Now I Am Getting Worried.... The Future Of Our Hobby

Later in LIFE ? I would agree.

But the apparent (if true) reduction in coin enthusiasm is matched by declines in civic participation (Rotary, Boy Scouts, etc.) and even just having phone conversations (it's now all texting) and social media.

Fair point, and I think that Ebay and HA and other online sites are major plusses.

Not sure what this means....I think I am missing something.

More good points, lots of them, but I don't think that TPGs are creating a 100x increase in value. It's validating what often is a big discrepancy in coin or bill valuations (check out the WRONG guestimates on my 1928 Gold Certificate thread for Guess The Grade).

If paying a 5-25% premium for new stuff in a slab makes some people happy, so be it.

 

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Can't really get into it, but there are a lot of other reasons for why some clubs of that nature have declined, not the least of which is that there are many many more of them now than in the past. Leaving all the other issues out though it is a good example of how times have changed and how people can miss it if they only look at how things used to be. People didn't stop going groups whether social or for other causes, they can just do that online now. Just like you can text over a short call, or email instead of write a letter.

In essentially every instance you see the decline of something the activity itself continues just in a different form. People didn't stop getting appliances when Sears went under, or stop watching movies/listening to music when Circuit City went under, just how and where things happen has changed. People haven't lost social interaction or hobbies they've just changed how it's done.

It really just is a case of the more things change the more they stay the same.

As do I, though I will say they definitely played a role in the price of common stuff coming down. Overall though they're a positive and one of the reasons why most collections can be put together without ever leaving your house. Yes you'll miss on things if you're looking high end or ultra rare you need the dealer contacts to get offered the cream of the crop first, but if you're a world or modern collector you're better off looking online than at most shows. There's always a plus and minus to everything.

 

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Just common stuff ? Why would that be...even before the Internet and online auctions, your LCS and publications provided pretty good pricing, so was there a common pricing anomaly I am not aware of ?

And I take it whatevere it is, it didn't apply to premium or rare date or rare type coins ?[/QUOTE]

 

I started collecting around 7. Was pretty strong until around 12 but baseball cards were running ahead around 15 between deciding the market was beyond flooded and the final straw was the94 strike I lost interest in baseball cards once and for all and got more interested in coins again. I always liked antique furniture too. I bought Victorian furniture and had my room full of it but when we moved when I was 12 I had no more access to it. When I was 15 i moved in with my grandfather and he had a house full of it and got back into it through high school. I bought both then I decided to make the antique business my work and still bought coins off and on didn’t get serious again until I was late 30s and got online and made the mistake? Of clicking on a ha ad. All of a sudden I saw coins I always wanted and never saw or could afford but now I could afford them the rest is history

 

Over the weekend I went to a local coin show at a VFW hall - and the parking lot only had a few open spaces. Yes most of the attendees skewed to the older side but there were some middle-aged folks there. Also a few women collectors. I'm sure if I teleported back in time to the 1980s it would have pretty much looked the same, age-wise.

The youngest people there were either kids helping their dad run a booth or someone being pushed in a stroller.

I'm also a record collector and there is definitely a younger audience at those shows but still quite a bit of older people; boomer generation. But records - as a whole - are generally cheaper than coins. Though i do own a few pressings that cost me over $100.

 

I can relate to that i was into coins back in the mid 70`s and bought a few nice coins then sold my collection when i needed the money in the late 80`s and now at 62 i decided to get back into collecting and it`s nice to know i have that extra money to spend on coins that i like...back in `73 i remember spending $40 on a penny,which was a lot of money back then..but now i can easily think of spending $400 on a Quarter i might like.

 

Nice Cat

 

Thanks. That’s Merlin A bit of an a hole at times like this morning when I didn’t let him out soon enough so he expressed his displeasure with me and the state of the litter boxes by pissing on the foot of a chest of drawers but overall a good cat

 

Looks like a decent site sort of reminds me of USA Coin Book however some of the shipping prices are unreal...i know they are shipping from overseas but Wow.

 

You can always check with the seller to see if the shipping fees are negotiable.

 

I just made a purchase from your place yesterday. I found the shipping fees to be quite reasonable.

 

Good to hear, Randy. Happy New Year!

 

The kids are all worried about there phones and electronics. Kids are born with them in their hands. When I have kids I hope to teach them about this hobby and hopefully they will pick it up and learn more and more about it as they grow up and keep it alive. I dont know much, I'm just starting, but everything I find that is different amazes me. I just found my 1st S mint penny yesterday, and found 2 of them. That amazed me. My dad was a collector, and that's the main reason I even started collecting. But with the world progressing and changing like it is, I could see the youth losing sight of this hobby and it eventually dying. Anything outside of a phone or computer or tv will eventually die. I couldn't tell you of one kid I know that reads a book outside of school. Or that collects cards, coins, or anything else. I hope this hobby doesnt die, I dont even know much about it but I love it. I want to learn more and more every day. And I will teach my kids this hobby if I have any. Just dont give up, there are still people out there that will try and teach youth about the hobby.... I just hope the youth actually pick it up

 

This hobby, like so many things, can bounce back. I recall when comic books were in a slump and young culture, namely “The Big Bang Theory” tv show, made them cool again. It seems this stuff goes in cycles. I could be wrong but it’s just a thought.

 

I personally have never really cared how many other people shared my interests, at least as far as if I was still interested in them. If everyone but me stopped collecting coins, it's not like all coins in the world would disappear. Just means my hobby will get cheaper because of the reduced demand. It's not something I spend any time worrying about. I also don't spend any time caring or wondering if anyone in the world will still be collecting coins after I'm gone.

In short, I don't think of coin collecting as a team sport (or any other hobby I engage in, for that matter). It's nice to be able to share my interests with other people as a topic of conversation, but that's just icing on the cake, and not key to what makes me interested in my hobbies. I never understood that kind of thinking. I'm very individualistic in all senses of the word.

I don't believe the hobby is dying, but even if it was, it doesn't mean my coins will disappear. It's not something that concerns me at all. As long as coins are still minted I can continue to collect them, and even if that stopped there's plenty already made. If I was the only person in the world that collected coins it wouldn't diminish my interest in doing so the least bit.

I also don't spend any time worrying about what the generations before me or the generations after me are interested in. I don't choose my hobbies based on popular voting lol.

 

I understand this. To me, it is the history, what I can learn, that fascinates me. Having a coin struck by someone or a culture you have never heard of is a way to force myself to read more about them. I know more about history today by FAR than I did before I started collecting ancient coins, and I know more about US history because of coins. Heck, a coworker half an hour ago said something about wonders of the world, and I was able to rattle off all 7 ancient ones in 15 seconds.

Coins are wonderful to discuss with others, it makes the hobby even MORE fun, but even without it is an engaging hobby.

 

My wife kind of looks at me funny when I am researching coins at night. At 27 years old, I have finally found something that truly interests me. Heck, I just recently purchased a 1931-S Lincoln Wheat Cent PCGS MS64BN from a 15 year old. I was pleased to see that someone so young was so interested in the hobby. He and his father were very kind and I could tell he was truly interested. I wish I had found something interesting at that age.

 

Precisely. I love discussing coins (and my other interests too) with others, but to me that's just a bonus, and I'd be no less interested in them if I didn't or couldn't.

 

You know back when I started collecting coins I could say the exact same thing. That was almost 50 years ago.

They said the same thing when computers first became big, and when TV first became commonplace, and even when radio became affordable for everyone.