Scratchcard Collections

Scratchcard collections aren’t as common as stamp collections, but they do exist, and anyone who plays these games on a regular basis should think twice before they throw their losing tickets away.

As society rolls on year after year, tastes change, and scratchcards also change to keep up with those tastes. Once upon a time a UK scratchcard player could only choose between a very small variety of cards that most people referred to by their colour (for example, a “blue instant”). Today players can buy many more varieties, and almost all of them will be replaced with new ones when the existing cards have been exhausted.

Scratchcards have two advantages for the regular player. First, they give you the chance of winning a cash prize, and in some games the top prize can be truly life-changing. Second, even if you lose you can build up a collection of cards that show how this form of lottery game changes from year to year.

Yes, I know that Indiana Jones scratchcards are all over the place right now to tie in with the fourth movie that was recently released, but in five or ten years time you would probably find such a card very hard to come by. The rarity of a card could therefore give it some value for other collectors in much the same way as a bus ticket from the 1960s is now a collectible item.

If you want to pursue this new hobby, I suggest you aim to collect one of every new type of card as and when it is launched. Scratch it neatly and if you win a small prize such as a pound or two, you can decide to claim the cash and buy another (thereby collecting only losing tickets) or keep the ticket in your collection as an example of a modest winner. Obviously, if you win a larger prize you would be better off claiming the prize and buying another for your collection.

I also suggest that you store the cards properly in the kind of album that stamp collectors use or in an index box so that they are protected from sunlight and general wear and tear. Storing the cards in chronological order (according to the date they were launched) might be a good idea.

Nobody can guarantee that lottery scratchcards will be worth anything in the future, but since you are buying them anyway you might as well hang onto them properly just in case. Who knows, your collection might pay for itself in ten or twenty years time even if you don’t win a fortune as you build it.

Article Last Updated: 22/06/2010 14:02:28

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