ANA worth joining?

My local coin club wants me to join the ANA and says I can with a discount. Anybody in this and if so, is it worth it? What's it get you exactly. I have been to the site but I thought I get an opinion or two. Thanks in advance.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I am a member. I joined to support this great hobby. I do not utilize all the benefits, but am satisfied that my annual dues helps contribute to the longevity of the hobby.

 

One plus is that it comes with an NGC membership, and is about the same cost.

 

I was a member for a year and did not renew as I did not see any benefits for me. No plans to rejoin.

 

If you want their magazine the Numismatist, certain insurance carriers, NGC grading privileges, or will borrow from their library it may make sense. Otherwise, I don't see anything special about the ANA at all.

 

Agreed.

 

I see no reason at this time to give them money.

If you pay for a membership without getting your cost back or more in submission credits you have done it wrong. PCGS and NGC memberships are free of cost and in the case of PCGS will save you money if you pick the right membership levels

 

My point was more that - if you are going to join ANA ANYWAYS, it comes with the membership. Or, if you were going to join the low tier NGC anyways, for a few more bucks you get the ANA stuff.

 

My point was that no one should ever join the low tier when the 150 NGC gives you an equal credit, the higher PCGS ones actually save you money.

Paying for a membership with either without getting at least equal credit is doing it wrong.

Joining the ANA for an NGC membership is a more expensive way to do it.

 

I dropped my membership because the ANA was more concerned about keeping dealers happy than their general membership. They won't enforce rules at shows on dealers, that are/were there to benefit the members. And they only wanted to have shows in cities that dealers wanted to attend, rather than serving members that might not live in NY, Chicago, LA or Philly.

 

For all their faults, having shows in major cities is completely logical. What is not logical is picking cities with high taxes when other major cities are around.

 

I disagree with your assertion. What's wrong with supporting something with no expectation of a return? I do it all the time. I donate to a local soup kitchen and 2 other national charities. I don't expect any return on my money. There are certain things in life that worrying about ROI doesn't make sense to me.

In my mind, I'm helping to support a hobby/industry that I enjoy. Simple as that. It's a whopping $49 per year.

 

I have been a member for 25 years, but I am not a Life Member. I renewed every year because it was worth it to me every year.

For me, it is access to the 130 years of The Numismatist online. I just received six books on loan from the ANA Library. I go to the conventions whenever it is convenient. They have other incentives and premiums beyond Third Party Grading.
I have never been to an Educational Seminar in Colorado Springs, but I have taken three of their correspondence classes and other grading class at a convention.

Their website is not well designed. If you can put up with it, you can find a lot and gain a lot. But it does not present well the many services and benefits to members.

Using their research facilities, both online and from the library, I have written articles for them about Proof Double Eagles, Peace Dollars, and Buffalo Nickels, among other US topics. I also wrote about Sir Isaac Newton's 30 years as Master and Warden of the British Royal Mint. Most people do not know about that. You can collect American related and colonial coins that are associated with his work. Right now, I am researching Pay Warrants of the Texian Navy.

My opinion is that you get out of it what you put into it. People who bad mouth the ANA seem to want something for nothing. They want to send 100 coins to NGC for slabbing and then complain about the grades. If you want to learn about the forms and uses of money, if you want to find out which items are collectible and valuable and important, if you want to associate with others in the hobby who are concerned for its future, then you can benefit from your annual dues.

Look at it this way: The number of people who say they "collect coins" might be about 10 million right now. (See Scott Travers here: https://www.usgoldexpert.com/articles/analyzing-collectors-by-type/ and NGC citing Coin World citing Larry King here: https://www.ngccoin.com/boards/topic/353034-how-many-coin-collectors-do-you-think-are-in-the-us/ ). Coin World newspaper has about 100,000 readers. That's 1% of that 10 million. The ANA has about 25,000 members: one-fourth of one per cent who are invested enough in their hobby to be part of America's Congressionally-Chartered coin club.

Yeah, they have problems. Who doesn't? The Board and the management have gone through scandals. So what? It was founded in 1891. Good times and bad times come and go. What remains is the lasting service to numismatists who understand their own place in the history of the hobby.

 

Without dealers, there is no hobby. But that aside...
Conventions have been held in:

2018 Philadelphia
2017 Orlando Denver
2016 Dallas Anaheim
2015 Portland Chicago
2014 Atlanta Chicago
2013 New Orleans Chicago
2012 Spring: Denver; Fall: Dallas Philadelphia
2011 Spring: Sacramento; Fall: Pittsburgh Chicago
2010 Ft. Worth Boston
2009 Portland Los Angeles
2008 Phoenix Baltimore
2007 Charlotte Milwaukee
2006 Atlanta Denver
2005 Kansas City San Francisco
2004 Portland Pittsburgh
2003 Charlotte Baltimore
2002 Jacksonville New York
2001 Salt Lake City Atlanta
2000 Ft. Lauderdale Philadelphia
1999 Sacramento Chicago
1998 Cincinnati Portland
1997 Cleveland New York
1996 Tucson Denver
1995 Atlanta Anaheim
1994 New Orleans Detroit
1993 Colorado Springs Baltimore
1992 Dallas Orlando
1991 Dallas Chicago
1990 San Diego Seattle
1989 Colorado Springs Pittsburgh
1988 Little Rock Cincinnati
1987 Charlotte Atlanta
1986 Salt Lake City Milwaukee
1985 San Antonio Baltimore
1984 Colorado Springs Detroit
1983 Tucson San Diego
1982 Colorado Springs Boston
1981 Honolulu New Orleans
1980 Albuquerque Cincinnati

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Numismatic_Association
(Just a little common knowledge from a basic interest in easy research...)

 

Was that sarcasm?
1. The Numismatist
2. Collection Insurance
3. NGC Grading privileges.
4. Library

Nice start...
See above for many other reasons to join.

 

You have a frosty Morgan Dollar for your avatar. Going to The Numismatist online archive, I found:
Collecting Clashed Morgans (January 2007)
Collecting Circulated Morgans (March 1997)
A Review of new editions Wayne Millers Morgan & Peace Textbook (August 1984 and June 1987)
Morgan Patterns (September 2003)
"Getting Started" With Morgan Dollars (February 2005)

and much more.

 

I've been a member for 37 years (yearly renew, not a life member) and continue my membership for nearly the same reasons you do.

 

The ANA costs $28 per year (electronic edition) or $46 (for print).

But I also belong to:
Michigan State Numismatic Society ($15 per year)
Texas Numismatic Association ($20 per year)
Austin Capital City Coin Club ($3 per year, same as 50 years ago)
Numismatic Bibliomania Society ($40 per year)

And in my other walks of life:
Austin Astronomical Society ($40 per year; I have two small telescopes.)
State Guard Association ($16 per year)
US Naval Institute ($65 per year)

You either participate or you do not.

 

I was a member for a number of years and then let it lapse. I enjoyed being a member for the Numismatist and the NGC benefit. I fully intend to fire up a membership again sometime this year.

 

I've been a member for the last 38 years. I enjoy the magazine. Which
cities that they have held shows in had the tax issues? The reasons for
holding the shows in the cities that @kaparthy listed are two fold. These
cities are for the most part a direct flight from other major cities. Dealers
do not want to change planes with 50+ lbs. of inventory. The convention
venue for these cities are willing to let a small organization such as the
ANA rent out their facility. The ANA is lucky to get 10,000 collectors
to attend. The host hotels and surrounding restaurants barely notice
us economically. When a large group such as AMWAY rolls in with 50,000
attendees, that's what they are looking for. For me the ANA has many
benefits such as the ones already listed. Hopefully you will join.