Coin Market, Antique Glass and Hummels.
HiBucky
Posts: 626 ✭✭✭
The interest in coins appears to be going in the same direction of antique glassware and Hummels. We may not want to believe it but is there any upside forthcoming? Market is strong for stocks, collectors are getting older and people with money are dying off or selling. Who will collect coins? A lot of collections are coming onto the market all prices are a lot lower. E bay common dollars vf-Xf .... $18-$20 with shipping... Whats up Sell Now or Buy Now ???
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Buy now... the interest in coins is healthy and strong.... collections get sold all the time....keeps the auction houses in business....Prices are good, buy.....If the market is dying then who is buying all these collections? Cheers, RickO
Some people want a certain amount for their wares and don't want to risk losing their shirt with auctions. Sure, there are quite a few people who have .99 start auctions who do fairly well, but I have been burnt one too many times on eBay as a seller. Timing is everything. I have had a few higher end top pop variety coins that were on eBay for months after a few insulting offers (this coin has no collector value but I would add it to my collection) a realistic offer was made and the deal closed through BIN/Best Offer.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
Hummels are a like ASEs and the like. They were originally rare, made in small #s and subject to attrition. Then when they started to catch on as a collectable, they rushed out dozens of pseudo-limited editions and swamped the market = crash. 50StQ anyone? Prexy dollars?
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Agree; same with the Norman Rockwell plates:(
Are Hummels in the Smithsonian? Do Hummels have the history of US coins? Coins will have their up and downs but human nature will always be the same. There have been coin collectors for a very long time and that won't change.
Anything marketed and sold as a "collectible" is doomed to fail..Thats why I an still bullish on old coins in great condition. Coins never meant to be a collectible so no one cared. But to have a an old large cent from before the Civil War in your hands in UNC. condition. That is so cool.
My best guess is that it is another cycle, which has been typical of coin collecting for the last 100 years. Will it cycle up again? Who knows? But many people have made a lot of money catching cycles on the way up, and many people have lost a lot money being on the wrong side. Collect what you like and if it all goes away, pretend you spent it on whiskey and women (or your other preferred vices with zero payback).
How is the Stamp Market these days compared to say the 1960's?
people have been collecting coins long since US coins were minted. i mean, a long time. i tend to believe it will continue.
Coins are history. They stimulate the imagination (Who once held this? What human stories attend its uses and trades? Where was this during the great contemporaneous historical events?) in ways other collectibles don't, or can't as much. The precious metals many of them contain retain intrinsic value.
Their passing from daily use may not find youth as interested when they're young as they used to be, but these other intrinsic advantages suggest that their market will continue to wax and wane as markets do, for people (i.e. older folks) interested in these other aspects.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
I don't put that much thought into it.
My small collection simply enhances my short time on this spinning sphere.
The 2 small shows I get to are crowded.
The Internet auctions have much more desirable pieces than I could ever obtain.
No steals to be had at the local mom and pop coin auction.
The only down thing I've noticed and miss are the local B&M's.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
I don't see it dwindling down to nothing. Declining a bit.....maybe. On the downside of a cycle (a trough).....likely. But I don't see it all just going away nor do I think that all the youth simply don't care, anymore. I have spoken to and seen enough YNs to come to this conclusion. Also, I don't see the switch to a cashless society having a negative impact....it may even help to stimulate it, as coins become more thought of as relics and antiquities, thus creating more of an appeal. The hobby has been around for far too long to just die a sudden death. JMHO.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Even if we go cashless that is no reason to think people will stop collecting coins. Did people not care about gold coins when they stopped Being made for circulation ? Will rare books no longer matter with kindle, etc ? Do people want paintings of the old masters even though that style is largely not used today ?
Also, to say young people don't care about collectibles is a vast over generalization. Let's face it, most people, young or old, don't have an interest in coins. You just need some people collecting coins and there always have been for hundreds of years.
Also young people get older. Their interests change and as they replace the current generation of older collectors some will turn to coins too.
In 1985, while at a meeting of my local stamp club, I predicted the demise of stamp collecting. The members, in general, thought I was just being negative. My predictions regarding that market have now come true. Stamp collecting, except at the very high end, is near death. My nephew, now 21, recently told me that he has NEVER known anyone in his age group that has ever collected stamps.
Few coin collectors today believe me when I tell them that collecting CIRCULATED Jefferson nickels was once very popular. I recall a conversation with a B&M coin dealer in the early 1980's. He lamented that he failed to see the decline in interest in circulated Jefferson nickels was likely to be permanent. He had far too much money tied up in such material and didn't know how to get rid of it ... other than using it as change!
Coin collecting is a declining hobby. True collectors are going to have to look very closely at what collecting trends are going to develop if they have any hope of taking anything but a big loss when it comes time for themselves or their estate to sell.
Going the way of Hummels? I hope so!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-HUMMEL-LITTLE-OLD-MAN-READING-A-NEWSPAPER-181-THERE-ARE-ONLY-A-FEW-MADE-/322440866051?hash=item4b12f92903:g:f6QAAOSwqv9V7PZL
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Very nice. I'll be more impressed, if someone buys it. I hope they do.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Collecting of coins may never die, but what is uncertain is how small or large the base within may be. And how much profit can be made from it to sustain dealers. Smaller the base, larger the supply. Larger the base, smaller the supply. In my sphere of friends there are only 4 collectors. 2 collect coins,but only as silver stackers. They could care less about dates,mintmarks, errors etc. They have let me peruse some of their stacks and I've pulled out some semi-keys for them. And a few errors But it has not sparked any interest beyond what silver goes for per oz. Same for a bullion dealer I know. I tried to alert him about the 1919 Merc. dime doubling, to look out for it. Couldn't care less. The other 2 friends,one recently passed away and his wife considers sports cards junk, are/were sports cards collectors. Both are/were up in years and their children/wives present no interest in coins or sportcards. My other non collecting friends have no interest in collectibles. So who will carry the collecting torch? Future is yet to be determined. If it is to die I think it may come as a result of a slow,gradual decline with no predictable end date. Linked to a disinterested populace. One day it will just be there. Hopefully for all here concerned, not too soon. For myself what I have hung onto and means the most to me is what I obtained from searching rolls at face value. In that regard I can't get hurt as I've no "skin" in the game other than face value. But that suited me just fine as I've always just been your average collector.
Stock market at 21,000 is strong. But at almost record high why get in? Some great coin buys to be had. I would rather add a few choice original coins or even 90% than in the market. Hope I'm right
Well, a few responses gave me a great feeling that I could continue collecting without fear of a market collapse, Others have the feeling that it is not going to be a rosy future in the coin market. We can't tell with any certainty what will happen in the future. I for one hope that the market stays strong with a nice collecting base that can support the coin hobby. I don't buy into the saying just collect for the fun.. Hell, why pay $100.00 for a coin for hobby fun sake and in two years your coin in now worth $55.00 . I see no fun in that. I have very little influence with young collectors but for those who have the opportunity, please spend time working with them to enjoy the hobby. A strong base of collectors is very important. I thank those who have given their time to help the YN.
There's a time to buy there's a time to sell there's a time to hold etc etc etc . That said have you tried assembling an original red book set of early dollars, type set or haha date set of various early gold denominations in the last decade or so? 2 decades? Easy? Cost more or less now? What do you think that the rarest dates in the series will cost in 5 years in comparison with today? 10 years? Sometimes be thankful that the coin even appears for sale much less worry about what "the market" is doing.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
I keep sending my nephew rolls of cents, nickels, or 1/5/10/25/50c pieces. No date buffalo, 30s/40s/50s nickels. As he gets older I'll start sending more silver. If he shows interest and starts getting into it, I'll leave him my gold. Just hoping he doesn't end up on the wrong side of the tracks. The second they leave the post office they're his to do what he wishes I guess.
I like to write letters to include with the gifts; like my grandmother collected these out of her register when she met grandpa at xyz before he left to fight in the war and she became a machinist for 3 years. So at least there's history, and family history. I'll write interesting things or give nearly-complete cent albums and a bag of coins that I know will fill it. I hope it fosters a sense of family values and those who came before us, and the things they did so we could be alive today. We will see what the years bring. Hopefully I'm not the weird uncle who sends these metal things that don't light up or have wifi and you can't spend them but you can.