My Impression of the Current Numismatic Market

That is fair, and I apologize for posting what could have been a PM between SQG and I.

I think you are too hard on the US sir. Our productivity just went up, by many metrics we are about the most productive workers on earth. We have a strong tradition of innovation. We do not need too many more Steve Jobs to drive our economy.

I see the same thing at coin shows, but I think we have to be careful about drawing too many conclusions from them You yourself said you do most business online, and I simply feel most are doing the same, lowering attendance at traditional shows. Just like in the 80's where a ton of small local shows closed up and everyone was predicting the end of the hobby, I think it will transform into bigger and bigger shows. One is economics of the dealers. They cannot afford to attend so many shows, so they will just attend the major ones. Second, as show sales decline with internet buying, only the strongest will survive.

As to your point about greying of the hobby, I again see what you see but to me its more indicative of the greying of the upper midwest than the hobby. I go to large shows and see all kinds of younger blood. The upper midwest is just getting old.

Chris

 

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Wait until the baby-boomers all retire and require health-care and assisted living services. I think long term we are in dire straights. I am a technically savvy, young 30s, well-educated guy, born at the tail end of the Generation-X boom. The laziness and lackadaisical nature of the Gen-Y and Gen-Z kids who will be running the economy by the time I retire is scary. I'm not a "doomsday" "woah-is-the-USA" kind of person, but entitlement is endemic in the post-1985 generation. There will be a few diamonds in the rough, and I am in no way trying to lump all of this generation into this "label", but I honestly do not believe we will see the innovation and boom in ideas in the next 20 years that we saw in the past 20. As always, this is just my opinion.

 

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I have to agree, there are huge numbers of young collectors, many thanks to the state quarter program. Hopefully, many of them will continue on to become numismatist. It will be interesting to see, once the ATB's start showing up in quantity in circulation, how many more are enticed. Although I still like seeing coins in hand before buying, the internet appears to be the future, especially since so many of the young are comfortable with it.

 

I also think the internet brings much more than just serving existing hobbiest better. I will be honest and tell you I would not be on this forum or a coin colelctor if it weren't for the internet. I had simply lost interest in US coins, and if it weren't for having access to, and knowledge about, ancient coins, my US coins would still be collecting dust and I would no longer consider myself a coin collector.

Its amazing to talk to ancient collectors under the age of 40 or so. Almost every one has the same story, that they simply had no clue you could buy these until they found an article online, saw them on Ebay, joined a newsgroup, etc.

I think the internet has truly grown this hobby. Many of the new collectors are simply not accustomed to going to shows, doing all of their collecting online.

Chris

 

I hope shows like pawn stars, storage wars, and American pickers continue to attract new audiences to the coin world. It was actually pawn stars that brought me back into collecting. I started collecting books of pennies, nickels, and dimes at the age of 5 and trying to fill them. Besides that I hadn't touched coins since I inherited part of my grandpa's collection back in 95. I just got back into collecting about 6 months ago after watching a show of pawn stars and a double eagle was bought and sold.

As far as State's comment about his educational background, I didn't perceive it as him trying to flaunt superior intellect, but sharing the fact that UC Berkley is a very left wing school.

One thing that did catch my eye was "minimal world entitlements." I just wanted to point out that Iran is in the process of creating its own entitlements programs and we in the United States might as well pay for it right out of our pocketbooks, because indirectly we will pay for it through higher oil prices.

Last thought I am going to slip in that I find very interesting regarding the housing market is the CRA (Community Reinvestment Act), and the Gramm-leech-Bliley act. The GLB in particular I find very interesting. It is the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act. The GLB allowed for the de-regulation of banks, and essentially lead to Wall Street gambling with Billions of dollars of our money. One of the most respect economists, and Nobel peace prize awardee, blames the entire housing bubble and collapse on the Gramm-Leech-Bliley act.

 

Sorry, posted that last one right after your post. Rules duly noted, cease fire in effect.

 

The twin hammers of JUSTICE!

Duly noted, sorry to have to have you two post, and sorry to SQG for misreading his reference to Berkley.

 

Staying out of the political discussion on this one, but GO BEARS!!!

 

No, I was referring to superior intellect. lol, just kidding. Yes, I was pointing to the fact that Berkeley is very left leaning, albeit less so in the business school, even though social responsibility was part of the curriculum.

 

Thanks, but not this year, we need a quarterback that can throw to someone other than his brother. Speaking of quarterbacks, did you see Montana Jr. come in and throw that bomb for the Huskies Saturday night against Oregon?