply does not happen with glossy coins that lived their whole life in an envelope.
   Let's be real here: nice smooth copper is pleasing to look at just as elevator music is soothing. It is pretty: smooth with sharp details. Perhaps you get a mild rise out of it. But, these Jim-Dandies look just like the other pretty ones. Maybe one of the dentils is more crisp than on some other one. Or, perhaps the hair is just a tad sharper. Oh look! The L in Liberty has a full serif! Wow!
   A relic coin, on the other hand, is not smooth at all. It is not pleasing. Rather, it shouts! The details have given way to the ravages of time and Mother Nature. Each relic is unique. Each one is mysterious. They prompt questions: When was it lost? How long ago? Who found it?
   Relics look like us after half a century of living -- really living. And yet, folks run from relics, as if the relics are zombies! Yes, I like that: Relic coins are zombies!

   Why would anyone run from a relic that is steeped with such telling wear and tear? I think it is because they have learned to suppress what is happening in their gut. Yes, they have enlarged frontal lobes (Gee, that's nice). They know each dentil personally (also nice). But be forewarned, the gut will revolt one day: ulcerating in a pool of acid while you juggle your slabs.
   Now, let me say that there is nothing wrong with counting dentils ... BUT, relic coins can offer so much more. They are provocative. They jolt us to see the crush of the world in a way that is both horrific and awe inspiring. I dare say, relics have vitality -- an occult energy that only a necromancer can appreciate.
   And necromancy? Well, it is a skill -- like condition grading -- that can be honed with practice and experience. You do not need to call a cunning man to charm you -- just find an old relic like the one pictured and spend time with it.

   By the way, I am not at all surprised that kids are not drawn to coin collecting these days. The new and shiny, the smooth copper, the sharp details -- all this is boring. Face it: Condition grading is boring. It is a neurotic exercise, actually. Go ahead, give me a shiny American Eagle, and I'll feed it to the ducks. Learn to be a necromancer instead -- this is what will attract new collectors: old stuff that looks old ... and is filled with zombie spirits!