Collecting and tieing up money.

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Hasn't anybody though, that avid Cdn. banknote collectors tie up large amounts of money with their collections? Sure we collect currency for enjoyment, but after a number of years, it does tend to tie up lots of money just sitting in a collection. Are some people intending to sell off their collections one day as an investment, or are others collecting to keep them forever and pass them onto their children?

I hope to be buried with mine    
Answer is B to your question 4 me  

It only ties up as much money as your willing to spend - and I have a weakness for money and I am incapable of saying no! . Basically you buy the notes you love then sell them to buy notes you love a tiny bit more. If your successful at it, you can buy a couple new notes by selling some older notes that went up in value significantly or you just do want as much. With this method you do not have to spend that much money on the hobby.

Hasn't anybody though, that avid Cdn. banknote collectors tie up large amounts of money with their collections? Sure we collect currency for enjoyment, but after a number of years, it does tend to tie up lots of money just sitting in a collection. Are some people intending to sell off their collections one day as an investment, or are others collecting to keep them forever and pass them onto their children?

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint) I have no children to leave my stuff to, so I will likely have to leave all of it to charity and my note collection will be sold off by the executor of my will or the charity(ies) I choose.

I would like to keep ALL of my collection until I croak unless I hit upon hard times and have to sell part or all of it.  However there is one error note I have that I will never, ever sell even if I have to starve while clutching it in my bony, anorexic fingers.

There's a happy thought from a 30-something guy for a fine summer weekend, huh?  

Sell a man a fish and you've made an honest profit.
Teach a man to fish and you've ruined a perfectly good business opportunity.
-KARL MARX

rachelsprivates [BTW, that's a...strange ...name], are you sure it was stuffy old Karl Marx that said this?  It sounds more like something that GROUCHO Marx would say

I used to stash away a consecutive run of clean UNC notes and then spend them as the need arose-- often not discovering if they were rare or not.  As a 16 year old working at a car wash, I only found a couple radars, 1 decent $2 replacement and 1/2 dozen crappy ones (73 $1.00), and I stashed 54 $20 as they disappeared from circulation.  

My point is-- I had a pretty mediocre collection which I carried around with me before there was a Charlton-- but I was happy since the collection only cost me face value.  Then I bought a 1937 AU $5.00 $20 VF DF, some crisp consecutive $5.00 and little by little started adding to my collection (from age 18 - 25).  I guess a lot of the money I stashed was wasted (in that it could have bought me something).  But I often brought my old ratty bills to collectors who had stands in the malls, and would trade them in for better notes.  I just hope they weren't test notes because I was unaware of the S/R or G/R significance!~ (most dealers wouldn't give anything above face, but would be happy to discount the one he was selling- or charge no tax).  I put the collection on the back burner while I travelled, and was busy with other preoccupations.

About 3 years ago-- I began to renew my interest and started the stash and save technique once again.  I don't think its such a good way to collect unless you know you're stashing something collectible.  I realized as I researched here, and elsewhere that I wasn't getting much "bang for my buck"

So I've tried to take whatever I stash and turn it into something worthwhile.  I also sold almost all my notes from my childhood, and converted the money into upgrades.  I've been on steady uphill pursuit of superior notes.  Its what I encourage all collectors to do.  It seems a natural evolution of collecting (to want better and better notes-- as Oli1001 suggests).

My advice to anyone who cares to take it: if you got notes stashed away-- and you've got no reason to believe they're worth anything-- then get rid of them!  QUICK!  Go to  your nearest dealer-- or a show-- or on eBay-- sell them and put the money back into something rare or desirable. Try to tie up as little money as possible unless you see it as an investment opportunity.  You may want to buy up many of one kind of note-- if you think its undervalued and due to go up.  Then (as rachelprivates suggests) sell.  Buy and selling is a very good practice for any collector who wants to make something of his/her collection.

There's nothing wrong with selling portions of your collection off-- esp if the need is great, and the timing is right.  The only problem is deciding what to sell, and how much.  Lets face it: a lot of us love this hobby because we know we're into for the long term, and that it can pay us back- if the need is there!