Library Trends

The collecting of things for pleasure is an almost universal human experience. Psychological studies tell us that it is deeply connected to the development of the self and of relations with the world and other people. This article explores collecting as serious leisure, reviews explanations of collecting behavior, and focuses on coin collectors as one example. The types and organization of numismatic literature are explored. A participant observation study of coin collectors in both face-to-face and electronic meeting places finds that they are motivated by the potential for self-development, social interactions with other collectors, and financial gains, and at times by compulsive collecting.