So a few months back I had inquired as to how many of you attend a coin club meeting. One of my numismatic goals this year was to find a local club, become a member and start attending the monthly meetings. Last night I did that. I live in Muncie, IN, so naturally my choice was the Muncie Coin and Stamp club. As typical for me, my first time to an unfamiliar event\location ended up with drama right from the start. Not sure why this happens, but any time I try something the first time, it never goes the way it will go from now on. As I walked up to the doors of the meeting place, there was a note that stated the meeting had been moved due to construction. One of the current members was there trying to make sense of the note, and didn't recognize where the new location was. I knew right off the bat, because it was from my old stomping grounds. Since this member didn't know where the location was, he asked if he could follow me over there...I said "NO!" Just kidding, I said, "of course, follow me." As we both walked back to our cars, a third set of members were walking to the door, we said, meeting's been moved, follow us. Great, now I have to navigate Muncie traffic and not loose two cars (people who don't know me and whom I'm making my first impression with) in the myriad of stop signs, busy intersections an traffic lights. If you're from Muncie, you'll understand the sarcasm in that...Anyhoo, we all three got to the new location just fine. As we walked in, the meeting had already begun. They had started to give a report on how they did from the January Muncie Coin show. It actually sounded like they did ok, but as it is with most clubs these days, memberships are down and they are struggling to stay active. There was discussion about coming picnics, and fall banquettes, where to have them and how much they will cost to put on. A lot of participation and suggestions from the group. The last, larger part of the meeting was a coin auction. Being new to the group, I didn't bring any cash, so I had to let some stuff go..ugh...there was a sweet 1939 D probably MS63-64 which went for less than $50! There was also a 1916 D Walker, graded PCGS AU58 which *DIDN'T SELL" at $225! I'll be taking some moola with me next time! There were about 50-60 folks there, a couple of YN's, which was cool to see, mostly the older crowd, which is also cool to see...lots of experience and mentoring opportunities, and then a good handful of folks my age. I went ahead and signed up for membership, for $8 a year I can't loose. Another very cool thing was that I had the opportunity to meet @Conder101. Had a great introductory conversation with him. All in all, I had a good time and look forward to more meetings and getting to know everyone there.
All in all, it sounds like you had a good time. It's nice to know that there is someone who will be able to see @Conder101 with some regularity. You can urge him to get started on his next slab book. Chris
Chris, I will work on that. One of the other things I hope to do with him as a partner, and this will be semi news to him when he reads this , is to try and either change the landscape of the current club from one with a focus on being an "auction club" to one that has more of a numismatic focus. Either that, or create a sub group or an arm of the current club which will focus on education and learning. I get it, its fun to buy and sell...but What I'm really after is finding local fellow *numismatists* to engage with. From what I've been told this Muncie club is the largest in Indiana and has had some pretty cool opportunities that have been turned down because there's more of an interest in the auctions rather than the numismatics. As a new member, I'm not going to rock the boat too much immediately. I want to get to know everyone and will start socializing a shift as the time is right. I personally think that one of the larger issues facing this hobby is that the interest in learning has been squeezed out by people who are purely after a profit. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe being part of this club will show me I'm wrong...who knows...either way I pretty excited with the possibilities.
@spirityoda I did a search on the ANA website...looks like the closest one to you is in Salt Lake City Prolly not worth the 4 hour drive huh? Hey, start one locally.
How neat. I will be in that neck of the woods in a month or so, perhaps I will have to look it up and join --- even if only for going in the summer months (good weather). Also looking forward to being able to actually go meet the people @LostDutchman 's shop. Any of you guys in that area (Indiana/Ohio/Michigan), I expect I will do a bit of traveling within those three states, PM me and I can arrange to meet you at a coin show or shop perhaps sometime.
I belong to the Ringneck Coin and Stamp Club in Aberdeen SD. We start out with a business meeting, then the educational portion where we discuss a topic and have a little show and tell, then lunch or a snack at the end.
Coin clubs are unfortunately dying across the country as the older generation is getting older and the current generation doesn't seem to care. Here is what I don't understand. You hear in the news, and not just numismatic news, that interest in numismatics is growing and more and more people are getting involved. The State Quarter and other Mint-oriented programs are in large responsible for that. So why is ANA membership below 28K members? With millions and millions of people interested in the numismatics...why aren't we seeing more people join? Back to the thread...joining coin clubs is a great way to expand your horizons and utilize a wealth of experience from the older coin generation. It sounds like you had a great time. Good job.
I'm not sure that's it. I think the current generation do care, its a matter of what value the club can bring. I think that value is not being communicated enough, no marketing is being done. The older generation, for the most part, (I sincerely apologize if this offends, its not my intent) doesn't understand Facebook, websites, social media, etc...and they're not using it. But, that is how this generation gets their information, and when they see a website like this: http://coinstampinc.tripod.com/ They think, this group is dead! You can imagine my surprise when I heard that our club is the biggest in Indiana! Does that web site give you that impression? Guys like me (I hope) can fix that. I also think things are just different now. The "club" mentality has gone by the wayside because of many factors in normal life these days. There is a lot more going on after school and work hours and on the weekends. For instance, when I was growing up the sports I played were practiced immediately after school, games were during the week days after school, not on weekends. Extra circular sports were not as popular. That all has changed. Kids are starting sports earlier, which means there's a need for more coaches. This means parents have to get involved, and when both parents work, that means all this has to be done after hours. Well, if your kid's practice happens to coincide with a coin club meeting...the club meeting looses. This is just one instance, as you know there are many more factors that put pressure on disposable time and income. Especially in these last, what....6 to 7 years. I think we have to adapt to these changes and change the landscape and definition of the club and what it means to be a member. After all this is the information age and numismatics is nothing but information. Its just that all that information is locked away in old books and the brains of many who are still used to disseminating the information in hard copy books and in person presentations. Don't get me wrong, hard copy books are still needed, but that method is slow. In person presentations are still needed, but people who would be interested in those presentations can't be there. We have to get this information to them quicker and in a format that this new generation understands. I also think the information age has had an effect on the club. The club used to be a place to go and learn, but nowadays information is at your finger tips. Social media has somewhat given a crutch to folks who really don't wan to be social. Well, its time for dinner, and luckily my son's practice was canceled for this evening Maybe I'll work on a new sample website for the club tonight and see what people think about it.
What has it been historically, over time, going back, say, to the early 60's, when everybody seems to agree that coin collecting was popular? Throwing that number out there, I have no idea if 28K is a lot or if the organization is on life support. And if it's some kind of harbinger of bad times for the hobby, why haven't coin prices plummeted?
We have a website!?? Been a member for 26 years and never knew we had a website. (and I have no idea who set that up.) Membership of about 160, typical attendance at a meeting is around 70 to 80. (Fort Wayne is second largest at about 110 with around 40 attending. Indianapolis, the largest city in the state, only has about 60 members and around 25 attending.) Let me know when you have it, Fort Wayne might be interested in some help as well. We recently lost our domain and we are needing to get a new website set up.[/quote] And about 10 years ago the ANA was somewhere between 32 and 35,000 members if I remember correctly.
Sounds like a great coin club. You need a variety of collectors and different age groups to make the club successful.
