State of the Hobby

I know. It was a rhetorical joke

Ever hear that joke about spending $2 on a bookmark when a $1 bill works just as well

 

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Good thing you said "joke" because that would never happen, what with the imminent advent of the cashless society and all.

 

Just finished reading this thread from start to finish. Looks like V. Kurt has derailed another one. He just can't help himself.

On to the subject at hand. I'm optimistic about the state of the hobby for two reasons. First, the one Dave cites:

And secondly, this one: the desire to collect things is wired into the human psyche, particularly the male psyche. Many people end up collecting something, and I believe a percentage of them will inevitably find their way into coins.

Of course, it's incumbent upon us to support efforts to make our hobby visible and accessible, so that more people choose to satisfy their collecting desire with coins rather than snow globes, shot glasses or Hummel figurines.

To that end, this can't be stressed enough:

The things that capture our imagination as children tend to stick with us, at least to some degree, for our entire lives.

When I was child, there was a small box in our house filled with coins and currency my dad and uncles brought back from the Pacific and European theaters of WW2. I was always allowed to rifle through that box at will, and I think it fueled my interest in world coins to this day. A little later, as an adolescent, I saw the Whitman cent, nickel and dime folders of a much older cousin, and that's all it took to hook me for life.

Not to suggest that people can't come to coin collecting as adults; of course they can. But there's no substitute for planting that seed during childhood.

Like Mainebill described, my active interest has gone dormant at times, sometimes for years, but it never died. And as I get older, the dormant periods have become shorter and shorter. These days, I seldom set my collection aside for more than a few weeks, usually due to the demands of work.

And finally, yes, I have my own small box of coins that any child who visits my home is welcomed to dig through to their heart's content.

 

One more thing...here's a revealing exercise.

Do a Google search for "most popular things to collect."

You'll get some hits along the lines of "weirdest things to collect" or "hottest things to collect now", but those are just Internet click bait and can be skipped over.

Look for legitimate lists, and coins are on almost all of them, often in the #1 or #2 position.

I'm not too concerned about the state of the hobby.

 

For me, yes I had leanings towards liking coins as a kid such as finding those weird pennies with a different back in change or those strange quarters with a drummer boy on them etc. But what really did it was the $ as I loved the movie UHF as a kid and a bum is given a penny that was worth thousands (55 dd) well I didn't think much of it beyond that until a few years ago when I started to go to auctions as a picker and those big beautiful silver coins (morgans) started to catch my eye. I'd buy some here or there to resell but usually broke even at best with them as I didn't know what I was doing. Then, at one auction the owner tells me that at a previous auction I missed a few months prior a regular bought some morgans for $100 each and he resold one for almost $10k. Now, I don't know if that was true and the only way I can see it happening (now that I have the experiance) had to be with a vam or conditional rarity. But it got me very interested in morgans from that point forward then I found forums and my education and current passion was off and running.

Point of the story is that I hate when "true" collectors disregard the value and investment aspect of collecting coins as it brought me and many, many others onto this hobby. And will continue to do so

 

A touch? A TOUCH!?!? Try about 75%, Cascade.

 

Holy Carp!!! Does this mean I am MS70!!!

 

Grading is subjective, you can grade yourself as you wish.

It also means that we may not exactly agree with the grade, but we'll take your word for it until we decide to make you an offer!

 

So does that mean Mennonite?... You do have a white shirt on under that "english" coat and tie

 

Yep, 50% Mennonite, my mother's side. They are of Swiss origin. Dad's side is more "hoch Deutsch", from the area near Dusseldorf, with a healthy component of Bavarian thrown in. I get sunburned just reading travel brochures on beach resorts.

 

You won't loose your investment at all if only you tighten up !!

 

Huh?

 

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I am young(ish) for the hobby, 36. I have been obsessed with coins since I was given my first silver half dollar at my grandpas funeral.

I was also a history major, so coins appeal to me a lot from that aspect. I love having Elizabeth and Henry VIII coins around after I watch Tudors or Wolf Hall.

I think as a hobby the major dangers in our hobby are: criminals who sell counterfeits to young people and turn them off to the hobby, lack of educational material on coin grading and some inclination (not on this website) to be short tempered with people who ask "dumb questions". I always remind myself, this question is something I would have asked when I was 14, 21, or whatever.

Each of us are ambassadors, and I hope the hobby never dies.

 

Really? You haven't seen that here? Look around a little. Here's the key problem with the coin collector "personality disorders" I observe.

1) Some are here (the whole hobby) to turn a quick buck, period, and have no time for learning or teaching. As a contrast, I offer the motto of the Chicago Coin Club: "Docendo Discimus", which translates as "We learn by teaching." Whoa. Deep, right?

2) Some are uber-intellectuals and have learned what they know from many years of independent and self-directed reading, study and repeated examination of coins, and would prefer they just be believed and not questioned over things they decided decades ago were settled knowledge. Whether they/we are self-aware enough to admit that the "just Google it or ask a discussion Board" culture just bugs them/us at some level, varies quite a bit. I need to fight it daily. I have a coin club friend who works in a coin store part time since his retirement who dismisses anything on the web as worthless and useless. If it's not in a "dead tree" book, to him it's unreliable. Some of a certain age are not unaware of the Internet, they are outright hostile to its very existence.

 

Maybe they should take it as a compliment that people want to learn from their wisdom. I am always complimented when someone asks my advice - because I'm always right lol. Maybe I have a personality disorder too

 

Damn kids and their useless fancy toys....