Now I Am Getting Worried.... The Future Of Our Hobby

I think one of the reasons for an apparent declining interest in coin collecting is that at one time one could build up an interesting, and sometimes valuable, collection and did not have to buy the coins one collected. One could find them in circulation. As I have written here several times, I started collecting when I was fourteen in high school, in 1957. There were any number of full date buffalo nickels to be had just by watching your change, even the occasional Indian head cent and Barber silver. My corner grocer knew I collected coins and kept anything odd coming into the till for me which I could have for face value. My father made it a deliberate practice to spend paper and keep the change in a leather purse which he would allow me to go through every Saturday. I once found a 1942 over 41 dime in that purse. My older sister worked at the Philly Federal Reserve Bank and would bring home silver dollars as part of her weekly pay. In 1960 she came home with a seated dollar amongst the Morgans. The only two coins I remember purchasing while I was in high school was a nickel three cent piece dated 1865 and a silver denarius of Nerva. Later on I discovered banks would give one rolls of coins at face value and I made a perfect pest of myself obtaining and then going through rolls. I found two double die 1972 cents that way. I still do this and just recently got five 40% silver Kennedy half dollars in one of those rolls.

Sure I can and do buy coins at shows and shops but it is the discovery, the searching, that adds immeasurably to the hobby.What I am driving at is that being a coin collector circa 1960 meant looking, finding and trading, not so much purchasing one's collection. Perhaps I am factually incorrect about this but there does not seem to be so much exciting material in circulation for youngsters with limited financial resources to obtain just by looking for them. Is this anybody's fault? No, it is just not worth it for kids to collect if they cannot assemble a worthwhile collection from circulation and if their peers and parents, and teachers don't seem to value their collecting, why should they?

 

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They want to find a bunch of double ear cents to sell for $500 each

 

The US MINT is doing just fine.
If they ever produce a Holiday/Hobby ornament coin, then I'd get worried ...

 

Actually the amateur photography forums have be overloaded as cell phone usage has exploded years ago and brought about tons of New Cell Phone Photographers.

 

I'll bet the majority of members here who started collecting as a child would tell the same story. The coins get relegated to the back of the closet shelf in favor of cars, girls, high school, college, establishing a career, etc., and then one day you come up for air and think, "Hey, I'm gonna get my coins out!" and it starts all over again.

For me it was a hiatus of about 10 years from age 16 to 25/26. And when I returned to my coins, it was a whole new ballgame because then I had some legitimate money to spend on my collection.

 

They did that. I inherited one and promptly sold to a dealer at a local show who buys anything and everything. I think he gave me $2 for it. Total crap.

 

heretic doggie !!

Oh wait ...



.... never mind.
Good doggie ...

 

Actually they came close with the State Quarter Spoons. That went over well.

 

The post office (not all but most) sell The White House Christmas Ornament every year. It even comes with its own overpriced decorative box.

 

That's not quite what I was getting at. My point is that any limit is arbitrary and should be avoided. The problem is not the quantity of commemoratives being released, it's their quality. Some years, there just isn't anything that is special enough to warrant issuing a commemorative coin. Some years, there's something significant enough to warrant issuing many. Take the US sestercentennial right around the corner in 2026 for example. You don't think more than one commemorative would be appropriate?

 

Wow, you learn something new everyday; sestercentennial. ... Apparently still undecided and competing with semiquincentennial.

 

I just received an email from the Mint advertising these. I'm still laughing. I didn't read past your other text that I responded to. Be sure to order yours today, only $24.95 for the first one.

 

If you read the wikipedia article, it's pretty clear that sestercentennial is the real word and the other one is a modern made up thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anniversary

I really like the connection to the sestertius, a well known Roman coin worth two and a half asses.

 

I am done with the US Mint. I purchased the Pride of Two Nations set thinking that only 110,000 would be released. On the Mint sight they list an enhanced reverse proof SAE that will be released later this year. I "chatted" on line with their customer service and she couldnt answer how many more would be minted. I think they are getting out of control with the amount of products. I just feel cheated.

 

Can you imagine the banter at a Roman poker game? I see your "burro" and raise you 1 and a half "burros"!

 

I'm hesitant to respond since we're not going to agree on this and I don't want to precipitate an argument, but since you asked...

No, I don't think more than one commemorative necessarily would be appropriate. Just because something can be commemorated doesn't mean it has to be commemorated. It's not like any harm is done if something gets ignored.

Limits and constraints may be arbitrary, but they're also motivational. They force people to make choices. If more than one subject is worthy of consideration in a given year, then choose the one that's most worthy, make a beautiful coin to commemorate it, and I'll almost certainly buy it.

Having just one makes the issuing of a commemorative coin a truly special event. It's not like I'll lament not having a coin commemorating the second, third or fourth most worthy subject. And I wouldn't buy them all anyway.

Less is more. If the mint would produce fewer non-circulating collector coins, it would make the ones they do produce more meaningful and more desirable.

 

FWIW.....at the monthly Parsippany (NJ) Coin Show, I would say that out of about 30-40 dealers, maybe 4-5 are doing stamps. For the quarterly Westchester (NY) Coin Show, they probably have about 50-60 dealers but I've seen as few as 2-3 stamp tables.

I've never attended a regional or national show which are much bigger. Would love to attend the Bay State Coin Show up in Mass., and of course want to attend FUN sometime. Preferably with lots of $$$ !!

Surprised there aren't more shows in NYC, which would be easy for me to get to. Or are there and I am just not seeing them advertised ?