Collectors, Dealers, Savers, Hoarders, and Investors of U.S. Coins are out there? Becomes and even more interesting thought if you just count those with coins before 1965. Then the obvious question is how many coins are in all these collections? Anyone willing to share an opinion ? Consider that there are thousands of dealers and they have to have inventory. And how many customers does a dealer need to remain in business. And I think it is probable that half the people with coins never buy or sell with a dealer. No wonder I can't sleep at night.
Yes, this is definately the kind of thoughts that can keep a person up at night. The thought on this subject that keeps me awake at night is how many key dates are in the bottom of wishing wells, or somewhere they may never be found and appreciated for their true value? Just once I'd like to accidentally find an 1885 0r 1886 nickel that was accidentally forgotten about.
Possible that well over half the population has some coins in thier houses, apartments, etc somewhere. Maybe lots more than that. Many people put coins in jars, cans, boxes, etc for a rainy day. Of course imagine the amount of coins distroyed by the many ways people do that every day. Silver coins are melted down continuously. Large ones are even used for gun target practice. Kids in schools melt them down with acids all the time too. Coins are thrown is wells, accross lakes and rivers, buried in a yard, lost when ships sink, placed on RR tracks, drilled to make a necklass or bracelet, things carved on them and on and on and on with almost anything possible to do to a coin.
I think about that myself and I wonder what it's like to have something trully rare and how nice it would be to pass on to my son. Saying something along the lines to him, in order to trully appreciate the value of a coin one must understand the where it came from, the history of it, and the little minute details that go into making the coin. Also I wonder who's hands it has been in.
The feeling of the market I get is that, its getting smaller. Everyday that I go to the coin shop, people are just there to sell coins, gold and silver. Only a very few are actually buying with the way the economy is. Also, from my many visits to the shop and others like it, I seem to be the greenhorn. Everyone else in this hobby is way older than me. I would like to think I have a wide range of friends from work and back when in school and no one I know collects. A few come into collections and they come to me asking for advice. For instance a coworker of mine overhears me talking to a friend about the 37 3 legged buffalo. It caught her attention and came over to see if she should bring "some" in and if I could tell her if they were worth anything! She then told me she once tried to take all her coins to a store and they only offered her two thousand dollars for the lot. This gets me thinking that she may have some serious stuff! I tell her my next day at work is Tuesday, so shes going to bring in some coins and ask their values. The fact that so much trust has been put upon me to help her out, leaves me feeling funny inside. On one side I could totally rip her off and she would never know,... But I would. I am proud that I couldn't do that no matter how much I could gain monetarily. My honor and reputation at my job make me a "protected" man. So, with all that said, who knows what she all has. But if I can't afford it myself, and she wants to sell, I will tell her I know the right people to sell to and post the lot on here for fellow CT members to get a chance at.
How does it feel to know that you are part of a Billion Dollar Industry ? And that doesn't include bullion people. And you are all correct. There are well over five million collectors of U.S. Coins and that is coins before 1965. Awesome. And my information is correct.
According to HSN, 150 million Americans collected State Quarters. Of course, they included the people who happened to have them as pocket change in their total. :whistle: TC
I just love listening to the statistics spewed out by HSN sometimes. If you sit and think long and hard, you can come up with some strange reason that what they are saying is not a lie... not really the truth, but not quite a lie either. In the local taverns we like to refer to it as bull$#&t.
