When was the peak period for coin collecting as a hobby?
TopographicOceans
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When do you think coin collecting as a hobby was at its peak in terms of the number of active collectors?
I think in was in the 1960's. It just seems at the time it was the "in" thing to do and there was a big interest in the hobby. A lot of the old codgers today started as kids around that time and likely their parents had coins. It probably could be tied to elimination of silver coinage.
I think in was in the 1960's. It just seems at the time it was the "in" thing to do and there was a big interest in the hobby. A lot of the old codgers today started as kids around that time and likely their parents had coins. It probably could be tied to elimination of silver coinage.
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Pete
Louis Armstrong
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Right now, called the internet.
You may be right. How else would those fake 1893-S Morgans (and their CC cousins) get so many bids in online auctions? The problem is that the level of ignorance on the part of many collectors seems to be at an all time high in spite of the info available on the internet (the info on this site is amazing, but how many are looking?)
I would venture to guess that fakes like this were being sold to rubes long before the internet came along.
Coin Rarities Online
If we were all the same, the world would be an incredibly boring place.
Tommy
As far as the number of collectors, I would agree with an earlier poster that it might be now.
But counting people "interested" or pulling coins from circulation, or hoarders- I would guess their peak as a percentage of the population would have been early-mid 1960s.
Perhaps a frame of reference would be the "social *****tail party conversations".
If you went to a gathering with 1000 strangers every year, how many would have an interest if you started talking about coins. Today I think that number would be quite low.
guides for the most commonly seen coins. Collector interest was at a peak then, too. Everyone was awaiting the upcoming "sandwich" coinage.
In terms of numbers of collectors the early 1960's, until May, 1964, was the peak. There was widespread interest on the part of many in the general public. At one point the circulation of Coin World passed 160,000. Coin albums or folders could be found in virtually any department store and the large downtown department stores had very busy coin departments.
Sounds about right. The hobby was beset by a series of blows from the mint and the government because it was unfairly blamed for the coin shortage. It started in 1964 with a date freeze and got much worse from there.
The roll, bag, and proof set boom collapsed by 1965 because of the various actions of government and lots of people left the hobby. With nothing "collectable" in circulation there was no route into the hobby so very few new collectors came on board between 1965 and 1999 when the states quarters began.
In the early '60's most of my friends collected coins.
In terms of numbers of collectors the early 1960's, until May, 1964, was the peak. There was widespread interest on the part of many in the general public. At one point the circulation of Coin World passed 160,000. Coin albums or folders could be found in virtually any department store and the large downtown department stores had very busy coin departments.
Sounds about right. The hobby was beset by a series of blows from the mint and the government because it was unfairly blamed for the coin shortage. It started in 1964 with a date freeze and got much worse from there.
The roll, bag, and proof set boom collapsed by 1965 because of the various actions of government and lots of people left the hobby. With nothing "collectable" in circulation there was no route into the hobby so very few new collectors came on board between 1965 and 1999 when the states quarters began.
In the early '60's most of my friends collected coins.
I lived in the Chicago area at that time and from late 1961, when I started collecting, to mid-1963 I used to go to the bank and get bags of cents and nickels (or rolls of dimes, and sometimes quarters or half dollars) to search. Some worthwhile coins could still be found in 1962 but by mid-1963 virtually everything of numismatic value was gone. I think some better coins could still be found in circulation in rural areas but that was not where I could ride my bicycle. I had a bike that allowed me to carry a knotted bag of cents or nickels suspended from the upper support bars. During the summer, when I wasn't in school, I would make as many as three trips a day to the bank to get a new bag to search, exchanging the bag I had already searched. Some of the tellers were helpful but others would give out bags they knew some other collector had already picked clean.
The 1964 proof mintage figure is still very near the highest ever.
Indian Head $10 Gold Date Set Album
K
I lived in the Chicago area at that time and from late 1961, when I started collecting, to mid-1963 I used to go to the bank and get bags of cents and nickels (or rolls of dimes, and sometimes quarters or half dollars) to search. Some worthwhile coins could still be found in 1962 but by mid-1963 virtually everything of numismatic value was gone. I think some better coins could still be found in circulation in rural areas but that was not where I could ride my bicycle. I had a bike that allowed me to carry a knotted bag of cents or nickels suspended from the upper support bars. During the summer, when I wasn't in school, I would make as many as three trips a day to the bank to get a new bag to search, exchanging the bag I had already searched. Some of the tellers were helpful but others would give out bags they knew some other collector had already picked clean.
I lived in a rural area near Chicago and it was slim pickings there as well. In 1957 most of the coins like '20-S buffalo nickels were still in circulation though though attrition had whittled down their numbers and about 20% were already dateless. Most of them were in attrocious condition and none were better than G+ or so. Some dates wore off faster so were not often seen dated.
There were only two significant finds among my friends and I from that era. A friend found a nice G/VG '32-S quarter he sold for $10 in 1961 or 2 and I found a VF '50-D nickel that sold for $25 that I found in 1964 shortly before the modern coin market imploded.
One could make a little profit by pulling out silver a few times before they went extinct but at that time it made little sense to hoard silver since you could buy bullion that had more silver than coin for less money. I only knew one person to make money on silver and that was mostly luck that prices started soaring as he was saving it. I never saved any silver until after 1970 and by then it was pretty much all gone.
It was a terrible era for coin collecting on many levels but I sure enjoyed my buffalo nickel collection and all the work to assemble it. Most of it was completed by mail order in the late-'50's/ early-'60's.
The real irony is that we could all have made lots of money if we had known future collectors would want Gems and varieties. I'd always return brand new coin to the bank because I didn't collect them and I knew there wouldn't be any coins for my collection. I knew a little about "Fidos" but most varieties just slipped right through my hands. I spotted a couple of '16 quarters but didn't know how I knew and spent them. I put a '71-D or '72-D DDR quarter in a pop machine because I wasn't collecting clad yet. There were lots of opportunities but we were all collecting dates and mint marks.
In the 60's we had a cash society. At that time the cost of goods were not as high. There were lots of 5 and dime stores around and a lot of items cost just pennies. Remember Bazooka and Tootsie Rolls for a penny? Everyone had change in their pockets. Dads would empty their pants pockets into the change jar or put their change on the counter at the end of the day. Lots of us young kids looked through it or just were exposed to "pocket change" regularly. We swiped it to go buy tasty stuff. We knew coins.
Different world today. Credit and debit cards rule. Not as much pocket change.
Now "change" is mainly composed of high grade modern cr@p that all looks like shiny new ChuckECheese tokens. Kids can't grab a few cents and go to the corner store and buy anything anymore. Too bad. That was really fun.
My take is that as the world moves away from using change in commercial settings there will grow a larger fascination with "old" and "different" coins as time goes by. Forget the millenials, they are lost in their own smart phone world, but the kids - yes I am talking kids - growing up today will develop their own curiosity and interest in all those nice old coins someday. Except Barbers.... they are just brutal looking coins
As for classics and pseudo moderns like Buffs, Walkers and Frankies, they will be the curiosity and eventual collections in years to come.
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
Different world today. Credit and debit cards rule. Not as much pocket change.
Now "change" is mainly composed of high grade modern cr@p that all looks like shiny new ChuckECheese tokens. Kids can't grab a few cents and go to the corner store and buy anything anymore. Too bad. That was really fun.
I believe you have an exaggerated idea of the number of kids who rarely or never see coins. They're making as many billions as ever and somebody must see them. It is a very good point though.
Not all modern crap is shiny and the latest parks quarter. Some are old worn out 1965 quarters that look like they've been through the Battle of the Marne. It is these anomalies and then the oddball nearly uncirculated 1970-D that spur peoples' notice and interest. These ChuckECheese-like "tokens" have tremendous breadth and width of attributes in a wide array of characteristics. People simply notice these things and those of us who like one of everything are drawn to them.
Indeed, lots of folks already are drawn to them and suggesting they are uncollectable junk is not good for the future of the hobby. It wasn't good for the hobby in 1995 when the ANA said there were no collectable coins in circulation. It wasn't good for the hooby when pundits called the states coins common garbage and it's not good now.
We might still be able to run off enough newbies to make our self fullfilling prophesy of the hobby's demise become reality but it may be too late.
The mint estimates that 110m individuals 'collected' to some degree the 50 State Quarters.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Foreign coins I'm guessing in the 3rd -4th inning .
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I remember at one recent auction, I met a collector that never showed up at a show nor auction ever until this one time - he is in the process of assembling the finest early gold collection. He is a quiet collector and assembling an unbelievable collection. We don't see them and there are others just like him so don't count this hobby out just yet!
US coins maybe peaked but highly collectible.
Foreign coins I'm guessing in the 3rd -4th inning .
I think it's more like the top of the second and we're ahead 10 to 0 in a game we're destined to lose. The coaches and owners have already made all the arrangements.
In any case world coins are going to do exceedingly well.
US coins maybe peaked but highly collectible.
Foreign coins I'm guessing in the 3rd -4th inning .
I think it's more like the top of the second and we're ahead 10 to 0 in a game we're destined to lose. The coaches and owners have already made all the arrangements.
In any case world coins are going to do exceedingly well.
Just follow the world economy. Where countries do well in the future collections of coins from those countries will do well. The trick is in learning how to pick those that will do well within your lifetime.
I feel the interest hasn't peaked yet. Everyday, there are more and more collectors coming into the field. I believe that many of us don't feel that way as more and more collectors are hitting the internet and doing their buying online.
I remember at one recent auction, I met a collector that never showed up at a show nor auction ever until this one time - he is in the process of assembling the finest early gold collection. He is a quiet collector and assembling an unbelievable collection. We don't see them and there are others just like him so don't count this hobby out just yet!
Collectors of very high end material are in a different league and play the game differently. This has been true for decades. Many don't attend lesser shows (some don't attend shows at all) and never set foot in a coin club meeting. There are probably more high end collections out there than most would guess. Some of these collections probably don't contain a single slabbed coin as they have been passed down through several generations.
I feel the interest hasn't peaked yet. Everyday, there are more and more collectors coming into the field. I believe that many of us don't feel that way as more and more collectors are hitting the internet and doing their buying online.
I remember at one recent auction, I met a collector that never showed up at a show nor auction ever until this one time - he is in the process of assembling the finest early gold collection. He is a quiet collector and assembling an unbelievable collection. We don't see them and there are others just like him so don't count this hobby out just yet!
Collectors of very high end material are in a different league and play the game differently. This has been true for decades. Many don't attend lesser shows (some don't attend shows at all) and never set foot in a coin club meeting. There are probably more high end collections out there than most would guess. Some of these collections probably don't contain a single slabbed coin as they have been passed down through several generations.
The slabbing game is big on this board as it should be.
It barely scratches the surface when it comes to coin collecting.
Just follow the world economy. Where countries do well in the future collections of coins from those countries will do well. The trick is in learning how to pick those that will do well within your lifetime.
A lot of my favorites I was never able to find a single example. Among those I did they are up a few thousand percent on average. Some are over 30,000%.
There are clunkers as well.
Right now foreign coin is flowing out of the US because the cataloger lists them for far less than they are worth. Foreigners are smart enough not to use our catalog.
2000-2009
The mint estimates that 110m individuals 'collected' to some degree the 50 State Quarters.
110 MILL sounds like quite an exaggeration. I never got the bug though my wife did. She was searching for Pennsylvania state quarters and other hard to find states when they first came out. She kept with it for the full 10 years...and hasn't done a thing with them since.
With probably 90% of them collecting coins from change at face value (ie little fresh "collector" cash being injected into the rare coin market). I would venture a guess that 90% of those collecting stated quarters in 2000-2009 have since lost interest in that series. State quarters came along at the perfect time as commodities and collectibles were coming out of low points from 1995-2002. Every thing collectible became a hit from 2002-2008. Had state quarters come out in 1990-1999 I doubt anyone would have cared.
When silver coins could be found in circulation from 1965-1969 most everyone was aware of it. You could call every person in the country over age 15 as a "collector" of 90% US silver or obsolete coins found in circulation (Buffs, SLQ's, Indian cents, etc.).
If one looks at reality TV shows, the entire USA have become "collectors" (or should we say opportunists or flippers) of whatever they can find cheap at garage sales, in people's attics, in the junk pile, from friends, from Grandma's estate, on Ebay, at Pawn shops, auctions, estate sales, etc. With this logic, everyone who has some extra cash to spend is a "collector." The "why" of this having happened is a good topic for another thread.
You can find anything you want sitting at home.
Way easier to collect super cool stuff than the old days.
People all over the world hoarded and/or collected them so it was difficult to distinquish between hoarders and collectors.
The 1964 Kennedy half was not a bad looking coin, at least on the obverse.
At 11 years old in 1964, I remember the boy wonder of numismatics Dave Bowers being excited about the Kennedy half also in a column in Coin World.
I feel the interest hasn't peaked yet. Everyday, there are more and more collectors coming into the field. I believe that many of us don't feel that way as more and more collectors are hitting the internet and doing their buying online.
I remember at one recent auction, I met a collector that never showed up at a show nor auction ever until this one time - he is in the process of assembling the finest early gold collection. He is a quiet collector and assembling an unbelievable collection. We don't see them and there are others just like him so don't count this hobby out just yet!
Collectors of very high end material are in a different league and play the game differently. This has been true for decades. Many don't attend lesser shows (some don't attend shows at all) and never set foot in a coin club meeting. There are probably more high end collections out there than most would guess. Some of these collections probably don't contain a single slabbed coin as they have been passed down through several generations.
I realize that there are many more high end collectors but I feel that there are alot more coin collectors overall. The internet, TPG and online shopping has made our hobby more available to many collectors now more than ever. Hence, I believe there are many more collectors now then ever before.
Many folks feel collecting is a dying hobby because when you go to a show or see an old collector, then you conclude that its a dying hobby. I dont believe its a dying hobby as there are more collectors today then ever before.
...Tom
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The largest number of Redbooks was printed in 1964 (1965 edition) at 1.2 million. The release of 100 million silver dollars at face value from 1962-64, the huge demand for the Kennedy half dollar, ending of silver coinage and proof sets after 1964, replacement of silver certificates with Federal Reserve notes in 1963, plus the fact that there were still many valuable coins in circulation all created a huge interest in coins
The big thing was simply that the mint and FED squashed the hobby through a long series of actions beginning in 1964.
The perception that all coins are garbage but there were great coins in circulation in the 1960's is really just a superstition. It sounds right but it's not really true. Every coins in 1964 had been through a collector's hands a hundred times or more. There was nothing in circulation because there were 1.2 million Redbooks sold.
How ironic that even today Redbook is suppressing the modern market by reporting artificially low prices that impede the growth of their publication. I suspect this is for the short term gain of not upsetting their customers; most of whom are modern bashers.
1964 when roll of 1950-D Nickels trading for $1000. There were coin shops all over - recall getting nice BU Morgans for $2.50. Guy who owned shop then told me he had bags of BU dollars and rolls of USGTC. He was a bulk accumulator, would have laughed at the Regristry / Sticker game. He would tell me "just plug the hole in the album with what you can easily afford, complete the collection, and worry about upgrade later on."
And that's exactly what we all did back then which is why there were NO rare coins in circulation but varieties and Gems are difficult to locate. It's also why most of the greatest coins of the 20th century were made before 1916 or after 1964.
With the wealth of specific information on nearly every series, I don't under estimate current times.
Proliferation of grading companies gives many peace of mind.
When I have to travel five hours round trip to just hit a small show, why travel when I can search 1000 coins online in an afternoon?
I am not a "Doom and Gloom" person, love the hobby but am realistic and STILL love it as a hobby and rarely sell anything.
Well, just Love coins, period.