Bottom line up front: Collecting anything is a very personal pursuit and you don’t need any reason at all to collect things you enjoy.
“Keep or spend?”
This is a question that often comes up on my Facebook group.
Someone will post a picture of a bill they’ve found, and ask:
“Keep or spend?”
They want to know whether the bill that they’ve just found is worth keeping in their collection, or whether they should just spend it.
(That’s the great thing about hunting for fancy serial numbers, by the way. At worst you break even!)
Why people ask this question
Usually the person asking “Keep or spend?” is relatively new to collecting fancy serial numbers and wants to know whether they are on the right track or not.
Nothing wrong with asking for confirmation or feedback. It’s a great way to learn more.
Another reason may be that they want to make sure that they have a “good” collection by some standard.
Some assurance that they’re on the right track.
How people answer this question
Here are some examples of how other people (including myself at times) answer the “Keep or spend?” question.
Let’s say that it’s a dollar bill.
“Definite keeper!” The person answering the question thinks it would be unwise to spend the bill.
“Spender.” The person answering the question thinks the bill is nothing special and should be treated like a normal dollar bill. (I try not to use this answer because it’s dismissive and because I could be completely wrong.)
“That dollar bill is worth $X.” Gives an opinion on the value of the dollar bill, but that wasn’t what was asked for. (I’ve answered this way and then the person says that they’re not interested in selling.)
“If it were mine, I would spend/keep.” The person answering the question is making a judgment about whether or not it would be a good part of their collection.
“Keep or spend as you like.” Closer to the intent and probably the best answer of the bunch, but can come off as sounding disinterested.
Why it’s a tough question to answer
It’s a tough question to answer well for a few reasons, but the main reason is that collecting is very individual and very personal.
I might spend your bill if it were mine, but should you care what I would do with it? It’s not my decision to make.
You might like bills with 679 in the serial number. It’s totally your thing because your spouse was born in June, 1979. What right, then, do I have to tell you that 16798832 is a spender?
Or 65771561 has four different numbers twice, and you think that’s cool and want to keep it. Have at it, my friend! Who am I to yuck your yum?
You can collect whatever bills you want, for whatever reason you want. You can also spend whatever bills you want, for whatever great purpose you want.
Maybe there’s a different question
You are always free to keep or spend whatever is yours, and the only person who has the power to make that keep/spend decision is you.
But you already knew that. Right?
There may be other questions lurking beneath. To get at the answers to those, you could ponder these:
Are you looking to build a collection? Then you can consider how it fits in to your collection.
Are you saving it for your kids or grandkids? Maybe there’s a story in there that makes the value of the bill a non-issue.
Are you looking to sell it for profit? Then it matters if it’s collectable by people willing to pay more than face value for the bill.
It’s your money!
Again, you are uniquely empowered to decide what to do with your money.
Collecting fancy serial numbers, or anything else for that matter, is an allocation of your money and time. Make sure that the investment brings joy to your life!
