Collectors
Collectors are individuals who acquire and preserve objects regarded as valuable, rare, or personally meaningful. They often assemble groups of items over time, guided by a theme, period, geography, material, or form, and typically pursue curation and study alongside acquisition. Collecting may be a hobby, a scholarly pursuit, or a professional occupation for dealers, curators, or researchers.
Common collecting areas include art, stamps, coins and medals, books and manuscripts, toys and games, comics,
Collectors engage in provenance research, authentication, conservation, and documentation. Storage, climate control, insurance, and indexing are
Organizations and institutions support collecting through clubs, societies, and fairs; museums and libraries acquire or borrow