Are youth as interested in coins as youth from the past?

When I was growing up, I could still find silver in circulation as well as buffalos and wheats. It was exciting to find these coins. Now all that kids can find, is pretty much worthless clad (IMHO) and coins made in the billions. Also so many other things are available for the kids these days (computers etc.). I know they can still buy older coins but would kids rather buy other things? Will the hobby stay healthy into the future?

 

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I think so, with the addition of the state quarters, the changing pennies and nickels, and dollar coins. Many kids collect these coins and have state quarter books, and they might be jumpstarted into the other coins series.

 

The hobby is alive and well as evidenced by the number of YN's on this forum.....

 

Is it the kids buying the state quarters or the parents and grandparents doing it for them weather the kid wants them or not.

 

I think that's a 50/50, with some starting out with pressure from family members to actually doing it on their own

 

It seems to be doing well with today's kids. They have more options when it comes to ways to buy coins with the internet, as well as more reference options than ever before, all available to anyone. It's not what you collect so much as how you collect. Kids 50 years ago collected what we think of now as great coinage, like Buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes, but to them it is what todays change is to kids now. The excitement and the thrill of the hunt is still there and thats all that matters.
Guy~

 

I just hope it is collecting coins for enjoyment and because they like the designs. Not just to make money.

 

Coin collecting with kid's is somewhat of a dying breed. My daughter completed her BU state quarter collection and could care less about it now. More important is Myspace, facebook and Instant messaging friends. We cant leave out "texting", as her cell phone is more important than coins.

That being said, I collected coins with my dad in the 70's and lost appreciation for the hobby when I was 16 or 17. Girls and cars were important then. I really didn't get back in the hobby until my dad passed away when I was 38 and he left me his coin collection. Have been seriously collecting for 5 years now and still going. Its easy to lose track of this hobby, sometimes life gets in the way.

 

It was easy for me to collect as a kid. I had no internet, cell phones and m tv only had 6 channels and 2 were the same station (barbaric in todays world). Ahh the good ol days

 

Yes!!!! and maybe Aluminum foil on the antenna's on the TV to help reception. Everyones home phone was a black rotary dial phone.

 

hmmm...when I was a kid I did baseball cards...most of the players I collected because I liked them. I don't know if they're worth anything today, but I remember seeing coin tables at card shows and thinking (as a young child) that's kinda dumb, why would you pay that much for a dirty old coin. It wasn't interesting to me at the time. I've done a 180...I think most people are intimidated by the knowledge required...that said if someone recieves or inherits oh for example, a Dansco album full of toned silver, I think that would spark some interest. I don't believe in forcing a hobby on anyone, but when my kids express interest, no matter how mild, I try to explain what the heck it is I'm doing. My 3 year old loves playing with my jar full of zincolns and I spin nickels on the table for him. I use coins to explain fractions and percents to my 10 year old. I give my daughter an extra shiny coin every once in a while, she thinks they're pretty. I try to share the hobby, but they may not care until they're old like me. They might never care. My folks kept a glass jar full of "odd" coins that they would occasionally let me play with and look at. It's neat for a child to discover dollars and halves, or foreign coins. It gives them a broader look at the world.

 

im 16 and i collect at what level i can

 

Yes, it is true, most kids just zone out, and text message, watch t.v., play xbox, and smoke pot.
My school is chalk full of rich sons of [expletive], that think the only things in life that are important are football, weed, and sex. (No I am not joking 14-15 year olds think this way)
My most important thing is health then grades. I used to be a real popular dude, great basketball player, but missing almost two years of school, can really diminish a reputation, and of course due to my health issues, basketball is out of the question as well.
Do I have a Wii? Yes. Do I have a PS3? Yes. Do I have a computer, tv, ipod, etc? Yes.
Would I rather go out and play with my friends? You bet your sweet behind I would. Is it difficult for me to get out of the house, and even to make friends? Yes it is, and that is why I mostly have "cyber friends" like you guys.
People have called me an old soul in a youthful body, and I think a lot of YN's are like that. I like coin collecting more than any of that other stuff though, and I find it to be more than just a hobby
Do I think the rest of the youth population will pick up on it? Not a chance, as long as there is so much crap, that they can do, or trouble they can get in to, they will choose that over coins

 

yeah most kids will choose pot n drugs n garbage im perfectly clean have a steady gf and im going to the coinstore then to her house tomarrow i think im pretty good

 

I like your priorities. Enjoy them while you can, because if you marry some girl you may have to reverse the order there
Guy~

 

true
thats why i plan on doing cosmotology or working in a bank lol

 

I have a friend who does very well in the farming game and he has a 13 year old son who collects and swears he knows everything there is to know about coins or grading etc. because dad who has the checkbook knows only that a penny might be worth somewhere around 1 cent and a nickel a little more.
I was talking to him at the local watering hole the other night and was spouting off about some of my great finds like getting a 2001 proof set in an auction that I thought was a 2002 for $9.00. He explained to me that his boy had just had him buy 2 coins at an auction last weekend and he paid $1500.00 a piece for them.
I wouldn't trust this kid buying the things I paid $9.00 for let alone that much money. Oh well, it's not my money & i hope for his dads sake the bean prices stay up!!!:kewl:

 

There is a 7 year old girl in the local coin club and she does very well. I would totally trust her with my money to buy coins and I don't trust anyone with my money. If she could drive, I think she would be on her own numismaticly speaking. There is also a teenage boy in the same club. Both have been members for 2 years or more.

 

I don't know enough youth to give you a valuable answer. All I can say is I think I got burnt out collecting as a kid because I didn't really have any mentors or friends that were in the hobby. The internet wasn't available so I was pretty much on my own trying to figure stuff out. Plus, I wanted so much but couldn't afford to buy it. Pretty soon, my only focus was getting my own vehicle when I turned 16 and I lost all interest around 15 years old. Life revolved around improving an old 85 cutlass and then dressing up a pretty sweet truck by highschool. The big deal at that time was to get a CD player into any vehicle that moved because it was the fancy new thing! Aside from that, music, food, and girls were high on the list.
I never lost the collection. It was just put away for a long time. I totally forgot about coin collecting and must have went years without it ever crossing my mind.

Eventually, I turned 27. Was watching the news at lunch one day and saw that silver had hit 21.00 and I thought, "I wonder what that does for coin prices?" I went and looked at some stuff again and it was like, one day all of a sudden out of the blue I realized, hey!... I'm an adult, I've got buying power, and the internet at my disposal for information and buying. Like a light bulb turned on. The hobby was like a whole new world. I realize now how limited my knowledge was as a kid compared to what I could have known had the internet been there.

In that way, kids are lucky these days. They have the internet. All the info is available at their finger tips and they aren't left out on their own to figure stuff out. They can make friends on forums like this and if anything I would imagine it will give a nice boost to the hobby. The kids who are interested will be able to find others who are interested in the hobby and maybe are more likely to stick with it.

At any rate, I think there's a high possibility that most kids may lose interest at some point and come back to the hobby when they're older.

 

I will give you all a report in September......

As I wrote in another thread http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t64453/ I just signed up to teach the coin collecting merit badge for a group of 10 or so 12-13 year old boys on September 9 (and 30th). Some people are donating some give aways, and I am giving some stuff away as well. I will report back if they are interested and I'll see if I can light some little fires!!!

I'm VERY excited about it!

Bob