BUTTERNUT BITES #6: Why Join a Club?

NSDR Journal

VOL. XX, NO. 2

July 2003

BUTTERNUT BITES #6:  Why Join a Club?

By Steven Ellsworth

So many collectors and dealers I meet feel that “someone” will take care of this or that.  Sometimes I even hear, “Why don’t they do this?” or “they do that?”  Well, as I see it, “they” is you and me.  If you are an active collector, you need to join a club and participate.

And how do you know if you are an active collector?  Well, my definition is that if you either buy or sell a coin or note during a twelve-month period, you are active.  If you have met either of these criteria, then you are an active collector and should participate by joining a club.

In my volunteer positions as President of the Virginia Numismatic Association and as Regional Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic State for our national association, the American Numismatic Association, I have had the opportunity to travel to hundreds of coin clubs and coin shows and talk with thousands of collectors and dealers from around the world.  I have learned that most collectors possess three qualities that are somewhat unique to our hobby.  First, nearly all are highly intelligent and are far better educated than the average public.  Second, all enjoy the lure of the interesting and fascinating mix of art and history through coins and notes.  And third, all enjoy the excitement of the hunt for interesting and pleasing pieces to add to their own collections.

So, Why Join a Coin Club?

If you are human, and an active collector, you will need contact with other collectors for reinforcement of your collecting interests, goals and habits.  I have tried in vain to elicit even a mind response from my dog, “Big Jake,” our 225 lb. English Mastiff, but have so far only been given a polite, but brief sniff to the near perfect example of the 1799 over 8 Draped Bust Large Cent I so delicately held.  However, I will say that “Big Jake” showed slightly more interest to the coin than my mother-in-law.

If you try sharing your joy of collecting with your family, you may find that they may not share your same enthusiasm.  Imagine you have just explained how the first few Lincoln cent coins minted show the initials of the coins’ designer, Victor D. Brenner, on the reverse side of the coin, and that these were later removed the same year.  And how since you were a child you have always wanted one to complete your collection, and that finally after over 30 years, you have just acquired one, and the response from your family is merely, “How much is it worth?”

Or perhaps you have made the mistake of announcing at your work place that you are a collector of coins or currency.  The response is one of curious observation that you are perhaps from a strange planet, pursuing some sort of weird alien cult.  Or worse, your boss thinks that if you have money to spend on such trivia, then you are either overpaid or have had your hand in the till.

As a last resort, you try Wilson, your neighbor.  He is smart, intelligent and highly educated and would understand you.  Alas, he does.  But unfortunately his sixteen-year-old daughter is part of a punk rocker band, whose drummer has a drug problem and who later overhears a conversation that the next-door neighbor has lots of rare and valuable coins that can be easily stolen and sold for big bucks.  This presents a very easy way for him to support his drug habit.

In frustration, the lonely collector salts away his beloved collection in his local bank vault.  There the collection will be safe, but unfortunately will provide little enjoyment to anyone till the collector has been given the eternal dirt nap.  His bereaved widow sells the collection at a fraction of what it is worth, takes the money and buys a ticket to Hawaii to recover from her loss. There she meets “Honolulu Bill,” falls in love, and is later swindled out of the remaining money in the estate.

So, What is a Lonely Collector to Do?

Your very best solution is to join a coin club.  Nowhere can the joys of collecting be more appreciated than at a coin club.  Lectures, show and tell, exhibits and small auctions are just a few of the activities most clubs have each and every month.  You will find that you are most welcome and soon made to feel that you are not alone out there in that strange world that could be referred to as “The Collectors Zone.”

What Coin Club to Join?

I feel that being an active collector in today’s world has tremendous opportunities.  First, I would recommend joining your local club, the one nearest you that has regular meetings.  Plan to attend and participate in at least one meeting each quarter.  Second, and most important, you should consider joining our national organization, The American Numismatic Association.  Nowhere in the world are the interests of collectors fulfilled more than in the ANA.  Each month you will be mailed the award winning magazine, The Numismatist.  The great articles encourage most collectors to retain each issue to use as a reference in their own library.  And speaking of a library, the ANA has one of the largest numismatic libraries in the world.  The ANA provides many other services for the collector from photo authentication of coins to first class education opportunities for the young and old.  Third, join and participate in your state organization.  In the mid-Atlantic, where so many people live in one state and work in another, we have the opportunity to belong and participate in more than one state organization.  Perhaps you can even put together an exhibit for display at your State’s coin convention.  With a little work, you can even exhibit at one of the two annual national ANA conventions.  And lastly, if you have a keen interest in a specific series, you can also be part of a specialty club whose members are even more focused and aligned with your interests.  A great example is the Early American Coppers Club, devoted to pre-civil war early American copper coins.  If you are interested in early copper coins, the EAC is definitely for you.

So yes, I am an active member of many clubs.  And yes, I encourage others to join.  And yes, I want to improve communication of the ANA and make available the vast resources of the ANA to each and every club and member that asks for them.

Colonel Steven Ellsworth is a highly decorated retired Army Colonel with over 32 years of service who has written extensively on security for collectors and dealers.  He is a full-time coin dealer and collector and is the principal in the coin firm “Butternut.”  He currently serves as the American Numismatic Association’s Regional Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic States and is President of the Virginia Numismatic Association.