Demise of numismatics

The market for world coins doesn't seem much weaker to me from 10 years ago. The common stuff is cheaper now, but mostly because the internet made availability so plentiful that mostly everyone that wants one already has one. The scarcer/better stuff is still going strong. Can't speak much for the US coin market, but from what I understand a lot of US stuff has been overpriced, so decreasing prices may just be a market correction rather than hobby demise.

 

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I have irrefutable PROOF that the typical Internet-bound collector is a schmuck - the very existence of the concept of Registry Sets.

 

Maybe an 'inner circle' moderator could chip in with some CT data on site use over the last decade. It seems like we've got a new member here every 8 minutes.

 

Been hearing that the bobby is in trouble for 40 years. I'll start to worry one of these days.

 

I kind of think the Registry Set concept is a good idea.... not only for the major TPGs but also for coin dealers. It puts the coins and sets for public viewing for status and sometimes pics for the coins and allows people to move up and down in status. Great competition tool for what might have previously been solitary satisfaction for many.

Allows for some who are more competitive to seek to acquire quality coins and view them (if they attach pics) any time they want. Provides a tool to keep and track your inventory. Probably attracts more collectors.

Dealers can see with registries what coins seem to be popular with collectors. Might have to do some work, but knowing trends could be beneficial to a dealer.

 

Sorry, but I do not consider anything being called "numismatics" that includes:

Registry Sets
Having modern commemoratives TP graded
Having low value coins TP graded
Worrying about the difference between a PF/MS/SP 69 and a PF/MS/SP 70

I don't care what ELSE people want to call their hobby in which they do that, but it is NOT anything that deserves the term "numismatics". Numismatics to me REQUIRES getting out of your jammies, getting out of the house and getting in a vehicle and going somewhere and looking, talking, and learning. You will note that "numismatics" is a "study of...", not "the craven acquisition of" anything.

"Study", except when done in the sick twisted way pre-med students jockeying for a spot in Med School do it, is utterly LACKING any scintilla of the competition over "whatcha got?"

So when someone asks, "Is numismatics dying?", yup, it's just about dead.

 

FWIW, I think you are 100% correct. Every one of us has been taken at some point with a raw coin. If you haven't you either don't realize it yet or are lying.

Love them or hate them, TPGs help protect against this.

 

What about those of us who studied high end coins for over 20 years before we bought our very first $100+ coin? Yes, "fools rush in" and they get what they get.

 

one of the big differences i see between Philately and Numismatics, having an interest in both, is that the collecting is much different. If you are a US stamp collector, you attempt and desire to collect ALL US stamps. IF you are a US coin collector you may collect large cents, small cents, shield nickels, buffalo nickels, etc. but you usually don't try to collect ALL US coins. Stamp collecting fell apart because everyone was collecting all stamps and the increase in production drove people away (much like sports cards in the 90's). People who collect everything the mint produces each year are actually only a small percentage of the collecting population.The mint isn't producing any more buffalo nickels so they won't affect the buffalo nickel collector.

 

[Post: 2915945, member: 71723"]I have irrefutable PROOF that the typical Internet-bound collector is a schmuck - the very existence of the concept of Registry Sets.[/QUOTE]
I totally disagree...the registry's have sparked a lot of interest from a new kind of collector. It's not my thing, but a lot of people like it and it has drawn people into the field.

 

You don't get around the mint catalog much, I'm guessing.

 

I refuse to call what they do "numismatics", which has a very specific definition. Call it "Coin Scorekeeping". Call it "Cha-ching!". Heck, call it "George". Just don't call it "numismatics".

 

I'm sure you still got taken at some point. You love to behave like you are some all-knowing champion of numismatics...but nobody is perfect, not even you.

It doesn't have to be a $100+ coin or a high end coin either. I recall as a young collector I purchased what I believed to be a MS 1949-D Franklin Half...one of the key dates of the set (if you can call one a key in that set). It turns out I had mistaken that shine from a harsh cleaning for luster. I think I paid $50 for it or so.

But, I learned from it. I studied the coin and discovered my error. I got taken on that one...but that's part of the learning process.

Everyone who has been in this hobby for a while has been taken. I stand by what I said. If you haven't you either don't realize it yet or are lying.

 

You can call it whatever you want...see the second sentence of my previous post.

 

a gold buffalo is NOT a buffalo nickel

 

I didn't add my 1949-D Franklin until 2010, 7 years ago, when I was 55. It's a full screaming BU, and I paid less than you did. My FIRST Franklin was a 1963 proof, which I got in, umm, 1963, when my dad wrote a check for $2.10 a set. 5 sets. It took me a LONG time to care about circ. strike Franklins.

 

Good for you. I bought that original one when I was 12 years old (in 1997). If you have never made a poor purchase of a coin...maybe you truly are all-knowing.

Going back to the original point of this thread...they are asking about the demise of numismatics. I would say that your definition of it probably is dying. You have an extremely closed view and are unwilling to evolve. This field is changing...just like all fields change. Things that don't evolve go extinct. Numismatics isn't dying, old numismatists are.

 

Ziggy, I think you are looking at the mint catalog too closely.

 

Who would want to do that to begin with? I don't see how the output of the mint is a relevant barometer for the state of the hobby.

 

What I DO know is this - anyone born in 1985 is still wet behind the ears. I've been attending talks at ANA conventions, AND NOT BUYING A SINGLE COIN WHILE THERE, since before you were born.