I've set the date............ 2026 will be my last year of "active collecting"..........

DBSTrader2

After almost 60 years of collecting U.S. & Darkside coins in blue Whitman folders, I have decided to "retire" from actively maintaining my collections through yearly updates. Unfortunately, I've found less and less enjoyment in the search, which seems to have gotten harder in recent years instead of easier.

Back in the day, I could find old series, silver, silver certificates, etc in everyday change, from collecting on my newspaper route, when managing the tills at retail stores, getting rolls from banks, or with the advent of the internet & trading sites - - including this Forum, etc. But these past several years, the Mint no longer issues many of the coins I collect (halves & dollars) for circulation, banks severely limit the number of rolls they'll give out, more & more commerce is done without coins, opportunities for trades seem to have dried up, and postage costs have gone thru the roof. And all this just for "base metal" coins with no real historical appeal to me other than the fact that they have different dates on them each year. It's been depressing having to wait until very late fall of the last few years for circulating coins from that year to start showing up in change near me, and I STILL have yet to find all of the 3 or 4 coins of each denomination & mintmark I need from 2024 just to stay current. And I've only seen a trickle of 2025's starting to appear. When paired with recent vision issues that prevent me from enjoying attending coin shows (which have all pretty much moved out of my commuting area), a hobby I have enjoyed almost my entire life no longer brings me the pleasure it once did.

Recently, the hobby has changed from my actively looking to maintain my collections for MY enjoyment to trying to keep them current for my kids and future grandkids. But they don't seem to have the same connection to coin collecting in general or with me that I had growing up collecting with my grandparents' help & participation. Coins have so little meaning in their everyday lives, since just about all they do is via Venmo, Zelle, credit/debit cards, PayPal, etc vs coins/currency. They'll still inherit my collections, and I hope they appreciate the history & value behind it, but to them, it really doesn't make a difference at this point if the series ends with 2026 vs 2028/2029/etc.......

I started in the direction of my new phase not too long ago, when I decided not to collect the new "Inno-bucks". That made sense to me because it was a new series available only from the Mint vs circulation. With 2026 being the last year of active minting of the penny, as well as our nation's 250th birthday, I figure that's as good a time as any to formally quit my attempt at keeping current with all denominations (in P&D mints) as they are issued each year. Not to mention that room in most of my blue folders ends with 2026.......

I'll probably keep looking at pocket change as I get it for new issues, and toss them in a drawer to eventually place in my folders, but gone will be the fruitless trips to local banks for rolls to search or posts looking to trade P's for D's each year, or for someone with access to Canadian coins to keep current with each year's issues from there. My open-ended pursuit will be replaced by possibly looking to go back to fill old silver or wheatie or obsolete coin holes that won't cost me an arm & a leg vs wasting my time on clad coinage (and artificial shortages/high prices like the 2024 nickels). I'll find some new path.........

And I'll still log in to this Forum to see what everyone else is doing/finding/sharing - - I've learned a lot here.

Thanks for reading this.....

--Dave

OAKSTAR

Terrific!! You just forced me to read my own story and destiny! 😔 But thank you Dave. I needed the reality check.

Catbert

You made the right decision! When collecting becomes an obligation, it’s time to reassess. I’ve mostly resisted filling a hole when doing so has little enjoyment. This was most apparent for me with type collecting to meet a registry requirement. No thanks. 🙂‍↔️

Clackamas1

"Tell him wait right here for me
Or try again tomorrow"

I'm gonna kick tomorrow
I'm gonna kick tomorrow"

Creg

You will enjoy it. I do it every six months.