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

What worries me about collecting is the fact that there is so many types of labels, some with signatures of important people others have past mint directors etc. With all these labels how does one complete a set of coins? I'm not going to buy 6 different SAE's just because of the different labels. To me if it's graded at a 70 it doesn't matter what label is on it. A 70 is a 70 regardless. So all of this has me disillusioned.

 

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Just buy for the coin, not the holder.

 

That has been my opinion since I started collecting. I just laugh when I watch all of the coin shows and how they sell the label and not the coin.

 

You know.... I think you have touched on a problem. When I started collecting, we had a defined set of grading standards from Good to Uncirculated. We could put together meaningful sets from lunch lady change and all manners of collecting were deemed acceptable...... Now we have a dozen mint issues annually, confusing (to new collectors) grading standards from one to seventy with additional stars, pluses and CAC stickers.... One side of the fence tells you that your ungraded circulated Mercury dime is wonderful and another side telling you if it isn’t slabbed and graded higher than MS(pick your number), then your dime is junk. Yeah, if I were a potential new collector of coins, I would likely be a bit disillusioned myself. Good point.

 

I never purchase USMint coins unless they are something really unique and I like the design. The values of these coins have tanked, with very few exceptions.

 

Probably 20 years ago.

 

I have all the modern commemoratives. They started in 1983. I have all the Proof sets (silver and regular), all the mint sets, AE's of all configurations since they started in 1986, and most everything except gold. I have very many extras. Virtually all were bought straight from the mint. I have a couple early coins that I got elsewhere. I quit buying them a few years ago. And, I can't sell them because they are not worth what I paid for them.

 

I have used the AG to BU since I started 70+ years ago. Many on this board that know me can testify to the fact that I have no knowledge of how to use and apply the MS this and MS that stuff. Therefore, I still don't use it and don't need it. My collection is based on date, mint mark and eye appeal.

 

This is a fascinating observation for those of us who didn't exist, such as myself, in 1964. It sounds like that year, and the ensuing hoarding you mention, probably represent one of the most important turning points for public coin collecting in the history of the hobby. For my time, far after 1964, it seemed like a miracle to find a common wheat cent or a common silver dime or quarter in circulation. We had no idea what came before, when people dumped almost anything into circulation. I can't even imagine a time when one could pull a 20 cent piece from circulation. That must have been an exciting time to collect directly from circulation, in stark contrast to now, which really doesn't offer too much excitement.

 

Yes it was. I was very intense and deliberate about collecting. After my aunt gave me an 1885 and 1883 Liberty Nickel I was hooked. I can say that many of my collections were completed or nearly completed in those early years. It took a long time but with those 2 nickels as a base I was able to pull a complete set of Liberty Nickels from circulation. Our little club of young collectors was only interested in helping each other get the coins we needed. No profit considered.

 

If you are interested the attached link shows my 70 year accumulation. I joined here to get help with learning more than date, mint and eye appeal. These members are awesome.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/sorting-my-70-year-accumulation.330231/

 

As it should be! But how do you tell a youngster today that is a perfectly acceptable and fulfilling way to enjoy our hobby?

 

Wow, good question. Young people today have been conditioned to instant gratification and public visibility. The "mine is better than yours" syndrome is running rampant. The social media is quick to criticize, shame and bully. The youngsters must be enabled past that. How, I am not sure.

 

As wonderful as CT is, when a person posts a circulated coin passed down to them. There are just as many positive responses as there are less than positive. A youngster needs to feel good about grandpas circulated coin. That’s the only way to get them further interested...... My collection started when my mom handed me a Franklin half in 1968 to buy my lunch at school. I had never seen a half dollar, much less a Franklin half. I was maybe nine years old and man, that half was a treasure to me! I think if folks had told me it back then that it was worthless because it wasn’t slabbed and mint state, I probably would have used that half for bubble gum cards or something.

 

Amen. The positive feedback I got after my aunt gave me that 1885 nickel made my life. My mother took me to the local book store. I saw the latest edition of the Blue Book. That nickel was listed a $5. I was hooked. That is the position we as adult, seasoned collectors need to portray when we see a new member excited about grandpas coins. How do we do that?

 

I think the only thing we can do is remember when a new member is posting his prize coin that we know is common is to put ourselves in that mindset. Do our part to build the excitement in them. Same as we would tell our grandkids that grade school crayon art they brought home is wonderful artwork. We display that art on our refrigerator door and gush over it until the kids get a little older and they beg us to take it down..... That sort of thing..... Now I probably won’t comment on a new posters double ear Lincoln. But a new poster showing the coin grandma gave them. You bet, I will window dress that coin all I can.

 

I am seeing a common thread in this conversation, that young people became interested in numismatics after being given a coin that was old and was something that they weren’t used to seeing, such as a Liberty nickel or Franklin half. It was the same way for me. I’ll never forget finding my first wheat penny.

This leads to my next point, that the proliferation of overhyped crap in recent years (slabbed bullion with special stickers, NCLT issues from obscure countries, modern commemoratives with marketing gimmicks, etc.) is not what will get new people into the hobby and keep them interested. It’s the coins that previous generations actually used that will always be the mainstay of numismatics. I think there will always be people who start with a wheat penny or Franklin half, and then branch off into Seated coins or large cents, and then if they have the financial means will go after early American pieces, or other types of interesting stuff that is genuinely scarce or rare.

A good comparison would be the baseball card market. It’s no wonder the bottom fell out of the mass produced material from the 80s and 90s, and I think we are in for a similar situation with most modern coins that will never be scarce or rare. But just as the vintage cards have held their value, I’m confident that classic coins will always be in demand. There aren’t that many of them left and therefore it doesn’t require as many people to maintain a market for them.

 

Exactly. I have very few MS coins. Over the years I kept upgrading as I found coins in circulation that were better, mostly in eye appeal. If I were to start putting high grade coins in my collection now it would look very unbalanced.

 

One thing I have noted over my 60+ years' involvement with coins is that among younger/newer collectors there seems to be a clear bifurcation which arises fairly early-on. There are the ones who want to know more about the piece in question, and those who are only interested in what things are worth and how much profit they can make.
When youngsters used to ask me in my shop (I sold antiques and had a case of coins in one corner) "What kind of coins should I buy that will go up the most in value?" I would tell them: "None of them - coins are terrible as an investment. If you want to invest, get into mutual funds."
This is not to say that none of those on the more mercantile-consciousness centered branch have any real, intellectual interest beyond money, or that none of those who are more interested in the other benefits and non-monetary "profits" which accrue to those involved in numismatics are ever interested in the potential value, but it seems as though there is a strong bifurcation into those two clubs.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a greater force in play which tends to result in many of those involved with profit wishing to cut down on potential competition, and/or make profit by any means conceivable usually not being the best sources of knowledge, just as those of us who consider collecting to be a "quality of life" activity and for whom buying nice coins is like eating at a fine restaurant, drinking good wine or going to Broadway shows - you enjoy it, and you don't worry about how much profit this is going to make for you - it's money spent on improving your life-experience. For these folks it's simply not really about profits, usually. Those of us who've been in it for a while know that worrying too much about what profit you may eventually make can tend to spoil the aesthetic experience, (and vice-versa, I expect).