Is numismatics going the way of philately?

Of course, that would make you an investor and not a collector, right?

 

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I too believed Numistmatists could very well end up extinct, or threatened. As a boy I loved collecting coins and reading about their history. My children showed no interest, so when grand children started appearing I gave them coins for their birthdays, be it ASE or coins dated 100 or 50 years prior to their birth year. Also sent were coin books of recent years, partially filled. None of this seemed to spark interest, until one day a nine year old grand daughter sent me a picture of her State and National Park series books that she had nearly completed. I was totally shocked and told her I was impressed and glad that she was enjoying collecting coins. She responded by showing me her collection of wheat pennies, Kennedy half dollars and a couple of Morgan dollars. This changed my thinking. I do not collect modern coins, considering them too numerous and to a large extent, not appealing visually. But one grand daughter changed my thinking.

 

Very cool story! There is a Women in Numismatics group that she may be interested in.

 

Thank you for the information. I will send the link to her.

 

Two members here @The Penny Lady® and @Amanda Varner have leading roles in the organization and maybe they'll chime in and get you pointed in the right direction. I think there may be an outreach program for young girls, but I don't really know. I seem to remember something from one of their posts...

 

This is normal. Just giving people coins/sets/etc will not turn them into coin collectors. it is something that has to come from within them. If they don't have that spark no amount of conjoling, gifts, encouragement, is going to turn them into coin collectors. At least not long term collectors. The ones with that spark do need the exposure though. You exposed your children and grandchildren, I don't know how many, and you got one score. I would imagine each of those others has their own special interest in something as well, just not coins. And chances are your granddaughter will eventually put the coins aside as well, until she is much older when she may come back to them. But that usually requires another exposure.

How many people your own age that you knew growing up collected coins? Probably not many if any. We are a very small percentage of the population as a whole, and that is not going to change.

Examples? And I don't mean pieces you bought and quickly flipped. Pieces you bought and are holding that are increasing in value please. And are there pieces you have bought and held that are doing badly? And remember you have to make allowance for any appreciation due to PM price increases.

This is true, but any selection that is too short and recent is also flawed because there usually isn't a sufficient "trend over time" of enough length to be meaningful.

 

I bought at least one of each and speculated on many of the uncs. So, check the price quides, a large percentage of them are up for their numimatic value. Even so, you can't discount the gain from pm's, it's all part of your return.

Of course. I'd say the last 25 years is long enough. Within that period, many are up (way up) and although they fluctuate, many are still way up. Even though they are up, I'm holding many because I believe they'll go higher.

 

Your doomsday scenario has been talked about for over 100 years. Coin and stamp collecting will survive it as it always has. In most part, come out ahead. All markets have corrections in values. To what extent? No one can tell. But they all seem to come back stronger. As for the modern coins now, those we know are inflated by the dealers. You can't blame the US mint because they're competing with the world now. A lot of people look at the Morgan silver dollar, which is probably one of the most collected coins, say they're nice but the younger generation might have one in their collection compared to hundreds of the new coins from the US and the world. They're different and not all the same.

As in all collectibles, rarities will always hold their value. So I don't see coin or stamp collecting going into oblivion.

 

The minute we start to know the value and you debate if you're going to spend $500, will it go up or down? That's where the non-enjoyment part is.

 

The new collectors are going through the same thing. They can't afford half of the items that the mint has. At least in the 60's there weren't that many compared to today's modern coins, which most of the new collectors can't afford anyways. Like I said before, as for gain no one and even you, wants to see your $500 coin go to $300. So all of us have an eye on the price. And yes, you can have your eye on the price and be a true hobbyist.

 

Even though I said most coinage (especially moderns) will become worthless, I'm not really a doomsday scenario type guy. That would be extreme and I try not to think extreme.

With that said, just cause it's "been talked about for over 100 years" does not mean it cannot happen. At least in my post I admit that I don't know what's going to happen. Nobody does. Not even yourself. In my post I simply give my opinion and present the reasons why I think it's possible. Also, in the last 100 years you didn't have dealers paying bums to stand in line for a coin release. Yes the times are a changin'!!

John, stamp collecting has already gone into oblivion. Alongside baseball cards. Coins could be next.

 

First, stamp collecting hasn't gone into oblivion and yes in my opinion, it will last a lifetime. The stamp market is doing very good now. As for baseball cards, I can't really comment too much because I don't follow or collect them.

As for your saying that coins will be worthless, that is completely ridiculous. That's a doomsday scenario. Hey, I don't see anything wrong with dealers paying bums to get coins. They probably didn't have any kids to get on the line for them. I blame the collectors for paying too high of a price for the modern stuff. And yes, the modern stuff has a big chance to lose value but not to an extent that will destroy the market. Just go back and look at the history of the pricing of coins. Yes, you can track them for 100 years or more. Ups and downs, but at the end always a gain on most of them. The collecting world has changed with the modern era. Now every coin can be a MS-70. The game has changed a lot, and will change again and again. Worthless? No. Challenge? Yes. Doomsday, don't think so.

 

Since coins from our past are tied to precious metals, and ones today are made with them sometimes, this makes them more complex for starters. Stamps got rarity, collector value, various designs like coins do, but stamps are all pieces of paper. The intrinsic value of a lot of coins is a better bet when calamity occurs or just going into the future. As far as art, coins can be in relief, create cameo contrasts, shine, and present themselves as miniature sculptures. Coins have been more extensively used as money, so they have had more use and exposure. In every area, I think coins outperform stamps and any other collectible, and I think the size of our collector base is larger for these reasons. In short, I don't think coins will follow the losing streak of stamps. Of course stamps appeal immensely to some people, and that's great, but I'm talking in general as most others are I think. Regardless, I'll be happy accumulating my coins and hunting for deals no matter how many people are doing it.

 

You would have to put coin's in two parts collectors and Coin hoarders of precious metals for investment and Only cars and stamps managed to outperform coins over the 10-year period.

 

I bought an '50D Jeff nickle (UNC) for $24 back in '64/'65. Guess how much it's worth today? Ya win some, ya lose some. I bought a '99 Silver State Quarters proof set for +$300 back in '08/'09. Guess how much that goes for today. Ya win some ya lose some. If ever my heirs go to sell my commem collection what do you think a dealer is going to pay? They probably won't get what I paid for them.

And you're right John, nobody wants to see that coin that you paid so much for, go down in value, but in some instances it's inevitable. On the flip side, I have made some money on things that I've sold so things do balance out a wee bit. It's like when I asked my grandfather (as a kid) how much money he made betting on the ponies.......'I broke even', was his answer.......yeah, sure.

 

Although you insist on continuing to call me a doomsdayer haha, I hope you are correct sir. Your post is makes me feel a little better about the future now.

 

Glad it made your day

 

Most modern coins are pushed over the edge on prices the dealers got them wrapped up and put in most people minds you need a MS 70 or it's not worth buying
like you said go and try to sell them after the push is gone on that issue
But when your horse comes in it's all good

 

I started coin collecting late, but always had an interest---it just seemed I couldn't find the bucks to 'scratch the itch'....and I'm fairly certain that's why more younger people are not yet into it. But, I see absolutely nothing wrong with outreach. The 'quarter series' got quite a few interested and making young people aware that this doesn't have to be only a 'rich mans' hobby seems important to me...

 

I think the Quarter series added untold number of collectors and the best part you could find them in the change one of the better things out of the Mint