There is a peculiar aspect to the spending habits of most collectors. In a wink, and with little thought, many will spend $1,400 or so for a one-ounce gold coin. When it arrives, it is put in a safe deposit box. It yields little in the way of pleasure and enjoyment. Ask the same collector if he or she will spend $500 per year on subscriptions to numismatic organizations and for books and the answer is usually, "I don't spend nearly that much." The same person is obsessed with grades and prices, and that's about it.

Longevity of interest in numismatics is best achieved by learning about the art, history, science, and romance of coins, tokens, medals, and paper money. The easiest, best, and least expensive way to do this is to build a modest working library of interesting and informative numismatic books.

A new entry in the field is the Journal of Early American Numismatics, two book-sized publications issued twice a year by the American Numismatic Society. Each is between 175 and 225 pages and is extensively illustrated. The editor is Christopher McDowell, whose specialty is research-unearthing facts and information not easily available. To this effort is added information from standard sources. The result is that a study of a particular item is apt to be definitive. There is a danger in JEAN however. You might want to rush out and buy a featured item, and that could cost you more than a one-ounce gold coin!

A year's subscription costs $80, or if you are a member of the American Numismatic Society, $65.

Chris McDowell has just informed me of this:

Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle no longer lives, we may never learn more about Sherlock Holmes and the giant rat of Sumatra or the singular adventures of the Grice Patersons in the Island of Uffa, you can learn about Miss Banks' singular contribution to a first-class American numismatic mystery that is still ongoing. As to the Ford article mentioned by Chris, as you read these words, I am in the process of finessing it for the June issue of JEAN. Full disclosure: I am a fellow of the ANS but have no vested interest in JEAN. I pay the same price for my subscription that others do.

Get ready! Get set! Go for it!

To read the complete article, see:
Bowers on collecting: I challenge you to spend $80 and open a new world!(http://news.coinupdate.com/bowers-on-collecting-i-challenge-you-to-spend-80-and-open-a-new-world/)