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

Hog wash. You'll remember you have something in common. If you think about it. There's no such thing as being 50 50 on subjects

 

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Hey Cheech! Where ya been?

 

Yikes. Have you talked to the young lately. Grandbabies in our family wanted books on Greek gods, girl series books. And wood making. 16 year old works at an auto shop and wants to build a deck this summer.

 

I must be the super odd one of this group

 

Yeah and they have all that electronic gear. Moms limit them.

 

Kids have never been a major part of this hobby, nor have teens, nor have people just starting families. Aside from collecting pocket change this hobby takes money which is why it has always been something dominated by older generations and always will be

 

Perhaps I should have avoided using pronouns that cause confusion. When I said "I'd be no less interested in them..." I meant coins, not the people I talk to about coins.

 

I guess I'm in the minority then, because my interest in coins started when I was 10. (I'll concede I'm unusual in the sense that most of the things that interested me when I was 10, I still am interested in.) I credit my grandmother with getting me into the hobby, and a coin store owner (whose name I wish I ever knew) from Newtown, PA for keeping me interested when otherwise I might have grown out of it.

But yeah it's hard to stay active in this hobby and able to collect many things of interest without a reasonable amount of disposable income. But I managed to stay involved even during periods I couldn't afford to add much to my collection.

 

Most collectors likely did get some interest as a kid or teen and come back to it later in life or some new product draws them in. Many also got drawn in from the metals run up who had started with bullion.

But exactly it costs money and that's something young people rarely have and if they do they're spending it on dates/parties for the most part.

It always just kind of surprises me that people forget that simple fact collecting takes money and also teens have other things on their mind. Hobby will be just fine and 200 years from now people will be expressing how they're worried they don't see enough young people and that the future is grim etc

 

I wish I would have stayed dedicated to anything during those young years like that @Troodon. I built up a big baseball card collection that I dumped and blew most of the money on a beach trip while in my late teens. I’m sure I would have done the same with coins.
I am lucky that I have a 46 dime in my collection that I found by chance as a young child and my mom saved it for 40 years.

 

What.

With "aside from collecting pocket change", you're dismissing the way the vast majority of US collectors have traditionally been drawn into the hobby.

There really is more to the hobby than slab-chasing and registry sets. You seem to be talking not about the HOBBY, but about the BUSINESS.

 

Want to try and read that again, that was the start of a sentence.........

 

Sure was, and my response addressed the complete sentence, and the complete post.

Older folks dominate the hobby by dollars spent, and therefore they dominate big auctions and TPG traffic. By time spent, I'm not sure it's nearly so clear-cut.

 

No it didn't. As I said, "Aside from collecting pocket change this hobby takes money which is why it has always been something dominated by older generations and always will be"

It's a statement of cost. If you want to collect more than that you will have to pay over face value and in most cases many many multiples of face. Even that 2 dollar cent is many many multiples of face and you will also end up getting actually dismissed by much of the hobby. Just look at how people who ask about pocket change are treated here and some other forums.

You read way to much into what was being said. It was just a simple statement of cost for why younger people even if they wanted to would likely not be super active participants.

Even though younger people are driving the hobby more which some do not like, but it's almost certainly dominated by everything for older folks on the collectors side. There's collectors of all ages certainly, but it will always be an older generation hobby. Teens, kids, people in their 20s will very likely never be the majority of the collecting population or time spent as they don't have the funds or the free time trying to build careers and families or raise a young kid or work and go to school or sports and so on.

The collecting population as a whole is much bigger than many who just measure ANA membership, show attendance, magazines etc, but it remains true the two things you generally need in this hobby are time (whether learning looking enjoying whatever) and money to make purchases. Even if you're just roll searching bank boxes that takes time and a starting fund to make the switch for coins.

Free time and money are two things that older people have more of than younger people and there's no reason to think that will change.

 

Both good points. When I was 7 or 8 I was obsessed, reading my little red book until the covers came off, (those of you who owned redbooks in the 70s know what I mean). So, to Jeff's point, younger collectors can spend an intense time learning.

But, to @baseball21's point, the first coin show I went to looks just like the one I went to last month, a bunch of older men, wives on benches outside, and some kids around scattered. Not many people 13-25. It's normal. Young people have girls/boys, school, cars, jobs, etc and little money. They historically have never been involved much.

So, donate to get young kids interested, and know you might have to wait 30 years until a fully fledged collector is born, if at all. That is what I do.

 

My son is 8 and is obsessed with coin collecting. In fact, coins are the only thing he asked for this Christmas.

I don’t let him post on Internet forums for safety reasons, but he spends quite a bit of time on here “studying”.

 

You sound like a very loving and diligent mother. I am happy to hear of your boys love of coins. It is a rewarding hobby. And so you will know, when his time comes to spread his wings a little, this website is very closely moderated so it will be friendly and educational for youngsters. Being the Mayberry minded sort of fellow that I am, that’s why I like it here.

 

Most of us gals are planing or wedding starting in our teen years.

 

What does Mayberry "RFD" stand for. Otis?

 

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