Are the collectors going to die off?

I advise everyone in this thread to read this thread if you haven't already:

http://www.cointalk.com/t96550/

Then come back here and let us know how bad the hobby is dying off.

 

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If the number of new members to both this and other internet coin forums is any indication, I would say the hobby is very healthy and growing each year. The fact that the US mint seems to make more and more products every year supports that theory.

Bicycle paper routes not withstanding, initiatives like the State Quarter Program have introduced millions of Americans to coin collecting. Most of these newer collectors are still focused on modern proofs, bullion coins, and registry material at present. However, there will be a percentage of those modern collectors that are bitten by the coin bug and will become aspiring numismatists. Over time, their numismatic education will lead them to the path of classic coins (pre 1964). A percentage of these collectors will have the financial means to become the newer core collectors of classic coinage for the future.

While I don't doubt that many of the collections of the baby boomers will hit the market in the near future, I don't fear the event. I think it will invigorate the market with fresh material that has not been seen for years. Personally, I can only hope that there are a significant number of raw collections that have developed wonderful patinas that will hit the market as I achieve a measure of success in my career and finally have the financial means to acquire some of these great coins.

Long live NUMISMATICS!

 

You can take a poll about age of collectors back in 1975 and find that the median age of collectors would be 55. You can take a poll about age of collectors in 2008 and come up with a median age of 56. And, you could probably take a poll about age of collectors in 2038 and find the median age would be 55......

 

Yes. Yes you are.

 

Well, I hope not, or the hobby is dead after all.
Guy~

 

Gotta say, I collect "classic coins", but when the State Quarters came out, they reinvigorated me...pulled me back into the hobby. I went through 20 rolls of Delawares trying to find the best one to put in my spanking new Dansco, and went crazy buying multiple silver proof sets. I told my local coin shop that they should get involved and they didn't until the 4rth issue came out and they started chasing bags of the Delawares and Pennsylvanias. In the end, I had a bunch of Delaware rolls that I sold at a great price, A bunch of '99 silver proof sets and I still have a kick butt set of pristine State Quarters that I enjoyed putting together. Now I'm working on one from Circulation with my oldest daughter, and when she saw my set after working on her own for years, she was floored...it was a sweet moment. But the kicker is that the coin shop started buying them...they buy the mint bags and keep them in stock. And people off the street...non-coin collector types...have come into their store to buy them. It was very good for them.

Despite all this, I do genuinely worry about the future of collecting because of the demographic changes and the fact that people barely even use change anymore...its all about swiping the cards now...and they have to see the coins to become infatuated with them. Maybe we have a generation or two or three...I just don't know. I'm doing my part to bring in the kids...hope ya'll are doing it too for all our sakes.

Steve

 

Yes, you're saying exactly what I'm saying. Youths grow into the hobby; their tastes become more sophisticated. Someone else just posted this idea too but I can't figure out how to use the multi-quote option.

I do like the editing option though!

 

I tend to think the same thing. Everything is digital and growing more so and, within this mindset, who cares about benign things like stamps or coins?

On the other hand, have coins ever really been in the mainstream? It's a hobby for introverts—and I doubt that ratio will ever change.

 

I worry about the future too because most collectors don't seem to. It's not a matter of worrying about what my coins will be worth. I think it's important that the torch be passed to another generation. I consider numismatics a noble and important endeavor that will become increasingly important with the passage of time. What a shame it would be if it weren't continuous. What a shame it would be if most of our current knowledge were lost and millions of would be collectors never got to enjoy this great hobby.

There are some long term threats but I won't be around to see how they unfold so they'll have to be left to the younger collectors. I may well be around to see how the current problems unwind.

If coins really do get discontinued in the future the hobby might simply transform into the new medium of exchange with all the coins becoming the true classics. In the meantime we all get to try to have some fun. And attracting new blood might be the surest way to keep having fun for the largest number of collectors and dealers.

I know this doesn't apply to everyone.

 

Coleguy, it's not just about the value of your collection that is important.

If the hobby dies off, there are a lot of effects.

10 years ago, I could go to 5-6 different places in town and browse sports cards and talk with people who were in the shops looking at the same stuff. Today, there isn't a single B&M sports card shop around. Makes it a LOT less interesting.

Now when I want to add to my collection, i get to look at pixelated pictures on my screen before buying. Ho hum.

Future value is only part of it. What if there were only 10 active members on this forum?

 

Personally, I think the bell has begun sounding

1. Counterfeiting. It's gonna hurt bad.

2. Demographics. Fewer and fewer white males in the population (as a percentage). Look around at the next coin show to check "diversity".

3. Motivation for "new" collectors. It's a big over-generalization, but it sure seems that the new members on this forum sure talk about "deals", flipping, etc. Don't see many threads waxing over the beauty of XF barber quarters and filling holes.

4. Internet has changed everything. This could be the subject of a book. But comparing new collectors of today or even collecting today as compared to 1975 is ridiculous.

5. Here's one you don't hear much of. EBAY fees. five years ago, it was conceivable to go on ebay, sell a bunch of $5 coins individually and actually put some money in your pocket. Recently the fees on ebay have really hosed the small coin collector who wants to sell a coin or two. I think this is an important change. If I know it's gonna be difficult to sell a coin later on, I'm less likely to buy without a lot of forethought.

Collect what you like, but fully expect to be left "holding the bag" as the OP stated.

 

I'm glad to see people here talking about encouraging the next generation. I'm 23 and have very recently started collecting. The first time I contacted a local collector his words of advice were, "If I could tell you one thing about coin collecting, it's don't even start."

 

If I ever come across has bashing new collectors for collecting modern coins that is the last thing I want to do.
People should collect what they like and pleases them is the best advice always.
I do report here what I see and what I see selling, not selling and laying around - that is the market.
Also it's never what collectors like that is the issue - it's what the mint has done with modern mintages and too many different issues. We have to much, way to much.
When we compare modern to classics it's natural. What else are we to compare these to?
When I say dealers are paying 40% back on modern mint and proof sets, have too much and don't want these it's not aimed at saying your coins are no good are cannot be valued. It's just telling you what I see, you may see something different and to say that's belittling new collectors that's your leap not mine.
The facts are if dealers have boxes of this stuff laying around under tables going unsold there is too much.
We value things because we like them, appreciate the art and have value, or are rare. When I say these coins are not rare that to is not belittling new collectors it's just stating a fact, there is to much.

Lets take the 1996-W Dime for an example. It's an interesting coin, has much going for it, I like it, but it ain't rare, it will not be rare, cannot be considered rare and will be readily avilible for the remainder of this century, there is to many. The fact is they made a million and half, they are not going to enter circulation and will be passed from collector to collector, mint set to mint set, here to there and hoard to hoard. If it had been entered into circulation as a W-mint coin with that mintage then we could change some parameters here and change some of the above. Even then it would not be a rare coin as I have described it and compared to the classic key and semi-keys, there is still too many with limited demand.
I don't make this stuff up and I don't mean to say it's no good or you should not collect these. They are what they are - I can't make them rare or lower mintages so new colletors can feel better, there is to much.

If the main complaint is old timers passing over moderns and that makes you feel less important what are they to do, lie to you and put a Deleware quarter next to a 16-D dime so you feel better or are valued. Old timers are what they are, most want new collectors getting into coins but as you do, they know what they know and think like they think. It's not their job to value your moderns, that's your job. I agree many are crusty and worn down and often just plain "not friendly" at least until you get to know them. Again it's not their job to make you feel good about what you collect, that's your job. If you say "well it that kind of attitude that drives new folks away, again that is those new folks decision - they probably would not have lasted very long anyway and whether someone leaves or stays has nothing to do with "those old timers" and everything to do with those new folks.
I like gem memorials Lincoln's and die varieties many minor, old timers could care less about these coins but I value them.

If you like, value, and collect moderns it's your job to make us notice or at least be aware that your here, your not leaving and this is what you value. It will always come up though about moderns and classics and value and rariety. Again, it's your job to like what you like despite mintages and real rarity if that's what you have decided on to collect.

Here we have seen several new young people as dealers and colletors in the last 5 years. Perhaps as much as 20% increase over what it was 12 years ago. Most of these start out with moderns and move to classics each and every time - I wonder why?

 

So did you take his advice? (Obviously not, you're here posting) Sounds bitter to me. Any person that truly loves the hobby would never say something like what was said to you.

 

I had a discussion yesterday with an old time collector. His advice was to "not get grumpy". I think what he was referring to was the fact that some of the old time dealers after 30 or 40 or 50 years start to get "grumpy". They don't take the time to encourage younger generations to pick up the hobby and sometimes even scare people right out of the hobby.

I'm not casting all of the older folk as this type as I'm sure it's a great minority but this doesn't change the fact that I do hear stories about it all the time. I have personally seen wonderful examples of the opposite as well where an older gentleman will take the time to speak with a YN and take the time to try to pass some of their knowledge down.

I don't think the hobby is on the way out but rather going through yet another metamorphosis. As the age of technology continues to progress I think in 10 years we will not even recognize the hobby from what it was 10 years ago.

 

Well, if there are newbs reading this thread, here's my advice. Buy what you seldom see. And if you NEVER see it, beg, borrow, or steal the money to get it. There are coins that haunt my nightmares because I'm so busy kicking my own butt for not purchasing them when I had the chance.

Regarding the new collectors that fiddle with the modern stuff...well...it could be a sea change. Like hotrodding used to mean one thing...get a big chevy engine and slip it in a light car and paint it pretty. But now, arguably, more money is being spent on high performance parts for Japanese cars. The younger set came in and redefined what is desireable. They (the younger set), will move into the older stuff, but they'll keep their mentality too. Expounding on that, I've seen that there has always been an ever-growing disparity between what is top-notch, and what is nice across the generations. That trend should continue. For example, at one time, coins were either Unc or Fine, but then Unc was redefined to mean no traces of wear at all, and then more degrees of separation were added "choice", "Gem", "Gem Superb". And now even that isn't fine enough and each individual MS number (Sheldon number?) means so much. But one thing has been consistent is that if you were as fussy as possible from the very beginning you won. I think we'll see that shopping among the best slabbed MS-67s because there are no MS-68's (Lots of Jefferson Nickels like that)....will eventually generate a little extra return at some point in the future....maybe when we go to a 1000 point scale or something. Who knows how the younger set will affect things? I don't, but as a student of history, maybe I can benefit from it by buying rare when I can, and ridiculously high grade when I can't.

Steve

 

I agree, but that wasn't my point. I just find it tiresome that every thread, regardless of content, always tends to stray into the area of values, which isn't what the hobby is about. If I want investing blurbs I'll go to a trading site.
Guy~

 

Maybe true. It's sure been a long time since I saw 60+ and same with a lot of people I converse with on line. Actually I've gone from about 90% Christmas Cards, Birthday Cards, etc to almost all on line messages. I always get those electronic type Birthday wishes and usually from well over 60+ people.

 

AND I have the solution to this situation. Rather than anyone here worrying about the future of your collections, just bundle them all up, place in those USPS boxes and send the entire mess to me. I'll promise to do all your worrying from then on and report how horrible it all makes me.:whistle:
And if your not to much into coins, but possibly currency, guns, knives or even buggy whips, I'll take them all. Please don't forget to pay the postage.

 

Your a little again of me. I have trouble using anything except the regular message suff and sometimes that too confuses me. I do like these though. :whistle: Sure wish we have one that said WELCOME. Better yet one that says your posts are to long and us older people fall asleep reading them.