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Top 5 Reasons Why New Coin Collectors Quit!! ???

1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited July 31, 2020 12:56PM in U.S. Coin Forum

Top 5 Reasons Why New Coin Collectors Quit!!
https://youtu.be/UwAfStKtyNc

Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

Bad transactions with : nobody to date

Comments

  • CoinHoarderCoinHoarder Posts: 2,439 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Blue Ridge Silver Hound is awesome!

  • 3stars3stars Posts: 2,280 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Anyone have the list to save me 15 minutes?

    Previous transactions: Wondercoin, goldman86, dmarks, Type2
  • dpooledpoole Posts: 5,940 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Like TurtleCat, I'll bet this group could put together a pretty good list.

  • JimnightJimnight Posts: 10,767 ✭✭✭✭✭

    :)

  • ctf_error_coinsctf_error_coins Posts: 15,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Basically, it is not get rich quick but get rich slow.

    Which implies quite a bit of time, hard work, and the knowledge that one acquires.

  • MgarmyMgarmy Posts: 2,296 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In this game experience costs. I am guessing some bolt as they feel the cost of gaining that experience outweighs the benefit. Lord knows I have paid for my mistakes and still Mess up! Such is the risk with buying raw.

    100% positive transactions with SurfinxHI, bigole, 1madman, collectorcoins, proofmorgan, Luke Marshall, silver pop, golden egg, point five zero,coin22lover, alohagary, blaircountycoin,joebb21

  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,721 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There is a frustration level that is hard to explain as well as manage. The market has evolved into well defined tiers leading some to re-think what to collect which makes identifying and prioritizing what is significant problematic. There seems to be a "keeping up with the Jones" attitude which adds to the the population of lemmings...those that choose their own path or those that just prematurely to conclude this hobby is not for them. And it is the last group that needs the greatest encouragement to explore and seek what captures and peaks their numismatic interests and curiousity before conceding.

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I collect, but here are the top 5 reasons why I stay away from certain series:

    1. not interesting enough
    2. not enough budget
    3. too common
    4. too much doctoring
    5. too easy to get buried
  • EagleguyEagleguy Posts: 2,262 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Did the list include "getting slammed on the PCGS boards after their first post"?

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,301 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Eagleguy said:
    Did the list include "getting slammed on the PCGS boards after their first post"?

    I don't recall ever seeing that. Can you show us a few examples?

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • emeraldATVemeraldATV Posts: 3,966 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Millennials say:
    Wi/Fi too expencive !

  • HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @TurtleCat said:
    I’ll make my own list:

    • Not enough discretionary money
    • Other pressing needs (family, relationships)
    • Had a bad experience buying or selling
    • No one to share the experience with really
    • Lack of encouragement from others

    I think you nailed it. All of your reasons would apply to me at some time in my life. At times they slowed me down but never made me quit.......Coin collecting.....a life long love affair. Keep on going through the good, bad, and ugly! What a BLAST!

  • ShaunBC5ShaunBC5 Posts: 1,617 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 31, 2020 9:31PM

    Coin collecting is really hard to get/stay into on your own. Online communities help, but it’s tough without a mentor or friend going through it with you in person.
    I literally know zero coin collectors in my current town. I’ve heard a few exist, but I don’t know them. The hobby ebbs and flows for me, for many of the reasons stated above.
    I bring this all up just to say: if you can be a good coin buddy to someone new to the hobby, that’s what is going to keep it alive. I think feeling like they're going it alone is one of the biggest reasons we lose people from the hobby.

  • kiyotekiyote Posts: 5,568 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I love collecting. Filling album holes is a lot cheaper and healthier than a drug fix!

    "I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 31, 2020 10:46PM

    @Wahoo554 said:
    Getting ripped off is probably one of the more common reasons. A new collector gets excited about their investment until they want to sell and realize the market value is only a fraction of what they paid.

    It seems like tuition is the popular term for that. I'm not a huge fan of the term because it seems to imply that it's okay.

  • In a rural area, I'll throw out - lack of availability.
    There are not any local dealers in small towns anymore. The hobby shops, small jewelry stores, and book stores who once carried coins and supplies are all out of business. You have to be in a large market to support a stand alone coin shop so there are none in small markets.
    Beginning collectors usually start with raw coins, so online is not a good option.
    I buy coins on CL sometimes, but I would not advise a beginner to do so - I have gotten burned with several die struck underweight fake Morgans over the past few years. And I even gave them a quick look with a loupe.
    That leaves local pawn shops - small selection - usually overpriced.
    Or one can drive several hours to a large market for dealers and shows. This is not only inconvenient and takes a lot of the fun out of collecting, but also indirectly adds to the cost of the hobby.

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,428 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Let’s say you are really into collecting the American Silver Eagle series. At first it was easy and affordable, but then the mint inadvertently issued the 1995-W. Of late they have issued an endless array of finishes and sold “limited editions” that allowed a few dealers to corner the market and charge high prices. As a collector, I find expensive “contrived rarities” unattractive and unappealing. They are grounds to drive me from collecting a series.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,428 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 1, 2020 4:39AM

    @numismapiddler said:
    In a rural area, I'll throw out - lack of availability.
    There are not any local dealers in small towns anymore. The hobby shops, small jewelry stores, and book stores who once carried coins and supplies are all out of business. You have to be in a large market to support a stand alone coin shop so there are none in small markets.
    Beginning collectors usually start with raw coins, so online is not a good option.
    I buy coins on CL sometimes, but I would not advise a beginner to do so - I have gotten burned with several die struck underweight fake Morgans over the past few years. And I even gave them a quick look with a loupe.
    That leaves local pawn shops - small selection - usually overpriced.
    Or one can drive several hours to a large market for dealers and shows. This is not only inconvenient and takes a lot of the fun out of collecting, but also indirectly adds to the cost of the hobby.

    During the pandemic, I have become a 100% Internet collector for the first time. I am a very advanced collector so I don’t need a lot of motivation to keep my interests moving. The trouble is spending time sitting at a terminal, wading though the on-line stores and auctions is a lot less fun than going to a major show.

    Dealing with on-line photos is another hassle. One coin that really interests me looks really great in the big, often over-exposed auction house photos, but then I look at the full slab photos the auction house provides and the grading company verification pictures, and the coin looks like a huge disappointment for a high grade Proof. If I could see the coin in person, I could settle the issue in about 30 seconds.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • 2dueces2dueces Posts: 6,231 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1. Zero interest among friends and family
    2. Extreme cost for quality coins
    W.C.Fields
    "I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I started collecting as a kid with a paper route.... No other friends collected coins. Over the years, I drifted in and out of the hobby, but always had 'some' coins. Then, about 40 years ago, began to focus a bit more... added to some albums, then bought some slabs...lived in places with coin shows and some shops. Always been a collector, never a seller....Have had a couple of friends over the many years that collected a bit....very few. Now, no shops, no shows, no other collectors... and still I collect. Cheers, RickO

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,428 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 1, 2020 7:38AM

    @3stars said:
    When buying: It's an MS63 stunner
    When selling: It's an AU50 dreck

    Sadly there are too many dealers who play this game, and some of them are so addicted to it that they can’t help themselves. I offered a nice, certified example of the 1878 7 over 8 tail feathers Morgan Dollar to a local dealer. It was graded MS-63 and had a super clean cheek and nice, frosty luster.

    He knows who I am, but he starts in with the line how it’s over graded and worth less than I am asking. He just couldn’t help himself. If I had been a regular collector, he would have kept brow beating me until perhaps he would get it for a very low price.

    I told him, “We both know how that game works, and you should know better. If you want to pay less, give me a counter offer without all the drama.”

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Decline in rare errors found in street. :p

  • ms71ms71 Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @topstuf said:
    Decline in rare errors found in street.

    Somebody needs to let the new ones know it's parking lots. Parking lots!!!

    Successful BST transactions: EagleEye, Christos, Proofmorgan,
    Coinlearner, Ahrensdad, Nolawyer, RG, coinlieutenant, Yorkshireman, lordmarcovan, Soldi, masscrew, JimTyler, Relaxn, jclovescoins

    Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you sumthin' . . . . that ain't an optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.

    My mind reader refuses to charge me....
  • EagleguyEagleguy Posts: 2,262 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @Eagleguy said:
    Did the list include "getting slammed on the PCGS boards after their first post"?

    I don't recall ever seeing that. Can you show us a few examples?

    Maybe not the FIRST post but...

    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1042279/i-count-12-threads-by-same-member-on-page-1#latest

    https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1042305/im-sorry#latest

  • stockdude_stockdude_ Posts: 456 ✭✭✭

    Girls think coins are nerdy

  • silverpopsilverpop Posts: 6,591 ✭✭✭✭✭

    once again people nowadays think coins are easy money and that the coins they have are going to make them huge profits and then the real world decks them and they realize that coins aren't going to make them rich and they quit

    in other words money is the key reason many new collectors quit

  • TurboSnailTurboSnail Posts: 1,668 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Decades ago on an official business trip with full military uniform, I decided to drop by a roadside dinner deep into the woods to grab a quick bite. A gentleman sit across me asked where was I from. And I told him "New York City". He then told me he hated city folks. I asked him why.

    And he yelled "Because you city folks won all the lottery jackpots!!!"

    Oh wait... this has nothing to do with this topic nor coin collecting... or may be.. :D

  • TurboSnailTurboSnail Posts: 1,668 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @stockdude_ said:
    Girls think coins are nerdy

    Real man wears pink

    Just like a boy trying to get a ear stud back in the early 80's. I was turned down by many beauty parlours . lol :D

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