OT: Question on the stamps forum about what it will look like in say 20 years (slightly coin related

Constantine

I just posted a topic in the stamps forum and am now afraid that nobody will look at it, and it might be a week before a response!

Link

LindeDad

In twenty years or a lot sooner.

WoodenJefferson

And I have a huge collection of stamps. Anything post 1900 just as well use it for common postage today.

291fifth

Interest in stamp collecting seems to be declining at a rapid pace except at the very high end of the market. In 20 years many of the high end players, who tend to be old, will have passed from the scene so I expect that the high end of the market will also decline since I don't see anyone coming along to take their place.

Interesting stamps just don't appear much on mail anymore. In each of the past three years I have received exactly one current US commemorative stamp on my incoming mail. Out of sight, out of mind.

Everyone I know that is still an active stamp collector is over 60 years of age.

scottgardener

It saddens me to see a hobby so similar to ours breaking down this way. I would hope that rare stamps of special historic significance remain well-preserved and passed down to careful and trustworthy individuals.

It's also a warning that there are no guarantees in anything--that coin collections as an investment do carry risk and depend on a sustained level of interest. Still, my hunch is that coins will continue to remain popular, and that rare coins will remain in demand and valuable. A lot of coins are made of gold, which tends to imply a certain amount of value, even if the current rise in the metal were suddenly, against all punditry, to crash and burn.