In a distant future without money: will numismatic hobby decline?

If the mint quit making coins tomorrow my collecting would suffer. I would probably seriously find another hobby. Without circulating coinage my interest in the hobby would definitely wane. I like older coins, too. But, the older coins I like are expensive. Circulating coins and mint products keep me in the hobby between the expensive coin purchases.

For now though I'll keep an eye on Sweden and how their cashless society goes.

So two trends are converging on Sweden at the same time:

• Sweden is using less and less cash.
• Sweden is an environment of negative interest rates.

And that means many Swedes have no way to "hide" their money.

So Sweden may become the first country whose citizens may have to accept negative interest rates (probably in the form of higher bank charges or fees) or be forced to spend their money to "save" it from those rates.

A resistance is forming, and some people are protesting the impending extinction of cash. Björn Eriksson, former head of Sweden's national police and now head of Säkerhetsbranschen, a lobbying group for the security industry, told The Local, "I've heard of people keeping cash in their microwaves because banks won't accept it."

http://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-cashless-society-negative-interest-rates-2015-10

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I wasn't aware of this. Interesting, yet pretty worrisome at the same time. I'll be happy to be on the sideline for this one learning from someone else's success/failure.

 

I do see cash disappearing within the next couple of decades in the US.

Once that's happened, I expect a big decline in the hobby. But just as there are still collectors of ancients, or of world coins that don't circulated in the US, there surely will still be collectors of obsolete coinage -- even when it's all obsolete.

 

There are at least two effects "at work" here, I think. We do use less and less cash, so the idea of bringing people (back) to the hobby by launching a program like the state quarters would not be successful at some point in the future. There will still be collectors of old/ancient coins of course. But it may become more difficult to get young people interested in the hobby, simply because you won't be able to start a collection by picking interesting pieces from circulation.

Also, from what I have read, young people do not collect tangible objects that much any more. Not sure whether (or to which degree) that is true, but this would affect the number of collectors too ...

Christian

 

Good question. My guess would be that if they stopped making coins in favor of electronic money, coins would become scarce and therefore desirable. So my money is on our hobby continuing.

 

Keep in mind, everyone on this site has a bias to real money, including me. Nevertheless, I reluctantly think numismatics is already in trouble. Coin shows look more like AARP meetings. Sweden has already mandated to go cashless by the end of 2017. Kids today are just interested in the bells and whistles of anything electronic. Are they going to appreciate our Morgan collections no less pay significant money to own one?

 

Coin shows have always looked like AARP meetings.....

 

You're right, but the attendance VOLUME of the "AARP'' members also appears to be less. Where are the grandkids? Probably waiting in the car with their computer games.

 

And the dealers at these shows are also getting older? Next time you attend a show, also note the demographics of the ones selling. I see very few young ones. And the young ones I've approached, they often first have to clear the sale via a phone call with the (aging?) owner.

 

There are a few problems with this argument:

• Coin collecting is an expensive hobby, and as a result many come to it later in life when they are settled down and have the disposable income. Not to say that there are no younger collectors, but one would expect most new collectors to be in their mid to late 30s if not older. These old collectors you see are not the same old collectors you would have seen 20 years ago.
• Even with collectors tending to be on the older side, the younger collectors among them may look to internet transactions as the primary means of collecting rather than attending shows.
• Older collectors (especially ones that are retired) are more likely to have the free time to be able to go to shows/clubs, and to be highly active in numismatics in general.

 

Huh? I hope that wasn't the only reason. How does she feel about coins?

 

Let's put it this way: when one of my favorite dealers doesn't come to a show I usually see them at, I'm always a little worried they died.

I would say the median dealer is probably over 60. Even 70 wouldn't surprise me.

 

There are some collectables that are generation based.

If money was stopped being produced how long would it take for a new generation that never had coinage/paper money to never conceive collecting it. Or how few may collect it, thus reducing demand over time.

We probably won't have to worry about that.

I'm also curious how many coins are lost / thrown away .. ie reduction in the inventory of collectable coins/paper over time.

The other thing is will PM coins also be stopped as a commodity/money valuation?
Will Gold, Silver and other PMs stop being worth anything as all money is electronic. Then will solid silver teapots/ silverware have more valuation than ceramic teapots / silverware due to the manufacturing material ?

 

There will still be money, it will just be in a different form. I grew up without there being PMs in US currency, and yet these PMs are still valued for their rarity, beauty, and industrial applications.

Also, what of exonumia? Medals and such have never been currency, and yet many collect them for their history and artistry.

 

Did people stop collecting oil lamps when lightbulbs were invented? Did people stop collecting coins when paper money became common?
I don't think there's much of a relation at all between circulating physical forms of money in a digital age and the number of those who collect them.
The "Philately declined when email came in" thing is a total red-herring. Philately has been on the decline ever since FDR was our "First stamp Collector". Philately also lacks the tactile satisfaction of numismatics - is a bit "fussier" of a hobby, and generally doesn't appeal to a very broad demographic.

 

I'm no longer of an age when hiring parameters are of any importance to me, but why in the world would you "ding" an applicant who was otherwise well suited for the job over a question (not even an objection or a campaign, etc.) about recycling?
If your company does not recycle, you're lucky that young folks would even consent to work in such a backwards environment - chances are really good that your other policies are stuck in the 19th century too - how many sexual harassment claims do you have pending, just out of curiosity?

 

Isn't recycling mandatory in most areas now? Is not recycling even a thing?

 

IMO not at the top end. Stamp collecting did suffer a decline but try getting penny blacks or cape triangulars for a dollar or two! I believe ancients will always be valued for that wonderful feeling you are handling something that people held a thousand years or more ago. History does not go out of fashion.

 

We would have retired the one cent coin in the 80's if rationality had anything to do with it. The "penny" (although we do not have - and have never had - any such denomination in the US, is useless in day-to-day commerce, and virtually everyone has a mayonnaise jar full of cents that just sit there) is just so sentimentally popular that I predict we may even create a plastic cent, just to keep the folks happy who can't imagine life without a one cent coin.

 

No idea who told you that, but we've just been through it in another topic. If what you claim was right, why did their central bank just introduce new coins and notes a few days ago? Sounds like a waste of money (in terms of coming up with all the new designs and developing new security features etc.) to me.

Christian