Parallels with book collecting

[NewStyleKing]

Dry, Sarah. The Newton Papers (p. 147). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. 

By Keynes’s day the first edition had become the paragon of desirability. The lust for the perfect edition—uncut pages, clean boards, the absolute minimum of wear—meant that a history of use was anathema. Ownership rather than readership was the fetish of collectors. The history of a book’s possessors, the more refined the better, added value to a book, but reading the books that one collected, and caring who might have done so in the past, was largely an irrelevance to collectors at the time. Reading could be done, but it was not necessary and, in the case of the uncut pages, inadvisable.

The modern coin collector too. The disease has spread.

[John Conduitt]

True, although by JM Keynes's day, coin collecting was many centuries ahead on that.

[ewomack]

I have always found this an interesting paradox of collecting: the desire to obtain things that didn't fulfill their intended purpose by being used less. In a way it becomes a celebration of uselessness. 😄 Yet I completely understand the desire to possess bright and shiny objects from the past. They probably look more like the original users experienced them, creating what can seem like a more direct connection with history. In the case of coins, they display details that worn coins won't have. But I would be disappointed, at least a little bit, to find out that the provenance of a coin I bought is that the minter accidentally dropped it into a ditch and it sat there doing nothing for 1,000 years. Yet I would still very much appreciate the condition of the coin. So it's a little complicated, at least for me.

As for books, I no longer collect books for the sake of collecting them. I can no longer stand having a book on my shelf that I have no intention of ever reading. A few books that I had signed by the authors in person remain the only exceptions. I can't consistently apply the same concept to coins, because I do appreciate pristine coins that did not fulfill their monetary destinies. So I apparently love unused coins but loath unused books. Such are the vicissitudes of possessing grey matter.

[NewStyleKing]

A bit like Samurai swords. The connoisseurship and classification and almost deification is more important than a proper funcutioning tool.And this started centuries ago. Nowadays if there appears to be "battle damage"  on it  seems to detract from it being perfect!  For gods sake it's a weapon of war and carnage. And if theirs's lacquer on it  the praise goes stratospheric!

I don't get it.  Sure a good clear example of a coin is good for classification and all that and very useful.

[Parthicus]

The collecting hobby I have a hard time understanding is rare wine collecting.  Now, I can certainly understand wine lovers (of which I am not one, sadly) wanting to enjoy rare and expensive wines.  The problem is that, to fully enjoy wine, you must drink it, thus destroying it.  When a rare bottle is sitting in your wine cellar, there's no way to experience how delicious it tastes without making it disappear.  At least with rare books, there may be reprints or online scanned pages, so you could still read the text without damaging your copy.  I can look at my coins as much as I want without damaging them (if I take reasonable precautions against environmental contamination.)

[NewStyleKing]

Parthicus..............  I totally agree,  not just wine, but Whisky is famously collected.  But any comestible is stupid, by its very name  shows it's meant to be consumed!  The laws of Thermodynamics means no matter how we keep them change is inevitable,  for good or ill! Those collectors really are collecting a label and a bottle. When very old drinks have been found and broached the report of taste is always very negative!

Utterly pointless!  Collectors are strange.....but showing off pointlessly is not new,  

[AETHER]

It's true, but is it so terrible? People generally collect something of value. So weather they want the best quality they can afford, like in coins...or books, they are still "collectors", not necessarily researches or readers.  You can research a worn, unappealing coin or read a faded and torn book, but if you keep and collect, the appeal is you want the best you can afford or get. And if you have knowledge of an item being rare, you want it, weather you will research it or read it. 

Seems like the nature of the game, and I think it is just a hobbyists nature. 

[AETHER]

EDIT: Double post

Edited January 6, 2023 by AETHER