Do you collect and if so what and why?

1. 58

   Catherine Stoneposted 14 years ago

   Mine is philately,(collecting stamps.)
   
   Though I prefer to be known as a postal historian. Simply put it means I collect postal history, which is simply the actual covers with stamps still attached.
   
   My speciality is the hyper-inflation postal period from Germany which was in effect from August - December 1923. I collect as a way to relax and also learn a great deal along the way. I love to research items found and get a great buzz from discovering something new or scarce.
   
   Happy to try and answer any questions on stamps or postal history in general if anyone has any.

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2. 0

   cosetteposted 14 years ago

   collections are nice, especially because they are litrtle pieces of history.
   
   i have a couple, but mostly i collect dolls. in fact i just culled quite a few from my closet this weekend and am opening up an ebay store to get rid of them. normally i would have a garage sale but i thought no these are too nice to give away for a buck or two...

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3. 61

   Gemsongposted 14 years ago

   We collect dragons. Assorted sizes and styles. If it's a dragon I swear we own it. If it has a dragon on it, spouse wants it. The cooler the dragon the happier he is.

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4. 78

   pageantgirl31413posted 14 years ago

   I collect state spoons. I don't know if you have ever seen them. You can normally get them at gas stations sometimes. My mom got them for me when I was younger when she had to go TDY (temporary duty) for the Air Force. I just keep it up now. Whenever I go to a new state, I pick one up.

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5. 67

   Pearldiverposted 14 years ago

   I collect Pearls.
   The wiser, the better.
   But I must say that I do not buy them... just trade.

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6. 66

   jestoneposted 14 years ago

   I used to collect comics. Marvel mostly, like Spider-man and X-men. I still have around 1500 of them.
   I don't do that much now but I turned it into a fascination with Investing in Stocks and Trading. My first stock was Marvel when they came out of bankruptcy for the second time.
   I like to learn about companies and then make money "collecting" the best ones.
   BTW, Marvel did great for me I went to every one of their film openings, even the crummy ones.
   J

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7. 71

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I collect Indian Head cents.  My set is almost complete.  Just missing 7 key dates.  This is my third time trying to collect a full set.  The first one, I didn't care about the quality of the coin and didn't really know much about coin grading or quality until I sold it 6 years ago.  Most were crappy coins and it was missing the 3 most important key dates but it sold for over $1500 on Ebay.  The next set, I was more keen to quality and were all XF(extra fine). This set was missing the same 3 key dates and sold to a collector for over $4000. The collection I'm working on now are all Certified Mint State coins that graded and sealed by a professional numismatic service PCGS.

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8. 62

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

     I thought the thread was whether or not people collect unemployment compensation (often referred to as "collecting").     I guess I've been hanging around too many laid off people recently.  (I don't happen to collect stuff OR unemployment.    )

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9. 77

   Rebecca E.posted 14 years ago

   proceline dragons, they are really cool, but they need to be white and not easily found.

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10. 66

    emievilposted 14 years ago

    Stamps, coins (from various countries), money bills (is this the right term?) from various countries also .

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11. 0

    Crazdwriterposted 14 years ago

    okay here we go...crystals, polished stones, books on huanted history of states, fairy figurines, dargon figurines, mermaid figurines, magician figurines. And I collect them because I love too

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12. 0

    girly_girl09posted 14 years ago

    I collect political memorabilia. My favorite piece has to be a Reagan/Bush campaign placard (now known as rally signs) with the American flag on one side. (I don't know if it is '80 or '84...wish I knew. I found it in my state party's basement in mint condition) I have lots of buttons, photos, etc. from all sorts of political campaigns. I have made an effort to keep items from every campaign I've worked on, but to me, I appreciate the vintage campaign gear from campaigns that occurred before I was born (or involved), no matter the political party. It's fun to look at.
    
    It's not a collectible, but I absolutely have fallen in love with a big coffee mug I bought at the Nat'l Archives gift shop. It has a collage of tons of different campaign slogans.I ordered 5 more so if I break one, I'll never be without. I really, really love it.
    
    I also collect vintage perfume bottles (and labels) and vintage hat boxes.
    
    
    I guess you could also say that I collect an immense amount of shoes and handbags....hahahaha.

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13. 91

    Rochelle Frankposted 14 years ago

    I have a bunch of little pitchers that have belonged to different members of my family. Yes I have a pitcher hub.

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14. 77

    Tadeusz598posted 14 years ago

    I collect certain books, matchbox labels, shells and coins. If I had more space an money I'd collect porcellain, art, and sports cars, probably antiques and cufflinks too.
    
    Collecting has several psychological functions for me (not in order):
    
    1. Appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of things.
    2. Enjoyment of completion- completing sets of things.
    3. Showing off to my friends.
    4. As a basis of study- using coins as a basis to understand history, for instance.
    5. As an excuse to meet others through joining clubs etc.
    6. As a way of passing the time.
    7. Enjoying searching for and finding items for the collection.
    8. The pleasure of order: arranging and maintaining a collection in  a sensible sequence and in good condition.
    9. Escapism. The collection is a perfect world, an attempt to realise an ideal- we can attain a perfection in our colections which is absent in our lives, perhaps.
    
    My collections do not really matter, they are ultimately trivial, but they are a valuable diversion. When I hear about people who devote themseves excessively to collections, paying millions of pounds for rare postage stamps, say, I tend to think they have lost their sense of what really matters in life.
    
    An excellent novel about a collector is Chatwin's "Utz".

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