Where are we going as a hobby?
RB1026
Posts: 1,489 ✭✭✭✭
I often read commentary about the numismatic hobby and concerns/debate about whether it's growing or declining. I'm interested to hear some points of view here. So, what do you think? Is the hobby growing, holding steady, or declining and why?
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Most have lost interest for now, but many will come back to the hobby when they get older.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
<< <i>I often read commentary about the numismatic hobby and concerns/debate about whether it's growing or declining. I'm interested to hear some points of view here. So, what do you think? Is the hobby growing, holding steady, or declining and why? >>
There are some good threads here on this already. The search function should help before people start posting opinions here.
I work with more and more knowledgeable collectors every day, there is no doubt that numismatic knowledge is growing due to its accessibility (I.E Coin Facts, this forum, prices realized and much much more).
For me the buyers and sellers of coins are just like the coins themselves; It is not about numbers it is about the quality.
Numismatics combines history, intrinsic value, and collecting. As long as humans are hardwired to collect something and can appreciate intrinsic value, numismatics will be fine.
I stand to be corrected ,but I think ANA membership representing more serious collectors , interested individuals, and dealers
has declined over the years even with recruiting efforts. I think it is under around 26000 now and it once was well over 30,000. or more.
A very slow death as aged collectors and dealers we know are passing on. You see it in the trades. It would be interesting to know the average age of the ANA membership. I still see way more greyhairs at coin shows then youth, but go into an Apple store and count the ratio of greyhairs to youth!
Krueger
<< <i>There are some good threads here on this already. The search function should help before people start posting opinions here. >>
I'm sorry to tell you but for most users that function of the forum has been dead for over a year.
And speaking of dead and dying that seems to be the slow prevailing trend for the hobby.
With the mints following the lead of the postal service and constantly churning out of collectors specials is driving the modern coin collectors off in droves.
The ANA with their constant problems of leadership and lock step support of dealers over collectors have made more leave and join.
And if nobody has noticed the economy has tanked and that means many are selling off their collection to pay the bills.
Without some changes for the better I do not foresee a bright tomorrow in this or any collectibles arena.
<< <i>For as long as I can remember, folks have been saying that numismatics is dying since the collector base seems to be older than the average age. I have heard this for four decades. >>
I think this was very true between 1965 and 1995.
Coin prices (especially nice collector coins) crashed to nothing by 1995 and it was moderns
that lifted the hobby out of the funk and the influx of ex-collector baby boomers and new young
collectors with the states quarters that has led to the growth of the last decade and a half.
I think we are in a brief lull waiting for the youngsters to finish their education and establish
families before the market takes off again.
Kids who were six when they started states coins in '98 are twenty years old now. A few are
already filtering back into the hobby. There will be extreme upward pressure on demand racing
the extreme upward pressure on supply caused by retiring baby boomers.
It will be interesting.
<< <i>Where are we going as a hobby?
>>
We're going to where the younger collectors take us.
The hobby is going to change a great deal over the next twenty years but there will still be nothing new under the sun.
<< <i>I stand to be corrected ,but I think ANA membership representing more serious collectors , interested individuals, and dealers
has declined over the years even with recruiting efforts. I think it is under around 26000 now and it once was well over 30,000. or more.
A very slow death as aged collectors and dealers we know are passing on. You see it in the trades. It would be interesting to know the average age of the ANA membership. I still see way more greyhairs at coin shows then youth, but go into an Apple store and count the ratio of greyhairs to youth!
Krueger >>
I've been wondering about this particular little piece of information for a long time. Where did you get this info? Is it published somewhere?
Declining interest in the hobby is not something that any of us can ignore. If new collectors are not continually entering the hobby, who will we or our heirs sell our collections to when it comes time to sell. It is in our common interest, whether selfish or altruistic, to promote this wonderful hobby and to bring in new blood to perpetuate the hobby in the future.
The hobby will still be around but many items that once had collector value will drop off the radar for good.
In terms of coins and paper money it is time for collectors to become more selective than ever. While I no longer collect US coins or paper money I do collect some foreign paper money. In that area I have become very, very selective. If it is common I don't want it. If it has problems I don't want it. If it is overpriced I don't want it.
ANA membership means nothing.......I am as serious a collector as any one.....and never have been or ever will be a member of the ANA.
I do not think worthless coins with ridiculously high mintages can sustain the hobby. Condition rarities have never impressed me nor any of my friends that collect. And I will not and cannot collect something that on a whim could go from worth something to worth nothing simply because people woke up and realized they have been peddled a pile of magic beans.
Recently I auctioned off 1/2 of the value of my collection (mostly Morgans). I did not make a penny on anything I sold. I was duped into starting collecting (slick salesman) and I regret the day that I started. The remainder of my collection will be sold in the next few years and I will never again collect coins.
For me though I find the U.S. coin market too crowded. Getting back into collecting in 08 I had no idea what slabs were. After buying many of my mid grade & lower u.s. coins I wanted for my type set. I got itchy about selling them and going into something else.
Thankfully other collectors exposed me to the world of ancients & I havent looked back. I still have many of my u.s. coins with a few I might part with. The market isnt as crowded nor is there plastic to mess with. Sadly prices have been going up with them like everything else but theyre still more affordable then u.s./slabs.
I also see many new ancient collectors coming to the market, many are younger then me.
I suspect there is a bit of a disconnect between how the different generations fundamentally approach the hobby. I remember talking to an insurance exec around 12 years ago. I asked about the future of the internet and his companies' plan in that regard. He told me that insurance was one of the areas that people would NEVER purchase in volume over the internet because a personal touch and relationship is necessary. His plan at that time was not focused at all at the on-line community.
That the old guard sees that the way of the old guard may not be as vibrant as before does not necessarily reflect the health of the hobby.
NGC registry V-Nickel proof #6!!!!
working on proof shield nickels # 8 with a bullet!!!!
RIP "BEAR"
numismatic books, folders, and albums in mainstream retail channels, I would say the hobby
today is quite healthy. Quite healthy indeed.
people you mention?
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
<< <i>In what way might the biases you mention affect the opinions of the
people you mention? >>
If you put food on your table through the sales of coins, I really don't think you would be saying the industry is dying, even if it is. This admission by respected dealers could easily escalate the exodus (presuming there is one). In essence admitting that the hobby is dying would certainly make one think about future large investments therein.
Similar to horse racing which is a dying sport due to the old age aspect of the majority of fans/owners/bettors. If the best trainers, Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, et al came out and said yeah the horse business is drying up. That would certainly make one think twice about purchasing horses. You would lose a large percentage, not all but many, future buyers. Same with coins.
Probably not that many.
A couple of months back I went into my local coin shop to pick up three State Parks quarters I had not been able to find in circulation. This coin shop had done a lot of business selling the State Quarters.
Their response:
We don't handle the State Parks quarters. No one asks for them.
In God We Trust.... all others pay in Gold and Silver!
As long as governments continue wrecking the world economy through money printing, precious metal ownership will continue to increase in popularity. Some people who initially purchase bullion coins for investment and asset protection will develop an interest in the artistic merits of these coins, and will become collectors. A portion of these collectors will seek out artistically well-designed coins whose price is close to bullion value, such as St. Gaudens eagles and double eagles or Walking Liberty halves. Others will branch out and collect non-bullion coins based on their artistic merits or perceived scarcity.
The bottom line is that acquisition of bullion coins provides a valuable economic function *and* serves as a natural gateway to coin collecting. No other area of collectibles I can think of - stamps, currency, sports or movie memorabilia, vintage cars, great art - has such a strong and reliable source of new entrants into the hobby. That's why I believe there is little danger of coin collecting disappearing over the long term.
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