What would an ideal price for a digital coin album?

If someone will take nice pictures of ALL my coins... I will gladly pay $100

 

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It's a nice idea but I would change the request a little. Dropping a coin a not something which more coin collectors would relish.

 

Maybe the problem is that most people who like albums are already using physical ones? I could go for an app that does a really nice job of organizing coin photos, and if it had “album view” as one option that wouldn’t do any harm.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments.

The main reason why I started this topic is to gauge collectors' interest in such albums, whether it be digital or hard copy. If you are one of those die hard collectors of Dansco's classic world coin albums, I'm certain you can see where I am coming from as these have been out of print since 1960s. Some of these albums easily command 100+ even in poor condition and out of date as they do not include the newer era coins. Despite so, these can be quite scarce and valuable. I happen to own some and do lament that these died out too quickly.

Another few advantages is that you can leave coins unharmed and arrange coins that you find aesthetically pleasing. You can even take it to coin shows and compare what would look nice in your album. Even for the same type set, it could be a P-01 to all the way to PF-70.

There have been some numbers floating around. The general consensus is that there needs to be a capita of 100 grand to produce just ONE custom album. This is not a recent figure so the price may have gone down. But again, I cannot imagine it being cheap. Let's assume that the production figure is around that ballpark. How can we get to there?

While I acknowledge the argument for the big zero, this is not any different from amateur and professional photography. Would you go to a convenience store and argue that bottled water is a rip off? If you think the overall presentation is easily done, please be my guest.

 

I don't at all think it is easily done. I am sure there is a lot of work involved. But that is not the issue.

Your bottled water analogy is appropriate. There is no way I would buy a bottle of water when I have all the RO water for free at home and an insulated cup to carry it around in. The only reason that bottled water is popular is that they did a great marketing job on it when they realized that soda sales were dropping.

So their is the challenge. These digital albums are very attractive, but the bottom line is that they are digital. For that reason I have no interest. Others may feel differently, especially a younger crowd raised on digits. But most coin collectors are not part of the younger crowd so it will take a good marketing job to be able to successfully sell them.

 

Down with Pirates! Up with Buccaneers!

 

Digital coins for a digital age. Why not pictures of BitCoins and the other crypto currencies? They don't exist physically.

 

WOW! Such negativity. That's OK, my feelings aren't hurt. Feedback is what we were looking for.

Unless you are a "type" collector, albums to store your collection might not have any appeal. How many of you take photos of your coins? How do you organize and display your photos? The photo albums are simply a media to display your coin photos in an organized manner. No need to carry around a heavy book of coins to show off your collection. Your album is always with you in you phone everywhere you go. The albums don't have to be digital either. They can also be in PDF form. Also easy to display on you PC or smartphone.
One could also upload the PDF file and have printed into a hard back book. Nice thing to have on the coffee table. This format is not for everyone, however I can see this as a great asset for ancient coin collectors.

This is simply a medium to create something that is custom made for your collection. I can understand that it does not appeal to some collectors, but that doesn't make it bad. I am adding a PDF version of my Mexico "Dansco" to this post. It is a "blank" sample album for someone to add their coin photos. The blanks are dimensionaly correct. Give it a look. Can you visualize your coins in it? Send me a pm if you want a workable copy. Several members have mentioned that they are unable to find one of the discontinued copies. My original Mexico Dansco is complete and the album is store in my SDB. This is a way that I can view and show my collection without going to the bank.

I promise I won't make any snide or negative remarks about anything someone ask for an opinion about. However, I have bit my tongue/keyboard many times in the past.

 

It's called the Standard catalog of World Coins. Unfortunately for your requirements it is not 100% on inclusion of all examples and is in black and white. However the dimensions are suppose to be correct.

 

I think it's more with the description. Is this an album showing MY coins, or just images of coins found on the internet or from your collection? When I see nice uncirculated coins mixed in with some in Fine or Very Fine condition, it is very unappealing to me. If I want pictures of nice coins, I can pick up some auction catalogs and cut the pictures out and paste them in a notebook.
As I said, more information was needed. You did clarify this in your notation, but the initial one didn't clarify that.

 

I have photos of my coins. I have them well organized and can find them all easily. I have no desired to show them off to others except individually on this forum. If iI did choose to show multiple ones (I actually have, once) then there is the gallery here. I don't have a smart phone so that aspect is useless to me.

It is not negativity. It is realism. You wanted feedback: you are getting it. The idea does not seem too popular among the generation which makes up the majority of collectors here. So, as I said in an earlier post in the thread, you need to try marketing to a younger generation.

 

Nothing wrong with feedback, I welcome it, and it has been very beneficial so far. What generation would you say the majority of collectors here is? Just curious as to your thoughts. I wonder if that data is available? I don't think generation bias is the issue. Yes, I agree that this would have much more appeal to a younger and more technical collector. However technical appeal could easily appeal to an "older" collector as well. I am not trying to be argumentative, I really respect you opinion, but you have prompted a realistic question regarding the generation of collectors on this site.

 

I find these very attractive and enjoyed looking through all of them. My favorite is the Japan Type Set 1870-present. I especially like the additional information about the coins, such as the chart at the beginning of that album that provides type, weight, alloy, etc.

In fact, my wife walked by as I was looking at it and said, "Cool!".

As neat as these are, and despite my familiarity with physical Dansco albums, I prefer to view and present my coins in a different way. My digital showcase if you're interested: http://coinsofisabel2.com/index.html

My point is that each person is unique in what and how they collect as well as how they prefer to view or display their collection. While there may be a market for the beautiful art work and presentation you've put together, you may find that those with the desire to have a digital collection (folks with an affinity for digital media, digital devices, etc) also have an interest in making something uniquely their own. Perhaps there is a way to harness that in your design/marketing efforts.

I genuinely hope this is helpful to your analysis.

Best of luck in your endeavor!

 

I would suspect the median age here is within 10 years of retirement at a minimum. Possibly much older. Technical does not appeal to me much because I spend more of my full time adult live in technology and got out of it at age 50 due to burn out. I photography my coins and that, together with the computer I am typing this on, is about the limit of my interaction with technology. No TV, no smartphone, no GPI, no wifi, no desire for any of them. I may not be typical.

 

Amen on the no TV! Which is odd since I remember the first color TVs. Now you know what generation I am from. In fact, I am older than Doug. Yes to the rest. I assume you meant GPS not GPI. I think there are a lot more younger members than you might imagine. I believe they are just not as vocal as the more "experienced" members. Let's hear some ideas from the " younger" collectors.

 

The files that I have in issuu is a scaled down version. With issuu downgrading their service, the quality did drop so I believe the quality loss is around 20% of the original. The original file is designed so that it is exactly to scale. @mlov43 has one of prints that I did recently and can vouch that the original is designed to be the exact dimension of the coins.

What you are looking for is exactly the challenge I have been looking for and it can be done relatively easily. The next step is to assemble the photos and photograph them.

 

Well, I think a lot of us are older than Doug. I don't think he has even reach retirement age, has he? He is a youngster.

 

When Microsoft released Windows 95 (you can see already I don’t qualify as a younger collector) they touted its 3D look, with the edges of the design elements shaded to look like “real” buttons and sliders and so forth. I remember that this looked cool for a short time but the software design community soon reacted against it - why should a digital interface resemble plastic parts in the analog world, instead of being reimagined for the new medium? I think I may be reacting the same way here to the look of these albums with the appearance of leather grain and gold press-on labels. Personally I think I’d tend to see a digital album as a chance to get away from that look. And I’m an old guy.

But obviously this is a matter of personal preference (I mean the album, not my age...)

 

'Drop in' as in 'insert carefully without causing damage', in the same sense as how one might drop in a charge of nitroglycerine when preparing for blasting

 

Good point. And that's one of the nice things about custom designs. I can make the cover look like anything you like. Even plastic. I just happen to like the leather and gold.