Has anyone ever rated the states for per capita coin collectors?
topstuf
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Be interesting.
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topstuf
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Probably a tough thing to do. But I guess membership in the ANA might give a clue as to IF there is a lopsided concentration in one state or another....
Just wondering what might make one believe it isn't a pretty flat distribution? Guess maybe availability might drive collecting...but the internet has probably removed some of that influence.
Interesting question...but tough to answer.
Just curious how disposable income is distributed around the country and if interest in history is evenly spread.
Maybe looking at the coin show distribution across the country would give you an idea. Of course all coin show aren't created equally but it might be an indicator. I'd also think that the Internet has opened it up to many that might not have been as "active". It has for me.
I don't think the ANA count would be very accurate. I have been collecting my whole life (since 14) and have never seen a need to join the ANA. I would venture to say most collectors don't either.
eBay could do it.
That would be closer, but I would bet there are a lot of collectors not on-line.
I do not think ANA membership, shows or disposable income will give us an accurate representation of collectors distribution across the country. For many, coin collecting is a private hobby.... there are avid collectors and occasional hobbyists. There are high end coin collectors and album cent collectors...The hobby is far more popular than most perceive. I was in the bank a couple of weeks ago, and when I asked for a roll of halves, the teller said "Wow.. what do all you guys do with these?" I asked if she had frequent requests for coins and she said "Every day."...Then the teller alongside chimed in and said the same thing... Now, I personally have only encountered one other collector in the ten years I have been here...and that was a brief exchange of comments at a flea market - have never seen him again. That being said, for the tellers to be getting that many requests for rolled coins, there must be many, many collectors in the area... yet, no coin shows or shops (other than some coin cabinets at the local antique shop). So, I do not know how a population distribution could ever be arrived at - other than a widespread statistical analysis based on a telephone survey... and we know how they work on elections
Cheers, RickO
Okay, the US mint new issues then.
Oh, forget it.
No scientific data to back it up but in my mind, I always figured that coin collecting was most popular in the Northeast and the rust belt type cities. From the 40's to the 90's.
I also think that the internet has diluted this concentration and collecting may be more nation wide.
All speculation on my part and I would enjoy real data on the subject.
"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
There again....I don't do any U.S. Mint new issues.
I don't think many if any would answer questions about collecting over the phone.....I know I wouldn't.
Police reports?
There are probably more regular coin shows in Florida than any other state!
The ANA has membership data sorted by state. Demographic and economic data are available from the US Census Bureau.
That would be a logical site. It's where a lot of collections go to die.
Should be good pickin's for "fresh" coins.
But down there, they are buried with their coins and roaches.
In California, we clip the roaches.
Seems like the error guys like the coasts, particularly the west coast. If Jon moved out west, California would be a solid error state.
Perhaps you could set up a poll question with the 50 states [not sure if that is possible] and see what the distribution of members here is
I asked a similar question last September but did not tally the results:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987135/a-little-ot-but-so-be-it-in-general-where-are-you#latest
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Regarding ANA membership, eBay stats, coin show counts, etc.....
Agree that NONE of them will create a count of ALL collectors, (and all collector types), but they would all give at least some indication of interesting concentrations and trends, (if they exist).
Short of a set of questions on the US census, I doubt any FULL data set will ever be created. But for someone interested, those little indicators are probably the best you can do.
I believe the midwest wins this one. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Iowa. On a per capita basis I'd guess Iowa wins with Wisconsin a close second.
For modern coin collectors I'd bet the western US wins. CA, CO, and Washington being some of the hot spots.
I can't seem to edit that last post and left out Michigan.
Maybe it depends on how boring a region is.
I ship a lot of stuff to states like California, Florida, Michigan
.
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
no collectors in New Mexico, no customers there
Really??? Iowa? My sales dynamics on ebay makes me go wow...I sold a coin to someone in Iowa when I do! I think Iowa is certainly in the running for the states I sell the least coins to! I'm certain I have sold as many to Alaska as I have to Iowa!
I would think States that are home to the most retirees would have an edge
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I have been working on taxes all day today. Came here to take a break. I just went through a two inch stack of invoices with shipping addresses. This is what I found:
California Florida Massachusetts - New York - New Jersey
All the rest pretty much evenly distributed. Of course the larger states had more and Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Dakotas, etc. only 1 or 2 each.
This doesn't prove anything, just what I observed. ch
I think coin collecting skews old and Florida skews old. I'd guess that per capita, Florida would be one of the top 2 or 3 states, maybe even the top.
Historically, Ohio has been the center of coin collecting, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Michigan and California. Much of the early ANA and Congressional interactions focused on Ohio.
OK, I guess Iowa isn't the hotbed of collecting it used to be. Even when I had a lot of trading partners in Iowa a lot of them were token and medal collectors.
JA once told a group of us that Michigan was the coin hot bed. No idea about per capita
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......