What's the future of coin collecting?

I will add one thing about collecting Morgan Dollars; someone wrote above that they seem to be going down in value. I'm a little selfish on this when I say , "Goody" as I may decide to start a collection of these soon.

 

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For the last 10 years the economy has been recovering from false highs created by panic investing which was induced by hype in the 2007 recession. I think today's prices reflect confidence in a recovered economy. My opinion is not based upon facts, but observations.

 

I'm not sure about the ENTIRE market.

Over the past twenty years some of the stuff I collect has quintupled in prices.

 

I think these things will come back with the next generation or in about 15 - 20 years. I heard today on CNBC that the Stock Market / Money economy is actually 3.5 - 4 times the value of the real economy. Thus, they kick the can down the road for another "X" amount of years or face facts. No one wants it to be on their watch, but sooner or later we as a people and mostly as a Nation have to face what is in front of us. All that debt, 20T and we pay 266B a year in Interest on it. The FED and Gov't pretend like they are going to raise rate to straighten it out, but they cant, they could never afford the interest payment on the 20T. Thus, a huge quagmire. 7% of our budget each year now goes to debt interest payment.
Once we are past that, the real world appears again, People won't be so dumb, they will finally learn that all these lies the govt throws at us are BS and it should go back to the 90s... Somewhere between our world of the 60s and 70s and today's fake world.
We do have a GREAT DEPRESSION II to go thru first and some type of major war... It could be further down the road then I hope and we wont see it, but someday, things will be half decent... REALLY HOT and beach front property In Cananda / Maine will be the place to be...

 

This does bring up another problem in that everyone making 20 - 25 an hour cant afford collecting, let alone buying a true rare coin... Those will all be bought up by the same 5000 people with so much money they do it just to rid of cash.... Big problem for sure and people in this country are suckers to the Conservative media... They would feel safer buying 20 guns because they are told they need protection from the bad guys... All those bad guys none of them ever shoot... Or 1 / 1,000,000 shoot and it makes news for a week and a whole bunch of SEE, I told you so, you better buy a gun too, and your wife, and your kid for school...
Sad really...

 

If you are talking about the most rare and expensive coins then yes, only a very few can afford to buy them. However, there are less rare and affordable coins for collectors without the large income. One example is three cent nickel proofs. Mintages of less than 1000 can be purchased for hundreds of dollars; although rare in terms of coins available, not overly expensive. Of course, it may take many years to amass a decent collection but that's the fun of it. If I had the funds available I could buy everything I wanted right away but to me that would be boring.

 

This is gonna be a ramble so skip it if you have ADD like I do! lol.

I haven't finished reading even half of this thread yet but will thrown in my two cents. I am only 34, born in 1983 and am not an expert in coins but heres my breif history in this.... I started collecting old american coins as a child and got most of them at a local coin shop that is still here today. I was probably around 12 years old. Then I lost all interest until a few years ago. I took out my coins which I hadn't looked at in probably 22 years and sold all of them back to this coin shop and immediately started buying $2.5 and $5 indians again.. The best coin I had in my collection as a kid was a non slabbed, most likely cleaned $2.5 indian. Those have been my favorite design by a long shot since i was little. My specialty as a collector is custom knives and I know alot more about those then I do coins. I primaraly collect what I like. Thats why I focus on gold BLP Indians, indian head pennies and a few morgans.

I think with cell phones and internet the world is a different place and it will appear that kids are distracted by fast moving life/internet very easily. I always worry about my knife collection, and even more so that world/community in itself. I don't like to insert politics into anything but I also believe changing political climates can decide what is still 'cool'.

Anyway... I was very moved to go on instagram and start searching for coin and knife collectors, and all of them seem to be around my age and even much younger. Its clear to me that my hobbies are still alive and well to new generations but I think you still never know what will go in and out of style to collect. You always have to grow with the spinning world and adapt to the changes, and for people like me who buy what they like that can be a problem but I think life is too short to not at least buy some things that you like. Using any hobby as an investment cant be as fun if looking and holding your items doesnt bring you joy. A good example of this is that I carry a $2000 handmade knife every single day and use the Edited out of it. Alof of collectors like the knives they buy but wont use them. I save most of my collection and preserve its value but also sacrafice a few to really be hands on in my everyday life. I believe that brings so much more joy to the hobby.

 

Original question was this: "What's the future of coin collecting?"

It depends on whether Erol will start to collect the coin or not.
I've never collected many from one thing, but, I've collected one from many things. I've collected one (one cent coin) from the coins. Isn't this enough? So, future of coin collecting is bright.

 

This will also sound boring and depressing. Yet, should be told... Where I made 15 - 17 an hour in early 90s, had paid bene's and lived good, wife's income was EXTRA income. Go back 20 years earlier and a guy could buy a coin with his extra income on one income. Now, I have nieces and nephews who didn't educate, career up, etc. They have no type of retirement, no EXTRA income. The thought of them buying a coin for 200 - 500 is laughable... I know people that live week to week, they are one mistake away from a 2000.00 CC bill that will take 3 years to pay off.
These are all people that would have done well from 1946 - 1990. But today, they have costs that we didn't and they make pennies compared to inflation. I know the govt and many believe it to not be true. Many hide themselves from these type of relatives looking at them as failures. They are not failure, they are now the bottom part of a system rigged to knock them down and make the rich super rich... Retirement plans are gone, medical costs are out of hand... Most posting here are set, set with a good retirement, or income... 99% cant afford it, sorry to say.

 

I agree with much of what you said. I personally started collecting coins as a teenager and then pretty much stopped for college and then family since I didn't have disposable income for my personal hobbies. Now that I'm divorced and retired I do have disposable income I didn't have during much of my adult life. I'm sure most older collectors can relate to this, even if they are still married.

 

Who said that coin collecting is for the poor? It really isn't, nor is taking a nice vacation, but millions of people travel everyday. Even if someone isn't wealthy enough to buy the ultra-rarities, it's not like they can't collect out of their change to fill up a Whitman folder. You don't really need to buy coins to be a coin collector.

 

I quit collecting for a while, because everyone in my family was spending my coins when they needed money. I only have a few of my original collection. But now that I'm older, there is no one to take my coins. Now I enjoy the hobby more than ever. My grandsons think it's great. Collecting comes and goes. I have been on halves lately and I use my poorer ones for tips. Now all waitresses are collecting the halves.

 

We think alike, John, and I envy you your grandsons who appear to be future heirs of your collection; in my case it's a son-in-law.

A friend of mine used to carry large numbers of $2 Bills in his wallet, when I asked him what he did with all those bills he said he gave them as tips to waitresses and such, "They'll remember me and give me better service," he said. I ordered $100 worth of these at my bank, and began tipping with them. When I handed the lady who cut my hair two of them along with a single as her tip, she promptly opened the cash drawer and exchanged my tip for a $5.00 bill. I tried it with presidential dollars too, and was met with a wearisome look from waitresses who must have thought I was trying to foist foreign money on them.

I guess it depends on where you live. Waitresses here can't afford to collect halves.

 

Well, I'm a millenial ( i shudder to admit ) and I like collecting.

Although Im not typical of my generation. Im more of an "old soul' who enjoys collecting things of a historic nature, smoke a tobacco pipe like an old timer, am politically conservative, etc. etc. So take my millenial endorsement of coin collecting for what its worth. I do not relate to my own generation at all.

But I dont think the hobby is going anywhere. One of the oldest hobbies in the book. Like everything else, it will have its upswings and downswings.

 

Brand new to this forum and this topic especially is of interest to me. I hope that the market does well and it has definitely been worse before. It seems most of the negativity is from people that predominantly go to shows and don't have much to do with the internet. In the past few years I realized that a lot of new collectors are emerging through other means such as Instagram. I have become pretty involved in that community myself and have high hopes for the future.
... I hope. Haha

 

Welcome aboard, 1ofakindcoins.

 

I can't speak for the collectors since I am not one.

There are many of us, however, who study numismatic material to gain deeper insights into history. So, who cares if a coin is MS-64 or MS-63? What is important is the historical and social contexts of the numismatic piece. For us, coins will always be studied and treasured.

 

Exactly this. The majority of the negativity comes from antiquated measurements or because others aren't engaging how some want them too. There is evidence all over the internet on various platforms the hobby is alive and well and remain so if people just wanted to look. If people want to use their old measurements and lose their mind well they're only hurting a healthy hobby scaring some readers. Certainly a transitional period at the moment with how technology took over, but whenever the rest of the hobby learns to embrace the internet and not condemn it for not being what they like we can move past the no future nonsense and stop scaring people off