Any thoughts from those who jet around the world as to what countries are having an increased audience and popularity for coin collecting? I would like to have the wind at my back!
South Korea. They are in the midst of a big coin "boom," from what friends and coin retailers over there tell me. It's a boom in some different ways: People are interested in collecting low-grade coins for fun from which they make year sets, there are the searchers for "older" coins in circulation, and there's the very serious, high-grade (high-value) collectors, and even weirdos who are very, very interested in cleaning their change with concoctions of vinegar and salt! There are also people just interested in the coins' metal content and are hoarding huge numbers of the older 10 Won brass coins minted between 1971 and 2006. Some of these people are melting these coins into bars, even though this activity has recently (2011) been outlawed. The occasional smelting operation bust gets on the news every once in a while. Some of the "boom" has been driven by news about coins recently: 1) South Korea will soon become about the ONLY country in the world to totally withdraw coins from circulation (it just started last week, but is to be completed by 2020). 2) Rare South Korean coins, and their incredible values(!) in the South Korean collector market have received tons of coverage by the Korean media, a media market where when one item of vaguely-interesting "news" gets covered, all the other media outlets pile on, including radio, internet, and cable news, talk shows, etc.
A year ago you would not have written that. Until mid-2016, Belarus had no coins, just paper money. Made sense due to the inflation, but for about 25 years people there used notes only. In Russia people started collecting, and paying high prices for, old Russian coins when they - at least a few - became wealthy and could legally import and own such pieces. Not sure how popular modern (21c) coins are in Russia. In Poland the commemorative 2 złote coins were quite popular, even though they were different from the circulation pieces in several regards. They were inexpensive and yet nicely designed. The new 5 złotych pieces that "replaced" them have the same specifications as the regular coins, and from what I have read, people still wait in lines at banks in order to get some. Germans still use cash a lot, so coins are parts of everyday life. Many collectors here too, but the hobby is not as "professionalized" (with regard to grading and partly exorbitant prices) as in the US. Currently the €5 coins with the colored polymer ring are a big thing, but I suppose that "increased audience" is temporary. India seems to be an interesting market too. I do not know much about their coins, but there are forums with very vivid Indian communities ... Christian
...And the Socialist Republic of Vietnam did not have coins from 1975 to the early 2000s, either. AND I'm sure there are other examples, but the Korean situation is different from these others, I would argue. The Koreans' plan is much more systemic, and is a very serious plan to completely and permenently remove coins from the nation, NEVER TO GO BACK, and not just a "fad" due to the current functional or economic factors in the country. The simple fact is, making coins is a waste of money(!)
I know that the lower value ie 10 won and 50 won were costing more to mint than they were worth. But paper/polymer is more costly in the long run and I wonder that it is just a step to doing away with physical money period. In contrast Japan has higher value coins like the 100 and 500 Yen that circulate enough that the latter is even counterfeited. It is less costly to get 18-20 years out of a 500 yen coin than it is to be replacing a note every few months.
Making coins the way it is done in South Korea is indeed a waste of money in my opinion. The denomination with the highest value is the 500 won coin, I think, and that is worth about €0.40 or $0.44 ... Coins last longer than paper money of course, but there is also the cost of handling them. Stores need to have a supply, and bringing that in and out costs money. So I could well imagine that countries such as Korea or the US - where the highest denomination in everyday use is $0.25 - become "coinless" before they become cashless. The funny thing is, from what I have read about those Korean plans, the reason for them is not that coins are on the way out anyway - no, the total coin volume has actually been increasing: 3.4% last year. But if the idea of doing away with coins stimulates the numismatic market, great! The only question or doubt I have is, once coins are gone and not a visible part of everyday life any more, would people still be interested in collecting them? Some certainly will, but getting "introduced" to the hobby may be more difficult. Christian
Very true. That is why the idea was floated in S. Korea to "drop a zero" from the currency in a new currency reform. That would solve the problem! The Koreans could just as well mint much higher-value coins, too. 1,000 and 5,000 Won coins would certainly approximate those higher-value Japanese Yen coins. But there's still the cost of minting coins... Yes, I think the eventual aim is to go completely cashless...
Well, people don't use votive religious items for worshiping Ra or Horus anymore, but just try to buy an authentic Egyptian piece without spending thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars on one. I have no experience with them, but they're still valued in a collector market. Why is that? I think the answer is: People collect collectibles! I think that there are so many dang coins out there, both national and "world," that we won't have to worry about a lack of coins for a while after certain countries go coinless. The problem of people not being exposed to coins is an issue that perhaps your grandchildren or great-grandchildren might face. Might.
The Korean mint does a lot of contract work for foreign countries, I wonder if that would be affected by going "coinless" and not minting domestic coins anymore?
Perhaps they will indeed keep minting coins and medals, but the "coin situation" in South Korea is actually more involved than that: The South Korean corporation, Poongsan, is the world's largest coin blank manufacturer, accounting for more than half of the world's coin blank trade volume. Poongsan is turning into such a monster that some people wonder if they still live up to their World Trade Organization obligations. The founder’s son, now Poongsan Chairman (surprise, surprise), has announced a goal of achieving 12 trillion won in revenue and 1 trillion won in profits by 2018, the 50th anniversary of the company. Yeah, I don't think the Koreans will give up on the "coin business" completely.
Side note (going even further away from the original question ...): In Europe, Poongsan has lately been criticized to some extent since the company also produces cluster munition. A Dutch TV network had a report about this, and it was brought up in parliament (Tweede Kamer, NL and European Parliament). The mints in Utrecht, NL and Kongsberg, NO decided to not do business with that company any more. Now whether that will affect Poongsan's deals with other mints, I don't know. Christian
Similarly in Ukraine the first Ukrainian coins were minted at the Lugans'k Cartridge Factory in Lugans'k - coins and munitions are quite the combo. Later on by 1996 a mint was built in Kiev and now all the coins are minted there. Which I guess is a good thing because Lugans'k is now in one of the separatist regions.
I am on the skeptical group as well. Hong Kong is a country that comes to mind straight away. 1998 was the last year coins were issued as there were claims that octopus card will take over. That quite didn't happen. Coins were reissued in 2012. Ironically most of the people that I've spoke to from Hong Kong aren't big fan of coins. As of why they still continue to circulate... it's like trying to kill the dollar note.
