Do you think we need more younger collectors?

From what I've seen at coin clubs, shows, etc...most collectors are old. Most I have seen are 50 and older.

Although there are a few younger collectors for what I have seen, the majority I have seen are older.

Some may think "coin collecting is an older person's hobby". However almost all older coin collectors I've talked to started collecting at a younger age.

Do you agree we need more younger collectors?

I think maybe one of the reasons, is that old coins cost a lot more now. A kid in the 60s could get all kinds of old coins cheap compared today.

What's your take on this?

 

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We need more cow bell.

 

I am kind of young, early 30's, but I don't think that is the "younger" you mean. Oh well, I am having fun collecting! By the way, it is and can be an expensive hobby.

 

You got that right!

 

Of course it would be great for the hobby. What I would humbly suggest is to pick a subseries that could be finished in a relatively short amount of time. Affordability is a key. Maybe memorial Lincolns. Heck even most proofs are only a few bucks. I remember the baseball card craze years back. What a buzz kill! Kids were priced out of the hobby. My son was soured on collecting for years. Almost anyone can afford to collect some series in coins.

 

Yes we need younger collectors. When cooked right, they are much more tender than the tough old collectors we're so used to eating.

 

I am a younger collector, I am 13. But I agree I do not see to many of my kind at school.

 

Cheap? I doubt kids in the 60s considered old coins cheap when a dollar had way more buying power.

We don't need younger kids becoming coin collectors, we need less so when the older generation dies and their coins hit the markets again, we get them at better deals because there will be less demand since there will be less collectors.

 

Well I'm at young collector only 14, but I don't know if cash is to much of an issue as long as you start out small. Normally for young collectors you don't want to start out trying for silver halfs or dollars, but something more price reasonable. It helps a lot if one of your parents or family member used to collect to show somethings.Darn it I posted this on another thread thank goodness we have copy and paste!
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I hate to say this Detecto but coin collecting is a rapidly greying hobby. We have our exceptions here on CT and that is great to see. However, I do not see many young people interested in coins. I have coached baseball, basketball and football in my spare time for years. I also mentor a lot of kids through volunteering with youth groups. I can tell you that coin collecting among young people is a rarity. The State Quarters introduced some young people to coinage but this seems to have faded away. I can tell you that video games are huge! Society has significantly changed. Technology has dramatically changed. History, nostalgia, and appreciating coins as a work of art do not seem to be a priority among young people. Whether this will change over time, who knows? Perhaps when all of us sell or give our collections to family someday, there will be a resurgence but I doubt it. So, to answer your question: Yes, we do need more younger collectors. However, I do not see this happening in any great number. TC

 

I can think of a lot of reasons that coin collecting might be weighted toward older folks.

First, money -- typically, you don't have much until you're an adult.

Second, patience -- ditto.

Third, it's sedentary and frequently solitary. When the youthful energy is at its peak, physical activities can be more fun. And when the hormones kick in, well...

There can also be a bit of a nostalgia factor -- once you reach a certain age, you find that the coins you found and spent freely as a child are now collectable.

None of these preclude a child or young adult from getting seriously involved, but I think they all contribute to the weighting we see.

 

I'd have to disagree here. It seems to me that it's been about this grey for a long, long time. I went to my first show over 40 years ago, and even then, most of the attendees and merchants were "grown-ups with grey hair" -- heck, it was my grandparents who got me interested in the hobby.

Now, if you want to see a greying hobby, look at amateur radio. When I was a kid, the prospect of talking to people around the world was exotic and cool. Now, with the Internet, it's completely unremarkable. Give a kid a choice between patiently picking code out of a distant hiss, or watching and posting funny videos, and which do you think they'll pick?

 

There are far too many distractions for kids today. Technology has created text messaging/video game playing zombies out of the young generation today. Instant gratification is the name of the game as well. Tell a kid to search through 10 rolls of pennies and look at each and everyone with a magnifying glass looking for differences and that it might take a few hours. He'd tell you what to do with those pennies.

To make it interesting, there should be a tv reality show call "Coin Searchers" or something like that following the same formula as Storage Wars. After a few episodes of young kids finding silver coins or valuable coins and selling them for big profits, a whole army of young coin collectors could be created.

 

Solution, "Coin Collecting, the video game"In this exciting new game, you can pick your price range, age, even where you live and what you look like, and from there begin to build a collection. There are several default budgets to choose from, and you can even have a custum range. Travel all over the world to complete the greatest type set, date/mm set(of any coin), mintmark set, or any other way you see fit for collecting! Have fun, and buy coins!

 

You gotta add a few wizards, trolls, weapons and levels to make it interesting.

 

Coin club discussion, circa 1955:

"There are far too many distractions for kids today. Technology has created radio listening/sock hopping zombies out of the young generation today. Instant gratification is the name of the game as well. Tell a kid to search through 10 rolls of large cents and look at each and everyone with a magnifying glass looking for differences and that it might take a few hours. He'd tell you what to do with those pennies. "

Kids these days with their talkie pictures... with their phonographs... with their folio-bound books. It's easy to blame technology for an imagined inadequacy in the younger generation, and it's happened since history began.

I beg you, PLEASE do not make this game! I love coin collecting, probably more than you, but I play games as well. This would undoubtedly be the hokiest, cheesiest thing to ever be released.

Actually, come to think of it, there is a major undercurrent of collecting in most games. There are plenty in which you go on lengthy quests and missions to acquire rare items, later trading those with other players for even better ones. There may come a day when these digital hoarders go analog and give this hobby a major boost.

 

cant the abitlity to choose "what you look like" be enough. They could wear all of the various types of cloths they wanted. PLUS, they get to play a game where they can have a custom amount of cash. whats not to love?

 

I think that the prospect of finding something valuable has always been a 'hook' in getting young people into coin collecting. The real problem that emerges is sustainability.......there must be something to keep folks hooked long after the prospect of finding valuable coins in your pocket change wears off. I believe the young person who begins to collect needs to explore other areas within the hobby in order to stay interested. If interest within the hobby is not cultivated, the passion for collecting soon withers and dies. TC mentioned the State Quarter program, in his above post, as being an introduction to the hobby for many young people. It was, and still is, an affordable way to get into coin collecting, but unless the participant develops a keen sense of where to go after completing that collection they may fall to the wayside. That 'sense', feeling or passion must come from within the individual......you can't infuse it. There is no 'app' for it.

 

Not yet, at least

 

Certainly, I'd hate for coin collecting as a hobby to die. I'm trying to get my little sister (age 7) into coin collecting. She's liked to watch me go through my collection since she was little(r) and I've given her foreign coins, and she loves them - her favorite is a Filipino 5 Piso coin. She takes good care of her valuables like jewelry and such, so I'm giving her a silver eagle this year for Christmas. I just need to make sure she knows that she can't take it out and play with it, and she CAN'T take it to school to show her friends!