The general public's knowledge about coins is probably at an all time low. -- 291fifth

bcdeluxe

I happen to agree with this.

My kids have absolutely no interest looking at any coin I buy. I taught them to look at things in the Coinstar reject bin. Nothing.

It's been discussed many times before, but I wonder what effect this is going to have on the collector community in years to come. Rare coins are only worth anything because we have a group willing to pay (what I consider) nearly insane prices of 100k+ for coins that are not really that "rare".

The uneducated and uncaring public is going to have a detrimental impact on the price of rare coins. Next year? No way. Next decade? Probably not. 2040? Who knows.

CuKevin

The younger generation are here and interested. Trust me

Jinx86

Our coin club is made up of mostly older gentlemen, yes. However there are also a handful of teens that come to our meetings, I myself an one of only a handful of young adults who attend. I think the demand for good coins will continue, however with the "common" material losing much of its interest. The last coin/minting talk I gave at a local middle school this year went very well. Lots of questions and interest in classical US coins. A handful of the attendants have come into the shop to start up their collection. I was happy to talk to them and show them many examples till they had a good idea of what they wanted. Having a complete type set on display is a great advantage for them to learn from and for me not having to dig out box after box.

*few drinks in, sorry if there are any typos*

TopographicOceans

On Jeopardy in the category Making some coins the $1000 answer was:

A: The US Mint says modern facilities in Philadelphia and this city together have “produced as many as 28 billion coins in a single year.”

Contestant #2: What is San Francisco?
Contestant #3: What is New York?
Contestant #1: no answer

Justacommeman

I'm not sure it matters. I knew zero about coins until eight years ago. Not sure I could have named three mints before that. You catch the bug when you catch the bug. Zero of my family or friends know anything about coins ranging from ages 8 to 80 covering hundreds of people and 3 generations.

Mark

Justacommeman

DP

jdimmick

I truly believe a lot more pure collectors are dying off faster than ones being born, and it will have an affect down the road.

as stated in an earlier thread, avg age of collectors in local clubs, at shows is considerably up there.

Now bullion and silver /gold buyers no, as I live I a military town, and we have a lot of younger generations trading in that stuff, but they do not care about collector coins at all.

BustHalfBrian

<< <i>The younger generation are here and interested. Trust me >>



+1

Overdate

For young people, social media and video games provide serious competition to coin collecting as a way to spend their time. I don't expect coin collecting to go the way of stamp collecting, but I do anticipate that the number of collectors will decline a bit over the next several decades.

lordmarcovan

The hobby may decline in the industrialized Western countries, but what about the developing countries? As their economies grow, some of their citizens are bound to take an interest and pick up some hobbies.

Might be a good time to be a Darksider.

Bochiman

I think there are potentially more flippers than pure collectors that have been coming into the market in the last 5-10 years.
Now, some of them may convert from largely flipper to a collector as well, but, even going by posts/members here, there are a number that are ONLY about the money part of the flip.

Younger people have shorter attention spans (for some.....it's a generalization but it is for a reason), not as much disposable income (good quality coins can be expensive), and very apt to use online resources over in person visits to shows/shops (which lends itself more to a quick flip of modern mint stuff, which is pretty much all the same or just grade them with PCGS/NGC and sell based on the plastic).

GrumpyEd

There are some young collectors but they might not be doing full series, also it's not as main stream like you won't see it in the new tv shows.

In the 60s it was more mainstream.
There was a "Dennis the menace" episode where he collects cents and finds multiple 1914-D cents.
There was a "My 3 Sons" episode where Ernie finds a 1914-D cent.
It's not as mainstream today.


http://www.tv.com/shows/dennis-the-menace-1959/dennis-penny-collection-23895/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0655134/

Nap

While I am loathe to speculate about population behaviors, there are a few general statements that seem apparent.

- Hobbies with high monetary barriers to entry do not appeal to most people
- Coin collecting does not and never has appealed to most people.
- Cash use in general is on the decline
- Neighborhood coin shops are on the decline
- Younger people are in general more frugal than their parents. Believe it or not. Rising costs of higher education, housing, and a weak job market in which employers have the ability to expect a college degree to work in a call center.
- Priorities have changed in 30 years. Cell phones and internet connections are necessary expenditures. Real estate is an investment many choose to put off until they have more stable incomes.
- Cheap manufacturing from overseas has led to a higher standard of living on one hand, but a feeling that most things are disposable on the other.
- The market for commemorative coins (that are meant to appeal to a general non-collector public) is more saturated now than it has ever been. Few US mint product "investments" from the last 20 years have bore much fruit.
- There are probably more coin collectors today than there ever have been. Many have probably never been to a coin show.
- Coin shows are not exactly the most inviting of venues. If you're a cute 8 year-old the dealers will swoon over you and show you treasures from their "junk bins". If you're a 17-25 year old, dealers will look at you with suspicion, in disbelief that you actually plan to spend money, and with concern that you are there to steal wares. (At least that was my experience)

ShadyDave

I disagree 100%, you just aren't looking in the right spots. I will agree that my generation (millennial) has been having a hard time finding work after all the downsizing in 07'-09' which has slowed our collecting habbits down, but were still there. A lot of us started by "CRH" or coin roll hunting and then we became "afflicted with the sickness". I'm 26 and I know a lot of young people who collect coins in varying degrees. I have a good job, my finances are in order and my 30k in student loans paid off so I can spend a few hundred dollars on coins a month with no issues.

We might not be whales like a lot of the people on these forums, but what we lack in funds we make up in energy, desire to learn and gusto! Don't give up and keep on promoting the hobby!

Check out: reddit's coin subreddit This is where us young "kids" hang out online: some are very knowledgeable and others have no idea what they are doing . I didn't find CU until last year and just crept here for a while before I created a username.

A user on reddit recently created a makeshift census and the majority of the 50 or so respondents were between the ages of 15-35 Link to age thread so us YN are out there!

DollarAfterDollar

It's all about disposable income. If young people have no money to begin with, their last thought is to collect something expensive they know little about. Hopefully later in life when they become established and want to pursue other interests the bug might take hold. It's about exposure to the hobby in a way that then sparks interest.

brg5658

<< <i>I think there are potentially more flippers than pure collectors that have been coming into the market in the last 5-10 years.
Now, some of them may convert from largely flipper to a collector as well, but, even going by posts/members here, there are a number that are ONLY about the money part of the flip.

Younger people have shorter attention spans (for some.....it's a generalization but it is for a reason), not as much disposable income (good quality coins can be expensive), and very apt to use online resources over in person visits to shows/shops (which lends itself more to a quick flip of modern mint stuff, which is pretty much all the same or just grade them with PCGS/NGC and sell based on the plastic). >>



+1

Well said, Bochiman. Particularly the part I bolded.

ricko

Coin collecting is a long established hobby and is not likely to die out in the foreseeable future. As in many things (even sports) it will have ebbs and flows.... I do not worry about the future of the hobby..... it will survive. As for we mere mortals... well, we will be gone long before the coins. Cheers, RickO

topstuf

Let a few of the "disinterested" see what happens when a contemporary INHERITS a collection

AND


is smart enough to do some diligence in evaluating or selling it. (They get it on a tax "step-up" tax basis you realize?)

THEN when the disinterested see the Corvette or boat or house the smart guy ended up with.......well...... I predict a rash of Twitters in a hurry.

messydesk

YNs are still joining the hobby and enthusiastically so. There will be at least one in the class I'm teaching at Summer Seminar this year. He took the class last year and couldn't get enough of it. YNs show up to coin shows on scouting days. Some may be just going through the motions to get a merit badge, but if you engage them, you'll find some that are genuinely interested in what you have to say. At CSNS I was wandering around the Stacksbowers table looking at the Pogue display before they packed it up. There was a father/son duo standing there, probably waiting for someone. I started talking to them and they had no idea they were standing in front of part of one of the most spectacular collections ever assembled, at which point they became genuinely intrigued. Will they become collectors? Probably not, but it is up to those currently in the hobby to get others interested. People aren't joining the hobby by going to the neighborhood hobby or coin shop and buying blue folders to fill anymore. They need to be recruited and nurtured.

Icollecteverything

Even 20 or 30 years ago when I used a Kennedy half to buy a paper or something most younger cashiers would look at it like they had never seen one before.

When I was a kid my grandpa would always dig the change out of his pocket and split it up with me and my sister which was always exciting. Now the kids probably want paper money or a debit card.

291fifth

<< <i>Coin collecting is a long established hobby and is not likely to die out in the foreseeable future. As in many things (even sports) it will have ebbs and flows.... I do not worry about the future of the hobby..... it will survive. As for we mere mortals... well, we will be gone long before the coins. Cheers, RickO >>



This is exactly the attitude of stamp collectors thirty years ago. Look what has become of stamp collecting. My nephew, now 19, tells me that he does not know of even one person his age who collects stamps.

bcdeluxe

There are some interesting responses here.

I used to collect stamps - about 35 years ago. And baseball cards - about 25-35 years ago. I have no idea what even happened to the stamps. The baseball cards are worthless.

I think certainly anything that is truly "rare" is going to find a market for collectors. How many Honus Wagner cards are there? Even non-baseball card collectors know what this is purely from a money play.

But for as many younger kids in this thread saying "Yeah, we're here" - I just don't see it.

My girlfriend jokes to me when I take her to coin shows that I'm with "my people". I'm mid-40s, and actually I appear to be one of the younger people at most shows.

As much as everyone says this hobby is attracting younger kids, I am not seeing them at shows, nor my (lone) coin shop in a city of 100k+ people.

Justacommeman

<< <i>

<< <i>Coin collecting is a long established hobby and is not likely to die out in the foreseeable future. As in many things (even sports) it will have ebbs and flows.... I do not worry about the future of the hobby..... it will survive. As for we mere mortals... well, we will be gone long before the coins. Cheers, RickO >>



This is exactly the attitude of stamp collectors thirty years ago. Look what has become of stamp collecting. My nephew, now 19, tells me that he does not know of even one person his age who collects stamps. >>



I've never meet a stamp collector nor do I know of one. Same for coins until I started collecting. I'm not sure what dots you are trying to connect except for the usual the sky is falling diatribe ( if it rained coins it would be cool)

mark

edited for spelling

bcdeluxe

<< <i>Even 20 or 30 years ago when I used a Kennedy half to buy a paper or something most younger cashiers would look at it like they had never seen one before.

When I was a kid my grandpa would always dig the change out of his pocket and split it up with me and my sister which was always exciting. Now the kids probably want paper money or a debit card. >>



I have actually paid with new small dollars - president or Sackies - and have been asked what they were. If you live in a metropolitan area and have a lot of automated machines - subway cards, etc - you see them. Here in Michigan? Never once have I received a small dollar.

Again, I agree with the sentiment about "all time low".

AMRC

I think the State Quarter series created a host of latent late life collectors that will swoop in when the get into their 50's and 60's.

19Lyds

<< <i>I happen to agree with this.

My kids have absolutely no interest looking at any coin I buy. I taught them to look at things in the Coinstar reject bin. Nothing.

It's been discussed many times before, but I wonder what effect this is going to have on the collector community in years to come. Rare coins are only worth anything because we have a group willing to pay (what I consider) nearly insane prices of 100k+ for coins that are not really that "rare".

The uneducated and uncaring public is going to have a detrimental impact on the price of rare coins. Next year? No way. Next decade? Probably not. 2040? Who knows. >>

The general publics interest in coins has little to no bearing on the coin collecting hobby.

Your childrens lack of interest in your hobby has little to no bearing on the Future of coin collecting since there simply are not that many "Life Long Coin Collectors". Yes, some people have collected for a very long time but of that percentage, very few actually collected coins on a serious basis when they were kids.

Coin Collecting, in the vein which you refer (100k+) is limited to those that can "afford" 100k+ for a coin or coins. Typically, this ability does not kick in until early retirement age (55+) where income becomes more "disposable".

I collected coins as a young man but I did not begin spending real money on coins until my 50's and I do not believe, given the general age of coin show attendees and dealers, that I am any different than the "general public".

And truthfully, what does the "general public knowledge about coins" have to do with a "specialized hobby"?

The BIGGEST THREAT to the coin collecting hobby/business would be limited solely to a decision to go to a cashless society. Other than that, folks will always have an interest. Especially if a news story hits the press where someone "finds" a coin and then sells it for $19,500. That generates a lot of interest.

Of course, these are only my opinions.

bcdeluxe

<< <i>I think the State Quarter series created a host of latent late life collectors that will swoop in when the get into their 50's and 60's. >>



I started collecting coins due to the State Quarter series. Although I've taken a year or two off here and there over the past 16 years, I think if they're not interested by now, it's unlikely this will spark interest in their 50's and 60's.

winky

If kids are not interested then why is there YN in the registry sets????

ShadyDave

<< <i>There are some interesting responses here.

I used to collect stamps - about 35 years ago. And baseball cards - about 25-35 years ago. I have no idea what even happened to the stamps. The baseball cards are worthless.

I think certainly anything that is truly "rare" is going to find a market for collectors. How many Honus Wagner cards are there? Even non-baseball card collectors know what this is purely from a money play.

But for as many younger kids in this thread saying "Yeah, we're here" - I just don't see it.

My girlfriend jokes to me when I take her to coin shows that I'm with "my people". I'm mid-40s, and actually I appear to be one of the younger people at most shows.

As much as everyone says this hobby is attracting younger kids, I am not seeing them at shows, nor my (lone) coin shop in a city of 100k+ people. >>



I agree that I don't go to my LCS as often as I should and that the only coin show I've ever attended is The Mansfield Numismatic Society Annual Coin Show three times. I don't feel the need to travel for a coin show, I feel my generation (millennial) is more knowledgeable with computers than our parents (so I am better at finding bad listings, weird auction sites that sell coins) and I hate being ignored on the showroom floor when I have a big wad of cash in my pocket, but since I'm a "kid" I'm not taken seriously...

Overall, I feel more comfortable buying online or going to my long time dealer who knows what I am willing to throw down and what I like. I'm sure my preference will change over time, but this is my current MO.

FullStrike

The general publics knowledge about everything seems to be at an all time low. Of course everyone knows
the really important things. Like how late the Pizza delivery service operates.

Hmmmm .... how late does it operate?

TheDukeK

I see young collectors all the time and clubs and shows. Plus they are much bigger internet savoy then the older generation.
Also many don't get into coins until later in life when a person's disposable income is higher.
All is well in whoville.

Papi

Geezers always think the hobby is going to die with them.

silverpop

and this is unusual how?

of course the public has little understanding of coins, they have other things to attend to instead of knowing about coins

and all they know is coins are money that can be spent on items they want or need

Bodin

<< <i>Let a few of the "disinterested" see what happens when a contemporary INHERITS a collection

AND


is smart enough to do some diligence in evaluating or selling it. (They get it on a tax "step-up" tax basis you realize?)

THEN when the disinterested see the Corvette or boat or house the smart guy ended up with.......well...... I predict a rash of Twitters in a hurry. >>



This is exactly how I got hooked

TwoSides2aCoin

Thank goodness for teachers.

kiyote

Things are seriously heating up in China.. it's boom and bust cycles and always have been.

coinhack

<< <i>Things are seriously heating up in China.. it's boom and bust cycles and always have been. >>



By that, do you mean that the Chinese are buying more U.S. coins are that they are manufacturing more U.S. coins?

Sorry, couldn't help it.

coinkat

I am not seeing a cashless society.

Perhaps the biggest threat is demographics and the disconnect that seems to exist with history and were we have been. And I am certain that there are those that want to look towards the future with optimism which is great. It sort of helps to know where you have been to know where you are going...

291fifth

<< <i>I am not seeing a cashless society.

Perhaps the biggest threat is demographics and the disconnect that seems to exist with history and were we have been. And I am certain that there are those that want to look towards the future with optimism which is great. It sort of helps to know where you have been to know where you are going... >>



The US is behind Europe in the move to a cashless society. However, there is big money to be made in fees if a cashless society should develop.
Expect to see more efforts in this direction by those firms that would benefit from the fees that would be generated by a cashless society.

I actually don't like the idea of a cashless society but think that it is coming.

DHeath

The biggest threat to the hobby is the Internet and diffusion of information regarding how most collector coins are readily available. It (the Internet) also makes apparent how expensive the genuinely rare stuff has become. Collecting has become buying. Most valuable coins have, or will be, predigested by the TPGs and there is little mystery or serendipity. Why compete to build a high-grade set when the keys are beyond your means. Can the hobby thrive on investment and speculation? I suppose time will tell.