Maybe a week or two ago, I traipsed into a local Barnes & Noble (something I don't do nearly as much as I used to, unfortunately) and made my way to the massive periodicals section. They seemed to have everything, even some unusual magazines on obscure topics. But when I looked under "Crafts & Hobbies," I didn't see a single coin magazine. I saw magazines for just about every other hobby (e.g., model railroads, woodworking, crocheting, dolls, action figures, sports cards, etc.), but no COINage, no Numismatic News, no Coin Prices, no World Coin News. Nothing. On the bottom shelf, almost obscured in the top back, I finally did notice a magazine called Stamp Collector Incorporating Coin Collector. But that remained the closest thing I saw to a coin magazine. Not long after, that experience repeated itself at another local bookstore. Are others seeing coin magazines vanishing from bookstores?
Yes, that's because the shelves are filled with what some call smut. They used to also have a great Metal detecting Magazine called Western/ Eastern Metal Detecting Treasures or something like that. Not sure if they still produce CoinWorld anymore.
You can still subscribe to the print edition of Coin World. https://subscribe.amosmedia.com/coin/subscriptions-options I haven't been inside a bookstore in a while, but next time I'll check.
The only bookstore I know in my town is Barnes & Noble. They might have some there. Other than that, we have one more store called a store but it's not books (wink, wink ).
Can't tell you the last time I walked into a bookstore, but yeah- the last time I was in the local Books-a-Million chain store (maybe 2 or so years ago), they had coin magazines in the periodicals section, and a small selection of coin books and supplies in their hobby section. Likewise the last time I was in a Hobby Lobby store. They had a little bit of stuff.
Exactly. But in some cases, it's also a quirky, smallish, independently owned place where the owner smokes a pipe and has a cat on the easy chair by the window. That's my kinda bookstore.
I know that Coins magazine folded. Coin World has not been issued as a printed publication for months, and I have not seen it in bookstores for years. About the only one that’s left is COINage. Books a Million has a soft spot for the numismatic hobby so it still probably has some coin magazines. It will be interesting to see if Coin World has any printed copies at the FUN show. If not, then their claim that that they were going to start mailing their publication to subscribers again is probably hollow. The promise was by mid December. I have received nothing.
I bought some coin incidentals from Hobby Lobby a couple of times. No more. I think their source is from manufacturing seconds. I ran into irritating little things like 2X2's not folding over straight.
While I love reading real books, I always shop for used books. I fear that bookstores are becoming a thing of the past. So many things are online. Coin shops are about the same. I know of several that closed and no new ones opening. While the internet is very useful, I miss the interactions I used to have with more people. Concerning coin magazines, I think many people want free information and will hardly pay for it. Again, the internet is where most people do their research. I understand wanting to get things for nothing, which is why it took so long for me to become a CoinTalk supporter.
Too bad about Coins magazine. I got my start in those pages. I always liked COINage for its cover photos. Hope they're still going. Note to self: check for Coin World at 2025 FUN. (Remind me in January.)
I have not seen any coin magazines at Barnes and Noble. Red books, Whitman like holders, and other books yes. But not magazines.
