Collecting and collections

Hi Coffee Guy,

I love this type of question. I collect coins through change given to me on and off over the last 35 years or so and also I will order coins from the Royal Mint when there are specific coins that I like the look of or I feel highlight a specific time in history or present that interests me. 

I have collected Shell memorabilia when there have been special promotions on as I do like cars etc. In my collection I have Trump cards, Lego and Cars with a race track and I always keep my collections in order as best I can.

I don't like throwing away old computer cables or accessories so in a way this is part of my collection habit.

One thing I can say about my collections over time is I can change into something new to collect but I always add to my coin collection.

My husband collected second hand vinyl when he was younger but he sold them when he was really short of money after he left college - which he was very sad to have to do. 

My Hubble who has Aspergers collects vinyl records and has thousands of them. I say there are plenty worse addictions!

I’ve got a lovely piece of citrine - it almost glows it’s so bright. It’s a shame you can’t put photos on here so we could share images of these things.

I can see why this would make you feel like that. I’m sorry to hear that this is preventing you from continuing your collections too and that I can’t offer any advise too- to do so without experiencing what you have described wouldn’t quite feel right to me, but I do hope that you manage to work though this and get back to what you enjoy.

I like the idea of having some antiques ranging back to those periods of history that you mentioned. It must also be interesting to have a collection that spans so much of the world. The carvings in particular sound fascinating. 

I would also echo what Kate Kestrel said about the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. A genuinely interesting place to visit- full of so many wonderful objects and snippets from history.

They are lovely aren’t they. They were a new discovery to me, but they combine two of my favourite things (minerals and elements from a tree) so to have one would be a bit of a win win situation really. I’m going to wait until I find the right example though. I did the same with my recent purchase of some citrene for my quartz collection.

It was a great course. I’m now on the lookout for a lathe and turning equipment, but have some saving to do first! And I agree- making useful things is great. I find beauty in practicality when I make things, it’s often why I don’t base my designs on the ideas of others. But I of course watch and learn from those around me and from more experienced crafts people.

With regards to your question about the rings, I was unsure. Our rings did come from that part of the country and mine looks very much like the offset oak design on his website- so possibly! I also looked at sandcast rings as if not heard of this before. What an amazing outcome- you must be very happy with them.

Thank you for the recommendation of looking at coromandel wood too. I had not heard of it, but it is beautiful and interestingly patterned. Not based on colour, but it reminds me a little of the patterns you find when someone works with maple burl.

I like the sound of the furniture that your husband made from pallets too. I have also made a few of those things. The old coffee table that I made has now been transformed into a small potting table for the garden though. I picked pallets to try to teach myself how to make things and now I’m feeling a bit more confident, I have been starting to explore other materials too. My aim is to try and use reclaimed materials mainly though (I like the history of the thing as well as the feeling gained from recycling something and preventing waste).

I’m sure my next trip to the beach will include amber hunting- I just need to time it better as the last time I went was very crowded and therefore the opposite of relaxing! I imagine a lot of people would be happy to find some ambergris- what an interesting substance.

Yes I also have a crystal and gemstone collection going! I like the smooth stones too. They all have unique shapes and colours, and it's a joy to look at each of them up close. 

It's unfortunate that there's people who exist who will do such damaging things to people and their valuables. But then I realize why I care about objects more than I care about people, some people are just unpleasant. I realized that it's quite sad when I would find more joy from a rock than I would find from those kinds of people. 

Wow I was just looking at images of the leaves a moment ago! What a coincidence. I've not thought of fossilized leaves before, but they sound very facinating. Maybe I'll get one of those one day too. 

Maybe you could lessen your OCD if you got some therapy for it? You won’t necessarily always struggle in that way. I used to be more worried about hygiene and second hand things but it doesn’t worry me as much now (and I didn’t have any therapy for it). I just gradually challenged my thinking - and in time things did improve, Things can change in time

I would love to get back into collecting Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards (particularly the older sets) but I have OCD so I absolutely hate touching things and would really worry about the condition. It’s really frustrating because I’m a collector at heart but this really holds me back.

Well - if you ever do return to Oxford then check out the Pitt Rivers Museum - I’ve think you would love it if you like African carvings. There’s bound to be loads of things you’d find interesting - it’s packed with interesting objects from all over the world. 

Unfortunately, I have only been to Oxford once, for a conference at the John Radcliffe Hospital and didn't have much spare time, so I missed out there. The Makonde make carvings in a number of different genres, the most interesting is 'shaitani' where the carver produces abstracted, very stylised carvings based on dreams, and traditional spirit-figures.

That sounds fascinating - I love amulets of various kinds. It’s so interesting that for centuries people have valued these small objects and given so much meaning and power to them. The carvings sound interesting - I don’t know much about African carvings, it’s something I such find out more about. Do you know the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford? It’s my favourite museum. It has a fantastic selection of Amulets and lots of African objects too. It has draws and draws of fascinating stuff that you can pull open - it’s a real treasure trove of interesting small objects. 

I’m so sorry you have those fears! I’m sure you would keep your special things safe from such horrible people! I’m glad though that you have some things you love, I have stones that are special to me too. I particularly like lapis, Rose Quartz and Chrysoprase. I also have stones off the beach from holidays (some lovely serpentine from Cornwall. I have a lovely antique inkwell made from Cornish serpentine - it’s a bit chipped but I love it - it has vibrant red streaks running through it. I love stones, the feel of them is so nice and smooth - they are like little sculptures to me. 

I’d love to try woodturning - it looks like a very satisfying thing to do. To make something useful is very satisfying too isn’t it? Your wedding ring sounds wonderful - was it made by Justin Duance? He made our sandcast wedding rings but he also makes wedding rings inlaid with wood, they’re really beautiful. He will use sand from any beach you have a connection with, and also uses wood from ships too. It’s a wonderful thing to have so much meaning in your wedding ring isn’t it? 
I was watching an old Salvage Hunters episode th3 other day and he was raving about a wood called Coromandel - do you know it? It has a lovely, unusual colour and grain - it’s really stunning. I really like campaign furniture too, which I discovered through his show. 
It’s interesting that you’ve made things from pallet wood - my husband has made loads of things from pallet wood too - especially  when we first got married and we had no money - he made loads of great things (shelving, coffee table, bathroom cabinet, a lovely panel for the side of the bath - all really lovely). We love making things from salvaged materials - it’s so good to do that. 
We haven’t got a drinks trolley - what a good idea! It sounds like quite a decadent thing to have - even if it is made from pallet wood! :) 

I hope you find some Amber one day. Actually I hope you find some Ambergris too - now that would be amazing wouldn’t it?! 

Books, so many books, antiquities - Greek and Roman pottery, Egyptian amulets - African wood carvings by the Makonde people of Tanzania and Mozambique. 

I’m sorry to hear your concerns linked to collecting, but I would also say that the things you have collected sound lovely. I can see why you’d enjoy them and collect them. Fossils are fascinating- I recently saw some examples of some fossilised leaves that were incredible. Not something I’d seen before, but I’d love to have one at some point.

Your enthusiasm for this is great- I too could talk at length about this! Not something I get the opportunity to do often due to people not sharing the interest or not being prepared to listen to someone talk about what interests someone else in the outside world.

I’m sorry to hear of your fear. Unfortunately I think it is a fear shared with many others, but is one that I perhaps avoided due to my mum’s old job. That said, I have a few fears of my own too.

Glass bottles can be great- so many great colours and shapes. I have spent a few hours watching YouTube videos on people finding and cleaning these in the past.

I can entirely relate to the metal detector comment- I’ve had this exact same conflict too. I think I would be far to obsessive to entirely enjoy it. And, I too have spent many hours in search of amber on the beach and to date have been unsuccessful- but the search goes on!

Woodwork is something that I love. I recently completed a woodturning for beginners course and it was amazing. I made a honey drizzler. It was nice because I actually had the chance to talk about wood with an expert for a whole day. Not something I get to do frequently! I really like oak too- as well as the others you mentioned- in fact, my wedding ring has an oak band inlayed into it. The oak is from an old tall ship. So it is great to be walking around with all of that history on my hand each day. I also like ebony due to its unique colour.

The statues sound very interesting- and solid. The weight of them would be satisfying I imagine. I made a drinks trolley for our house out of copper pipes and pallet wood- the colour is nice, so I can see that working well for a statue. Thanks for sharing your interests though- it was genuinely interesting to read about!