To specialise or not? That is the question.

Thank you for accepting me into this group. Although I have been collecting banknotes for 3/4 years I still consider myself as new to the hobby. I have accumulated notes from various places. The UK because I live there. Hong Kong because I have visited there often. China because I find them interesting. Various places whilst on holidays. Purchases from the net because I found the note attractive. Now I realise I can’t collect the whole world, so my question is what do other collectors do. Do you collect just certain countries or any note that you like wherever it comes from?

I try to constrain myself to a core group of countries, but it isn't working...

A collection of a numismatist often changes and diversifies over time. Everyone is free to collect what they want and in the way they want. That is also what makes Numismatics so wonderful.

I can give only my personal opinion but I think specialising your collection for me is great, you get to really focus into your collection and can grow a really special collection.

I could not have been satisfied with just one specialised collection so for me it resulted in the following.

- Coins from Basel (part of my ancestors came from Basel)
- Coins from Dombes (Again ancestors from France which originated from this area).
- Medals and Tokens with Ship motives and also a few coins with ship motives (Always been fascinated by ships so that came naturally).
- 19th Century pattern coins of Liberia (Quite random one for me, aquired some when I was collecting almost everything pleasing but got really fond of these so I kept on collecting them)
-Last more of a side-collection/investment
Japanese Gold Coins (I lived there for 2 1/2 years and my wife is from japan so that somehow just started)

Im strict at limiting myself that I do not buy anything else. If anything else somehow comes by me, I just sell it on and do not keep it.

I have only been collecting for a few years now. I specialize, in that, I collect only coins that I think are really cool or interesting.

I know that's not very helpful, but, as long as you enjoy your collection and aren't breaking the bank doing it or becoming a hoarder (such a struggle for me), you should collect what you like whether or not it fits neatly into a box / definition. Hobbies are supposed to be fun. Just my opinion.

Collect what takes your Fancy you will in the long run find that there are Notes from Certain Areas that hold you more than others so you will look for them more than others but Diversity is wonderful the world is your oyster enjoy.

My method is a bit of both specialising and not specialising, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this

Allow me to explain. Over the years I noticed I like some particular areas better, and that's what I focus on. But focusing on them doesn't mean I ignore everything else all together! I have some small sets that I want to complete someday, and once in a while I get coins for those via swaps or buying. And also, of course, once in a while I see a cool coin and decide I need it, so I get it

What ends up happening is that in terms of numbers my "random coins" are way way more than the ones of my focuses, but in terms of money it's unbalanced the other way. That means I simply get better coins for my areas of focus and the random ones and the random sets tend to be on the cheaper side. I have some of those smaller sets that I decided are allowed a few good coins, but not too many! And what I mean by that is that it's my collection so I make my own "sets". For instance, I ignore gold all together, and in my italian collection I'm also completely ignoring those coins who have a ridiculously low mintage and that are super expensive.

In case anyone cares my main focuses right now are Portuguese hammered coins (so pre 1683) and "iberian coins" from all ages (with a particular emphasis on hispano-islamic coins nowadays). Sometimes I get back to portuguese colonial coins, especially older ones. The random sets include an italian set from unification to the end of the lira, a UK set from Victoria to decimalisation, a french set from 1900 to 1999, etc.

When I get the chance to acquire a complete set of regular circulation coins from a random country for cheap I usually do it too. Last one was South Sudan, a while ago.

It is up to you what you want to focus collecting, personally I’m collecting at least three coins from every country/issuer that exist/existed since 1900. Within that I have a soft spot for Mexican coins and banknotes because I’m from there and I do like the more modern coins but I’m free to add older coins to my collection.

Also coins and notes with different methods of transportation on them because I’m into cars semi professionally and into trains and aviation on a smaller scale.

I never know what I am going to want next, but when i do...

I like "bennycunha97" reply personally as it fits my approach. I have a specialized "personal" collection in which I focus on sets for a specific # of nations. I also have a generalized collection of notes from a larger variety of countries I will likely flip. In general, these are all low denominations. I hope to use this general collection to swap/sell & eventually fund my smaller personal world sets. I did this to build my Canadian collection & I hope to do it (flip world notes) for a specific # of eclectic world notes. Its not easy seeking UNC notes & they can be tough to find at reasonable prices. It can also be tough to follow the "less is more" rule of thumb & to sell for a minor profit (especially with rising platform listing fees) & other expenses.

We wouldn't be collecting if we didn't enjoy it so I don't follow that keep whatever "makes you feel good" philosophy. Hoarding can lead to messy divorces. For banknotes, I think its imperative to draw some lines in the sand (decide what you're not going to collect) since its an expensive hobby. I've developed a few collector goals & I'm always educating myself in specific nations/regions (trends for what's popular). For me, I no longer collect circulated notes (avoid certain denominations) unless they're quite scarce/tough &/or have significant collector appeal. I believe my focus helps me enjoy the hobby more & that's what I've been encouraging on my hobby site.

I started by choosing a major area, that being coins from Europe only. I like oddities, so I love coins from hard to get and odd places, but I eventually settled on Livonian collection. From time to time, tree of collections grows - I like Portuguese escudo commemoratives, Austrian medieval pfennigs for example.

In the end, it is up to you.

I am collecting coins for more than 50 years now, and some time ago I had the same problem.
First, I decided to limit myself to truly coins that are the coins minted for circulation, thus no coins minted just for the collectors and no gold coins (just for the excessive value).
Then, I restricted myself to only the coins from 1900, but at a certain point we reached 2000, and the Euro coins, so I further restricted my collection to coins from all over the world from 1900 till 2000.
And still it is a quite large set.

I used to collect from all over the world it was a lot of fun and my collection was massive. I have now chose to focus on certain areas and it is sad to see so much of my collection go I have been able to free up money for specific coins in my areas of focus now that really give me more satisfaction. I now have to agree with the saying quality over quantity. I also appreciate how much less room my collection takes up now than it did before.

Matt