We're already seeing that now with prices for common stuff going down, but scarcer coins are holding and even appreciating.
I'm 26. Been collecting since I was 7 thanks to my parents. I can say that I'm much more advanced in my buying and selling habits than others my generation since I started very early. Unlike a lot in my generation I also have the funds to buy/sell coins. I also love history too. History doesnt get taught like it did in my parents day though and I believe that you need an understanding and a certain joy of learning about history to really appreciate coins. JMHO. I don't care how many are doing it 50 years from now. I know I'm going to do it till the day I die. P.S. I guess I'm a bit of an old soul as well.
Social Media, at least Facebook, had so many coin hobby pages and coin buy/sell pages it's ridiculous. Maybe they're just shifting their location where they buy/sell/chat about it.
My opinion is that the decline in salaries and increased student debt in younger generations will definitely affect the hobby. Prices will go down eventually as less people are willing or able to spend $500 or $1000 on a coin...and you will probably see a decline in general in numbers of younger numismatists as this generation is not as wealthy as the baby boomers. However, there will always be a demand for "premium coins" in the $25,000+ range as rich people like to hoard and invest in expensive commodities (ie. look at the value of art). But does that mean that numismatics will end? No! Heck, stamp collectors can still be found if you know where to look, and that's a hobby that's declined 100 times faster than coin collecting. However, stamps that were once worth $500 or $1000 have severely depreciated as the hobby weakened, but the "premium stamps" are still increasing in price due to speculation from the multi-millionaire investor class looking for commodity investments.
No not large cents or busties or seated coinage but plenty of moderns. Kids today don’t even see or care about moderns. Ask a random 15 year old about the American the Beautiful quarters series and let me know the look you get. Most antiques resemble something people have seen or used or care about. Bottom line most kids couldn’t care less about coinage, regardless of history, art, nostalgia value.
Think about philately or stamp collecting as a point of comparison. Stamp collecting fell off a cliff a few decades ago. Stamps started to get used much less as people switched to email and also social media to communicate plus the BEP issued way too many stamp series and worthless dreck. Kids can’t even tell you the cost of a first class stamp now, nevermind wanting to collect a stamp. Hmm sound familiar. Here’s another comparison...baseball cards. Used to be that Topps was the only player in town. Then new companies and Topps inundated the market with special series and worthless dreck. Baseball cards are no longer prominently displayed at the checkout to be seen by kids asking parents to buy them, but they now are placed in an isle without a lot of foot traffic. Kids don’t care about painted cardboard anymore. They now have electronic media to follow sports and video games to enjoy. Baseball card collecting also fell off a cliff a few decades ago, out of site out of mind. Hmm sound familiar. Kids use cash much less often to pay for things these days, and they use debit cards and other electronic payments instead. How many kids today carry pocket change? The US Mint has inundated the public with too many products and worthless dreck. Our hobby of numismatics is being held together by a strong but aging group. I know we have some YNs here on CoinTalk but they are not in the majority. Perhaps as people age they will get interested in coins, but I wouldn’t put money (lol) on it. TC
I could see the coming of collectors of old credit and debit cards in 30-50 years. TPG’s will infiltrate the hobby making old Diners Club and Amex cards values soar through the roof. Given another twenty years they will lament the downfall of the debit-credit card collectors as their youngsters only care about alternate digital universes and bitcoins.... Yeah, I could see that.
Anything can be a collectible, and some people will collect anything. However, the norm is to cut up a credit card after the expiration date. The only way someone would want to save a gold card would be if it was actually made of gold.
Oh I know. Just was expanding on your train of thought and taking it to the extreme..... Thing is, we now live in a disposable age. That is the way consumers are taught to think and the supply side is happy to engage that thought process as it means larger financial returns for them. Most of us grew up in an age where pride and longevity were the norm. So we cherish those things now as vestiges of our youth...... It actually does my heart good to see young collectors engaging here on CT. It gives me hope for the future of our hobby.
I feel similarly to you and wish we had more YNs in the hobby. I just don’t have a lot of optimism regarding the future of numismatics. I would be happy to be wrong though.
I can say that I am 45, and in Western NY, I am usually the youngest person at the monthly coin shows
At our shows in Raleigh, we typically get a cross section of most age groups — kids, young adults, middle agers and oldsters. The one group that's conspicuously missing is teens.
I brought my error collection to show my 10th grade students last month, and they all loved it. I must have answered 50 questions per class period. It was great. I try to do what I can to promote it.
As for the antiques or some collectables, I have grandfather clock from a locker auction that I was Looking to sell for cheap. Probably a 1970's model Howard Miller. The local watch and clock guy said that at one time when a couple bought a home they would buy a grandfather clock. Now a couple buys a home and promptly buys an I phone. Not much of a market for older things with younger people that have the want it now mentality.
Since market economies always have periods of instability, silver and gold are always alluring. Even before modern economies, precious metals were seen to have intrinsic worth. I don't think this will change, and fortunately coin collecting is tied to precious metals in a lot of ways. On top of this, you have other things some mentioned that are true, like the nostalgia, history, and the art of coinage. Even if we went chashless everywhere, which i think is unlikely for decades, people would still collect relics of the past like they do of ancient Greek and Roman coinage.
eegads. I think I have my "first issue" Discover card around as that was my first credit card back in 85 with Sears. If anything, I have my old AmEx Platinum card that I enjoy looking at back when they wouldn't just let anyone have one. LOL Gold card? Ever wonder why I like Platinum Eagles ?
