Golf Collectibles – Quality Rather Than Quantity For That Newer Collector
When it comes to purchasing antiques, the collector textbook would make it obvious that you should usually follow the rule of thumb which announces, “purchase the very best quality piece that your budget will allow for”. While generally sound advice, the new collector, particularly in the field of vintage golf clubs, will more than likely suffer from this approach.
As an example, a newbie collector may stumble across the opportunity to acquire a rare antique club, maybe of the hickory fashion, from the early-mid 1800′s. Given how hard it is stumble across such finds, the club commands a hefty premium, which could exhaust the whole purchase budget of a fresh collector. There is no question that a club like this, like most higher end golf collectibles, would hold its price or maybe appreciate in value.
The debate of quality vs quantity starts here. In all possibility, the purchaser of this single rare club could have definitely, for a similar investment, purchased a big group of old clubs. The group of clubs might not be as old or as rare as the single club, but they actually would be collectible nevertheless. Therefore under what eventuality does the second strategy make a lot more sense. According to the pros, and I'm in agreement, it makes particular sense to the more modern collector. The option of buying many clubs instead of a single actually special club gives the collector first hand exposure to a spread of antique golf clubs. When it comes to golf collectibles, the real knowledge is in the details and the facility to touch and slid, and study a selection of clubs allows the new collector to accelerate their data re the manufacturing, details, and stories that make one club more valuable than another. While its good to own that one trophy piece, it constrains the amount that one is able to find out about antique golf club accumulating.
The other advantage to the method of purchasing many clubs rather than a single is that your possibility of a poor investment is mitigated. With one club, you better be sure that you actually know your stuff and are getting appropriate worth in return for your significant investment, particularly since most new collectors are much more liberal in their spending early on, concerned to get going and make a splash. With a multi-club purchase, you can make a mistake or 2 and not have it be considered catastrophic.
One final thought on quality vs quantity as it is related to antique golf clubs. The old saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” occasionally applies here. Beyond the accepted wisdom of what makes a club valuable or rare are those things which make a club special, and thus collectible to different individuals. Examples are pieces related to certain people, or certain geographic areas, or attributable to certain club-makers. In all cases, you will find that golf collectibles are one of the most addictive and gratifying pastimes one can undertake, filled with intrigue and neat surprises now and then.
Andrew Shea has been concerned in Antique Golf, both on a private level, and in a pro capacity for a few years. If you have a query or have an interest in vintage golf clubs typically, you're frequently welcome at his site.
