What are the "Hobby Killers"?

I’m with you. The old dough-re-me, there’s public enemy #1 in the way of appreciating this wonderful hobby.

 

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While I have not read all your posts nothing you’ve ever posted really jumps out at me for what I was thinking of, but I do think it would be a positive if everyone reflects on it a bit.

There’s certainly legitimate pricing discussions and things of that nature that can occur, but they almost always get the it’s modern junk or bullion crowd or I don’t need anyone’s opinion stuff and so on which is just uneducated at best to be polite. The I’m the best grader ever stuff and every professional is wrong if they don’t agree with me isn’t helpful either

It’s just always blown my mind when so many (and this goes for many numismatic sites/videos/magazines/presentations etc) are like we have to grow the hobby, I’m worried about the future, hobby is dying etc and then are the first to attack things. It reminds me a lot of golf, we have to grow the game/hobby but only if it’s done exactly how I want it to be. The opposition to change is a detriment.

The hobby is going to be just fine no matter what is written on forums, forums should be fun, for good discussions and it’s only once in a blue moon they really change the hobby in any meaningful way though some act like everything they type will shape the market.

Collectors should try and enjoy the hobby more and not spend so much time trying to shape it to how they want it to be or being critical of what other people like.

PS I actually do recall enjoying several discussions with you about the scarcity and future of moderns.

 

I really believe this should apply to all forums. Even forums that are largely for education or discovery work better when everyone is having fun.

If there are any committees that meet on the web, it might not apply to them.

 

I don't think I have ever seen a 22-D Mercury dime.

 

Dealer mark up - buying or selling. Most dealers, not all. Makes me "hunt" more. Sometimes the hunt is as good as a nice coin for a good price.

 

To me, the hobby killer is whatever causes a person to stop collecting and move on to something else. It can be the perception of having made a bad investment in a coin, getting burned by a fake, or finding out wimmen are a lot more fun! .

But it could be as simple as life. I collected coins along with my dad, and it's because it was a father/son thing to do. But I grew up and out of the hobby, only to get excited again when my son inherited a lot of coins from his grandfather.

I've talked to him about selling off some of the duplicates, but he hasn't wanted to. I think it's because they came from Grandpa, and I don't blame him.

 

Sometimes debt can be your friend, as with a home purchase. For sure, stay out of needless debt like credit cards, 2nd or 3rd (!) mortgages, etc.

 

Yes, it's an incentive to buy a house....which is a good thing. However, you can have that friend! That's the financial institutions talking. Do you think Banks want you to pay off your loans?

 

Of course not...but they allow it.

I'm waiting for negative mortgage loans like in Europe.....you'll be PAID to buy a house !!!

Wonder if I can get a negative HELOC to buy gold coins !!!

 

Agreed, sites like Ali Express, wish.com and several others are unregulated because they are not located in the U.S are selling whatever they please and people are buying it in the hopes of making money. The hobbies act IMO has failed miserably in protecting the consumer from fraud.

 

For credit cards, they provide some protection for your purchases and if you pay them off on time, you make money...$300 last year for me on one.

 

Exactly. If you know you can pay it off it’s cheaper to get the rewards for places that don’t offer a “cash discount”

 

I've heard people say they got out of a hobby because of newborn surprises.

 

This hobby will never completely die off. People will always collect coins. However, as future generations use more electronic payments instead of currency and coins, interest in numismatics will significantly decrease.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286006

Would I have ever become interested in coins without ever having used them as payment? Probably not. JMO

 

While not always popular, they're still desired by me. And at prices that remain 'higher' than what is so called popular. A cross to bear involving my obsession.

 

Thanks for the replies and interesting points. I work long days that start early. So, I did not get back to this and right now, I can only reply to a few.

So, it did not really kill the hobby for you. You always treasured the moments spent and those memories were the foundation of a renewed engagement. That is an important consideration. It speaks to the attraction of numismatics as a hobby and collecting hobbies in particular because they bring us physical attachments that we can share.

I have to agree with just about every word, given some context. Let me start with the last point first. Remember that with collecting anything - but especially numismatics - we have a large body of publications and those provide the knowledge you need to make that special purchase. If you only buy one coin a year, at the end of ten years, you have ten superlative examples well worth the time, effort, and money. If you can afford $100 right now, then you could affort $1000 in a year; and so on. I agree, though, that at some level, there will always be something that is beyond you and always will be. The multi-millionaires who built the world famous collections had to wait each one for the other to get out of the way. Sometimes, the limits are real. But that's what books are for. I enjoy the Whitman 100 GREATEST series.

As for the other points, well, yes, at some moment, the honeymoon is over... but you don't just get a divorce when it is. It's a relationship for life and you have to work at it. Oh! The hobby... yes, that, too...

Watches, fountain pens, arrowheads (points)... If you never, ever handled a coin and then were shown one or saw one in a museum and read about how people used them long ago, it might attract you. Ancient artifacts that go with ancient coins include spindle whorls (for spinning yarn into wool by hand) and bullae (clay seals). We do not. use them but some people find them fascinating.

One aspect of that, though, is how we measure "the hobby." The US Mint sells millions of Proof and Mint sets and thousands (hundreds of thousands) of commemoratives and other items. But only 100,000 people subscribe to Coin World and only about 25,000 are ANA members and maybe 3000 show up to a convention. So, on that basis, yes, I agree that in some far future, we might see a US Mint production run of 3000 annual coin sets total, maybe sold at a museum store to people who come to see the Declaration of Independence.

 

Subscriptions and memberships aren’t a good way to judge the popularity of anything any more. In all aspects of life those are declining due to the fact the just aren’t needed anymore with the internet. Those declines are in no way representative of a market.

 

Actual auction data -- in terms of $$$ and items and participants -- from Heritage, Stacks, GC, and Ebay now vs. 10 and 15 years ago would be very instructive.