If anything crashes coins

topstuf · July 13, 2014 5:40AM

it will be the same forces that have crashed antique toys and collectibles in general.

I've just come to an opinion that so few young people are exposed in ANY way to historical reference to objects ....OF... historic significance.

Kids don't even mess with stamp collections and I can recall (and am thankful for) the MYRIAD points of history that I got from my early stamp collecting. Stuff I would have no idea about if I hadn't seen and gotten curious about various propaganda stamps and maps and exotic scenes.

I got "into" coins a bit later. This was during the time that penny boards could be at least well started from circulating coins.

It was ...exciting... to find a coin I didn't have.

I was deeply into Antique Toys on an international dealing basis as well as the owner of a coin shop and a collector in the magic days of the seventies.

And during all those periods there were younger collectors and the cost of acquiring actual RARE items was within the means of any who were dedicated enough to save, trade, or wheedle for their collections.

I am watching different collectible items now and perusing forums dedicated to them as well as watching current auction TV series where it is quite common to FAIL to achieve a consignor's desired price.

I'm digressing..... KIDS nowadays have NO interest in anything historic. They not only can't afford anything but they don't even appreciate the history represented by various collectibles.
I'm observing with interest the avid race for coins that are SPECTACULAR while at the same time seeing a lot of BST forum items trending toward the common items.

Same thing on guns. Lots and lots of offered items that go unsold AND with no bids.

Disinterest in history by kids is my culprit du jour.

I might be wrong, but I don't see a bright future for collectibles. Not even for after the whales satisfy their "mine's best" itches.

Unknown · July 13, 2014 5:47AM

This content has been removed.

Unknown · July 13, 2014 5:55AM

This content has been removed.

rkfish · July 13, 2014 5:58AM

I'm digressing..... KIDS nowadays have NO interest in anything historic. They not only can't afford anything but they don't even appreciate the history represented by various collectibles.

While I don't disagree to a part, it's difficult to keep the youth involved for many reasons but a BIG one is there are not the coin shops available today as there was just 20 years ago so the interest is waning for sure. Since I opened my shop we have started a coins for "A's" program in which each child (if they are willing to drive to the shop) for each "A" we allow them to pick out common Wheaties or buffalo's to try and put the collecting bug in their minds. For us locally it's working, slowly but surely we are seeing more and more of the youth coming in the shop to fill those holes. One thing I have learned is you have to make it fun for them...I try and keep a Fugio, half cent, horse blanket, etc around to give a history lesson when possible......you can still light those eyes if you take the time! What fun!

I have one young man moving about 90 miles away........nothing even close to him but I'm keeping my fingers crossed he will still visit occasionally.....bring a years worth of report cards

We will honor them!

JJSingleton · July 13, 2014 6:06AM

<< Since I opened my shop we have started a coins for "A's" program in which each child (if they are willing to drive to the shop) for each "A" we allow them to pick out common Wheaties or buffalo's to try and put the collecting bug in their minds. >>

What a great concept. As a hobby we more of this type of thinking.

EastonCollection · July 13, 2014 6:26AM

First off, while I agree there are fewer B&M shops out there just like there are fewer retail B&M stores ( amazon, ebay and many retail shops have websites) as the younger folks buy more and more items online. Many younger kids may not be as interested in coins I feel there is a great future for our hobby. More coins will be purchased on line. Currently, the auction's sites are selling more coins on line in auction. Look at the number of coins that are selling at auction - someone is buying them. The way coins are purchased in the future will be bought over the web not at shows or shops.
Thats why vanishing attendance is experiencing at shows.
Promoters of coin shows need to change the way it does business to attract collectors both young and old. For example, if a collector wants to put together a standing Liberty quarter collection together in AU condition - why go to a show ( spend the time and bucks attending a show) to hopefully find them when you can find a many of them on EBAY or auction sites.

I just think many old timers are making the comment that the coin hobby is dated by seeing fewer collectors at shows. The reality is the hobby is strong and getting stronger - folks need to encourage younger folks into the hobby and learn from them.

In my office, I give my staff's kids proof sets and or coin errors because they are cool and most have never seen a mint error or proof set. Over time, several of them have turned into collectors.

ricko · July 13, 2014 7:13AM

I very much doubt the coin hobby is dying. There is still a lot of activity at shows and as was pointed out, on line activity is huge. When I look at cents in the 'leave one take one' bin at a store, I often get comments such as "my son, nephew, etc collects coins'. That being said, I have never understood the concern for the hobby as a whole. Either it will continue or it will not. Certainly we collectors will continue to collect, and after we are gone, others will collect. Some hobbies die out, that is the way things go. However, as long as there are coins - and likely even after, should they become 'extinct', - there will be those who find them interesting and will save them. This issue is not something that really concerns me, and I do not understand why others worry about it. Once we die the world will continue, with or without coins. I guess if some are worried about their business or profits while they are alive, that is a viable concern. Cheers, RickO

bretts911 · July 13, 2014 7:37AM

You would be surprised at how many young people read this forum

291fifth · July 13, 2014 7:47AM

The internet has changed the market. It is difficult to tell just how much interest there really is. Many of these internet-only collectors are probably short on information and, especially, grading skill. Why else would we see so many bids in on-line auctions for obviously counterfeit coins.

So far as young collectors go ... forget it. College costs are out of control and the big-name four year schools are doing nothing about it. Potential young collectors have no money for collectible coins. My nephew starts college next month. He will be going to junior college for all of his "required" classes. I think this is an excellent move ... he doesn't have to pay for the football team at some rah-rah four year college.

jmski52 · July 13, 2014 8:13AM

I'm betting that coin collecting will always be viable. Right now, the debasement cycle has rendered modern circulating coins to be of little interest but the opposite is true for coins made of precious metal. The pendulum will swing the other way - it's only a question of when.

bronco2078 · July 13, 2014 8:20AM

When you spend your life glued to stupid little electronic devices then you don't notice much else.

In the future the vintage toys and games markets will be dead because none of the trash from this time will survive. Companies want to sell you devices that expire and die not long lasting toys that a kid could just play without forking money over for the next level.

It's all about revenue streams now. Whether its Xbox or nintendo or games that are apps on an I-device they don't want you to own what you paid for .

halfhunter · July 13, 2014 8:42AM

Wonder how many collectors the SHQ program started that went on to collect other series'?
From the number of BU looking early SHQs I'm finding in pocket change recently, it looks as if many of the hoarders may be cashing in.

Also seems like the ATBs are a real bust . . . Never hardly hear of anyone saving these . . .

HH

Amigo · July 13, 2014 8:48AM

When you spend your life glued to stupid little electronic devices then you don't notice much else.

+ 1

Most passions in life are acquried thru exposure. There isn't much that compete nowadays for their attention when they're too busy on cellphones and facebook. I suppose once they turn 50 that they'll have a tendency to collect something.

I wonder about the value of antique arms. I have a US Army colt with SN range within Custers Calvary. It means something to me, but will it to the next generation that didn't grow up with John Wayne and all the Western genre ? probably not. Now movies are based on video games and geared towards foreign markets. Not to mention the whole demographics of this country has changed and will continue to change. It won't be long before the majority of particpants on the board will become the minority in the US. Is there much of a chance that Hispanics and all the other immigrants will be interested in old US coins ? probably not. Simple truth is, our way of life is changing.

Nap · July 13, 2014 8:55AM

I don't pretend to know much of anything about the collectible toy market, but wasn't a large part of the downturn due to counterfeits running rampant? Also, such items are subject to fairly wide interest changes depending on the generation that collects them: my generation might be more interested in collecting classic GI Joe toys than model trains simply because we grew up with them.

While I am disappointed in my generation for many things, mostly because of apathy and intentional distancing from anything political, I do not think that young people are underexposed to historical relics. Nor would I say that kids have no interest in anything historic. I think that the desire to own historic relics is diminished, and this is a shifting paradigm that may not be all bad. Why own when you can appreciate from a distance, for the mere price of a museum admission? Why play a losing game with old men trying to buy rare coins? Why play a losing game in collectibles markets in general when disposable income is at such a premium?

<< And during all those periods there were younger collectors and the cost of acquiring actual RARE items was within the means of any who were dedicated enough to save, trade, or wheedle for their collections >>

Is this still true???

Can a young person actually come up with a set of collectible coins? How quickly would they realize that their collection of circulated state quarters is what most more experienced collectors would consider junk?

What about people that collect old video games, Magic the Gathering and Pokemon trading cards, or comic books? These are cheap for the masses collectibles that are very popular these days. They teach you absolutely nothing about American or world history. Yet when I meet people that collect them, they have a certain similarity to me as a collector. They immerse themselves in the study of the rarity, value, and provenance of their collection. They could talk for hours about obscure topics in their collecting field. Who is to say my silly coin collecting hobby is any better than theirs?

valente151 · July 13, 2014 8:56AM

We youngins are out there... don't worry.

bronco2078 · July 13, 2014 9:07AM

<< When you spend your life glued to stupid little electronic devices then you don't notice much else.

+ 1

Most passions in life are acquried thru exposure. There isn't much that compete nowadays for their attention when they're too busy on cellphones and facebook. I suppose once they turn 50 that they'll have a tendency to collect something.

I wonder about the value of antique arms. I have a US Army colt with SN range within Custers Calvary. It means something to me, but will it to the next generation that didn't grow up with John Wayne and all the Western genre ? probably not. Now movies are based on video games and geared towards foreign markets. Not to mention the whole demographics of this country has changed and will continue to change. It won't be long before the majority of particpants on the board will become the minority in the US. Is there much of a chance that Hispanics and all the other immigrants will be interested in old US coins ? probably not. Simple truth is, our way of life is changing. >>

It's worse than that though. A whole generation is being trained on disposable items . If you loved a video game as a kid , when you are 30 it won't run on anything. Items are designed to either provide a revenue stream or break and require replacement. They are building good little consumers out of today's kids.

What good is a coin collector to a big company? Unless they find a way to make the coins vanish unless you pay a subscription fee

cladking · July 13, 2014 9:37AM

<< We youngins are out there... don't worry.

>>

I know you are. I see you and your effects everywhere.

We old timers tend to look for the wrong things in the wrong places so you are nearly invisible to many of us.

cladking · July 13, 2014 9:46AM

<< 

I got "into" coins a bit later. This was during the time that penny boards could be at least well started from circulating coins.

It was ...exciting... to find a coin I didn't have.

>>

We old timers have improved greatly in the last several years but we are still doing
a poor job of encouraging newbies. When I was a kid no one ever once suggested that
my collection of buffalo nickels was just "modern junk even though some of them weren't
even 20 years old yet. No one ever once suggested like Mike Meszak on HSN the other day
that all "real coins" were old.

Even though circulating coinage was heavily picked over by 1957 when I started and rare
dates had become impossible to find no one would say or imply that there was nothing in
circulation to collect. Today the coins are almost completely unpicked over and rarities are
circulating freely for the first time since about the civil war.

I still get excited when I find new coins for my collection or upgrades for ones I already have.
My "from circulation" set isn't my most important collection but it's one I can keep in the
house rather than a safety deposit box and it's a hoot for me.

Surely younger people can enjoy these as well.

bidask · July 13, 2014 10:30AM

Let's not forget growing middle classes worldwide that May have have an interest in coinage.

I think one way to get younger people interested in numismatics is to speak to them from a global viewpoint.

After all it's unfolding before our eyes.

For example a discussion about the just completed world soccer matches could easily morph into a discussion on
global trade, history,..........and numismatics from respective nations.

magikbilly · July 13, 2014 10:31AM

Some. A percentage, albeit small, of my regular customers for Cunard Liner and Fair material are 20-25 yo, listen to Benny Goodman and the like, collect and use vintage only, glasses, Victrola, coins to car to furniture and clothes, fiesta ware and so on. They read and love the old movies and books...the hobbies and qualities. I am thus the far out old man dealer who listen to things called "Floyd" LOL

Eric

WildIdea · July 13, 2014 10:36AM

I like these guys that think giving kids coins will spark them. Might work, might just make the giver feel better. Being graciouse and generous in dealings to people of all ages within the hobby is important I'd say.

I wouldn't say the threat to the hobby was the apathy of the youth. It may be that they see it as a good ol boy club of elitist snobs trying to rub a hundred bucks out of each other. I mean really, in a world where a few hundred bucks is a big deal to blow and any real nice coin starts at a grand or five, it's really a hard pill to swallow putting the value of a car into a small metal disk for safe keeping. And when there is all this holder and that sticker and an NGC 67 is really a 66 minefield, sheesh! The world is complicated enough without stress relieving hobbies like that. Maybe the youth is just wize enough to see they're on the tail end of something good and don't want to pay the price to keep the merry go round spinning.

Does that mean I think the hobby is dead? No, there are plenty of us right now to shrug off our next coin burial. Owning coins is a luxury and a sign of prosperity and if you can engage the hobby than it's prob because someone has busted their butt. That's cool. It's a deep field because these typs of people are shrewd and I don't really buy into all the YN free pass mentality. But I love this hobby, that's why I'm saying this.

cladking · July 13, 2014 12:03PM

<< Let's not forget growing middle classes worldwide that May have have an interest in coinage.

I think one way to get younger people interested in numismatics is to speak to them from a global viewpoint.

After all it's unfolding before our eyes.

For example a discussion about the just completed world soccer matches could easily morph into a discussion on
global trade, history,..........and numismatics from respective nations. >>

This is something that most collectors are overlooking altogether. There are numerous
world coins that are simply exploding in price and it's happening because for the first time
ever there's demand for them. Modern base metal coins can be quite scarce but it wasn't
known in the past because there was no demand. For example early Indian republic coins
from the early '50's are all base metal and couldn't be given away ten years ago. Now a
complete set has gone from a couple hundred dollars to $7,000 in a few years. This is pro-
bably the tip of the iceberg since experience tells me most of these coins are unavailable
in pristine condition. In a country the size of India with an exploding middle class one has
to ask what is the potential demand. We've already seen the effects of Russian coins of the
'60's and '70's exploding higher. This phenomenon will accelerate and spread and it will ev-
entually come to the US as well. Things like this simply build on themselves.

keets · July 13, 2014 12:18PM

if the Hobby dies it will be by its own hand, suicide if you will, and not as the victim of something or someone. we are our own worst enemy.

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 1:16PM

<< I very much doubt the coin hobby is dying. There is still a lot of activity at shows and as was pointed out, on line activity is huge. When I look at cents in the 'leave one take one' bin at a store, I often get comments such as "my son, nephew, etc collects coins'. That being said, I have never understood the concern for the hobby as a whole. Either it will continue or it will not. Certainly we collectors will continue to collect, and after we are gone, others will collect. Some hobbies die out, that is the way things go. However, as long as there are coins - and likely even after, should they become 'extinct', - there will be those who find them interesting and will save them. This issue is not something that really concerns me, and I do not understand why others worry about it. Once we die the world will continue, with or without coins. I guess if some are worried about their business or profits while they are alive, that is a viable concern. Cheers, RickO >>

I agree with RickO, in that what will be, will be. If you have a lot of your net worth tied up in numismatics, or depend on it to make a living buying/selling/trading, then that's that but otherwise it won't affect me greatly one way or the other. That said, what (some) coins have going for them is silver and gold content, which will always garner some level of interest, even if historical appeal is thrown out the window -- until WWIII or alchemists finally discover how to manufacture gold and silver from base materials. It's all just molecules, after all.

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 1:18PM

<< The internet has changed the market. It is difficult to tell just how much interest there really is. Many of these internet-only collectors are probably short on information and, especially, grading skill. Why else would we see so many bids in on-line auctions for obviously counterfeit coins.

So far as young collectors go ... forget it. College costs are out of control and the big-name four year schools are doing nothing about it. Potential young collectors have no money for collectible coins. My nephew starts college next month. He will be going to junior college for all of his "required" classes. I think this is an excellent move ... he doesn't have to pay for the football team at some rah-rah four year college. >>

Smart move, I think if you're determined to get a college degree, and aren't in the social strata to not have to worry about $$$, doing it cost-efficiently as possible is SO FRIGGIN' SMART. Good luck to him!

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 1:22PM

<< I don't pretend to know much of anything about the collectible toy market, but wasn't a large part of the downturn due to counterfeits running rampant? Also, such items are subject to fairly wide interest changes depending on the generation that collects them: my generation might be more interested in collecting classic GI Joe toys than model trains simply because we grew up with them.

While I am disappointed in my generation for many things, mostly because of apathy and intentional distancing from anything political, I do not think that young people are underexposed to historical relics. Nor would I say that kids have no interest in anything historic. I think that the desire to own historic relics is diminished, and this is a shifting paradigm that may not be all bad. Why own when you can appreciate from a distance, for the mere price of a museum admission? Why play a losing game with old men trying to buy rare coins? Why play a losing game in collectibles markets in general when disposable income is at such a premium?

<< And during all those periods there were younger collectors and the cost of acquiring actual RARE items was within the means of any who were dedicated enough to save, trade, or wheedle for their collections >>

Is this still true???

Can a young person actually come up with a set of collectible coins? How quickly would they realize that their collection of circulated state quarters is what most more experienced collectors would consider junk?

What about people that collect old video games, Magic the Gathering and Pokemon trading cards, or comic books? These are cheap for the masses collectibles that are very popular these days. They teach you absolutely nothing about American or world history. Yet when I meet people that collect them, they have a certain similarity to me as a collector. They immerse themselves in the study of the rarity, value, and provenance of their collection. They could talk for hours about obscure topics in their collecting field. Who is to say my silly coin collecting hobby is any better than theirs? >>

Well actually, comic books can teach you quite a lot about American history, most particularly if you're interested in the period of the 1930s on forward, and see what influenced each new generation of kids who would grow and then promptly complain about how rotten and worthless the kids who came after them were.

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 1:25PM

<< 

<< 

I got "into" coins a bit later. This was during the time that penny boards could be at least well started from circulating coins.

It was ...exciting... to find a coin I didn't have.

>>

We old timers have improved greatly in the last several years but we are still doing
a poor job of encouraging newbies. When I was a kid no one ever once suggested that
my collection of buffalo nickels was just "modern junk even though some of them weren't
even 20 years old yet. No one ever once suggested like Mike Meszak on HSN the other day
that all "real coins" were old.

Even though circulating coinage was heavily picked over by 1957 when I started and rare
dates had become impossible to find no one would say or imply that there was nothing in
circulation to collect. Today the coins are almost completely unpicked over and rarities are
circulating freely for the first time since about the civil war.

I still get excited when I find new coins for my collection or upgrades for ones I already have.
My "from circulation" set isn't my most important collection but it's one I can keep in the
house rather than a safety deposit box and it's a hoot for me.

Surely younger people can enjoy these as well. >>

I agree, there are things to enjoy collecting from circulation for the enjoyment of it, not for dreams of riches.
I think this gets lost on those who remember the "good ol days" pre-silver being withdrawn. Well of course,
those were good days, assuming you could afford to put aside coins to collect, but we live in the here and now,
and there's probably positive things to try and enjoy if you'll only bother to look.

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 1:28PM

<< I like these guys that think giving kids coins will spark them. Might work, might just make the giver feel better. Being graciouse and generous in dealings to people of all ages within the hobby is important I'd say.

I wouldn't say the threat to the hobby was the apathy of the youth. It may be that they see it as a good ol boy club of elitist snobs trying to rub a hundred bucks out of each other. I mean really, in a world where a few hundred bucks is a big deal to blow and any real nice coin starts at a grand or five, it's really a hard pill to swallow putting the value of a car into a small metal disk for safe keeping. And when there is all this holder and that sticker and an NGC 67 is really a 66 minefield, sheesh! The world is complicated enough without stress relieving hobbies like that. Maybe the youth is just wize enough to see they're on the tail end of something good and don't want to pay the price to keep the merry go round spinning.

Does that mean I think the hobby is dead? No, there are plenty of us right now to shrug off our next coin burial. Owning coins is a luxury and a sign of prosperity and if you can engage the hobby than it's prob because someone has busted their butt. That's cool. It's a deep field because these typs of people are shrewd and I don't really buy into all the YN free pass mentality. But I love this hobby, that's why I'm saying this. >>

The problem I have with numismatics today is the perception that "any real nice coin starts at a grand or five". In my lifetime I've gone over the $1000 mark on a numismatic purchase I think 3-4 times, mostly well under that, and very unlikely to ever exceed that type of amount.

TwoSides2aCoin · July 13, 2014 1:38PM

Recalling Susan B. Anthony dollars could trigger such an event.

MrEureka · July 13, 2014 1:45PM

Let's try a little thought experiment.

If you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins?

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 1:48PM

<< Let's try a little thought experiment.

If you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins? >>

From circulation, asking for rolls of coins from the bank(s) in my town, probably with a parent's help driving to and fro -- occasional visits to a coin shop (again with a parent's help to get there probably), rummaging through their "bargain box", and saving up for buying a silver proof set (probably with a little parental help, again.)

All pretty much what I did in the past, but I didn't start collecting coins until 13 or so. Maybe 12? It's fuzzy.

machoponcho · July 13, 2014 1:59PM

Agree with a lot of what the OP has said. Young people growing up are more interested in fantasy (video games) than reality like traveling to see the real world, meeting real people, and learning history. Sad, but true.

TwoSides2aCoin · July 13, 2014 2:01PM

All it takes is "ONE" discovery. Just one.
And we still find "new varieties".

How could anything crash it when coins are newsworthy by the nature of their variety alone ?

pennyannie · July 13, 2014 2:01PM

<< Let's try a little thought experiment.

If you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins? >>

My son and his friends thought some of my coins were cool when they were 10 years old, BUT they were blown away with my Browning Ma Duece on a tripod or the FN ps90 or the 1978 corvette or 1987 buick grand national etc. My son is now 22 but back then kids are more concerned with iphones, nike shoes and clothes. When he started working I helped him buy guns and thanks to the horrible events a few yews back he sold all his ar15 and the like for major profit. He has put some of the profits back into silver and gold bullion and now that guns are on the cheap he is rebuilding his collection. There are just to many things to spend disposable income on and coins are not high on the list.

MrEureka · July 13, 2014 2:07PM

f you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins?

To answer my own question, I would spend hours every day looking for coins on eBay. If we had eBay when I was a kid, I would have loved it.

magikbilly · July 13, 2014 2:33PM

<< Let's try a little thought experiment.

If you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins? >>

Andy, you answered with what I was going to say. Collect vicariously by looking and collecting images online and learning about them. Great payoff with very little cost. You can't drop them or anything - many benefits such as our GTG's here and so on.

My second answer was buy books etc. - that is what I hope I would do at 10. I guess I did more or less. I remember buying Wayne Miller's book when it was new. Blew me away those pics. Led me to write to Breen about a CC I had that appeared a BM Pr to me at that time. Black still-water mirrors and cream-colored cake-frosting devices. Wish I sill had it (the coin)! Got a letter back too, written to me as if I was not 10 - signed in neon pink all flourishes. Yes, I know about him now.

Best wishes,
Eric

Edit - I misread - you are saying buying online. I'm just saying looking online w/o buying. Then trying to get dad to take me to a show etc. to see them in hand. My dad took me once. Ah. I went back to the same show perhaps 20 years later - it's a VFW hall or some such. It seemed the same dealers hadn't moved an inch - like some boring and inexplicable time warp. But, this time I spent about $22 and made about $300

I found a 50C silver sold on board theGreat Eastern when it was new (famous vessel, $10?) and a receipt for booking passage in the offices of J. Bruce Ismay ($12? because it was Titanic's "White Star Line" - seller had no idea of Ismay's having been on Titanic) - who was the managing director or some such of the White star Line in 1912 and was infamous for having supposedly urging her high speed at night in a known ice-field, which actually was standard practice of the day more or less and the cause of the sinking - it was thought OK if lookouts were posted, but this was a moonless night and her lookouts were at a height that allowed this berg to suddenly loom at a distance she cold not apparently handle. He is said to have strongly "suggested" (in the apparently self-proclaimed capacity of "just another passenger") an early NY arrival by influencing the Captain during a luncheon where an ice-warning telegram was produced and shared with Ismay (there was a witness to this) and then his having taken a seat in a lifeboat during the sinking. He said he felt he needed to survive to give testimony. He was much maligned by the press after this and went into seclusion more or less until he died the same year Titanic's sister Olympic was retired or scrapped if I recall correctly.

cladking · July 13, 2014 2:45PM

<< 

I agree, there are things to enjoy collecting from circulation for the enjoyment of it, not for dreams of riches.
I think this gets lost on those who remember the "good ol days" pre-silver being withdrawn. Well of course,
those were good days, assuming you could afford to put aside coins to collect, but we live in the here and now,
and there's probably positive things to try and enjoy if you'll only bother to look. >>

I just don't remember any "good ol' days" of collecting from circulation until
starting about the mid-'70's. In 1957 all the better date buffalo nickels and most
everything else was long gone. Indeed, nothing that I found back then other than
a '50-D nickel had any significant value at the time and except for silver increases,
none of it would carry a premium now.

Of course there were coins in circulation in 1957 that would have value now but no-
body was saving those. These were the Gems and varieties. People were looking for
rare dates and there were none.

This is different now. Not only are valuable coins plucked out of circulation but there
are numerous scarcities that probably will have value in the future but are unrecognized
today because people don't know what's out there.

Boosibri · July 13, 2014 2:49PM

<< f you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins?

To answer my own question, I would spend hours every day looking for coins on eBay. If we had eBay when I was a kid, I would have loved it. >>

Completely agree.

originalisbest · July 13, 2014 3:01PM

<< 

<< f you were a 10 year old kid today, with your current level of enthusiasm for coins but with a typical 10 year old's budget, how would you go about collecting coins?

To answer my own question, I would spend hours every day looking for coins on eBay. If we had eBay when I was a kid, I would have loved it. >>

Completely agree. >>

How many 10-year olds do you know that should be buying on ebay (without their parents OK or oversight) or have their own bank/paypal account? Seriously?

They can collect vicariously, that's fine, if they buy stuff with their parents' OK/help, that's fine. Even QDB was once of the tender age that his dad had to guarantee his youthful coin dealer transactions.

Unknown · July 13, 2014 3:04PM

This content has been removed.

Type2 · July 13, 2014 7:33PM

If i was a kid and know what i know now at that time. I would save my $$ till i can find that one coin in my price range buy it then send it off for grading, then sell it take the $$ and buy more and keep doing this and keeping the nicer coins for my collection as i do this and sell off the rest. I would have one nice collection of coins in no time. That is one way to start a new collection with out paying the big price tags. But that is just me dumb Type2 Thinking.

But Killing or crashing the coin market not going to happen but slowing it down yes it will dont know when but will happen some day.

ambro51 · July 13, 2014 8:04PM

Complaining kids aren't in "our" world is about as useless as them attempting to wrap us old pharts up into those video games THEY are addicted to.

pcunix · July 13, 2014 8:18PM

I don't care if the coin market crashes. I collect, not invest. If anything, dwindling interest would mean I could afford things I cannot now.

7Jaguars · July 13, 2014 8:23PM

I think all the anecdotes on here are fine about how many young people there are chasing Cunard Line items and Benny Goodman items, but really, if you were to take a poll how many have even heard of these??? My own stories would be open to the same interpretations but see many people of all ages and ethnicities during the week and have something of an interest gauge on what is and is not popular; coins really not at all, old records, toys, etc. not at all.

So they would collect old video games, and there is a hope? No, not the way I see it: if its a couple months old, be it music, a sports event or team, etc. there is no further care...

As far as online buying, no doubt an upswing for the moment. However, it (the internet) is the very medium that is so transitory and of course is a level removed from the actual experience of holding or touching coins, or toys, or whatever.

IMHO, the overall market for coins is declining, and saying that there will always be collecting really diverges away from this basic point. Does that not mean that some things can be done to slow this move? No. And I commend those that try to keep interest in coins stimulated...

keets · July 13, 2014 10:01PM

in a strange way our secretive nature about collecting and the fact that we do it in solitude work against expanding the Hobby.

EagleEye · July 13, 2014 10:40PM

Here is what is different from the 1970's:

Inflation. Coins in the 1970's were almost guaranteed to go up in value. Now it is very hard to pick winners. Metals are not helping.

Deflation of prices. The key dates in the popularly collected silver series (Washington quarters, walkers, merc dimes) are a glut on the market in circ grades, yet their price remain high - too high to attract fresh buyers. The copper keys, 1909 S VDB, 1877, etc. are also not attractively priced for low end and problem pieces.

I think, the profit motive, which is what you see on "American Pickers", for instance, is what attracts many people to the hobby.

291fifth · July 13, 2014 11:32PM

<< Here is what is different from the 1970's:

Inflation. Coins in the 1970's were almost guaranteed to go up in value. Now it is very hard to pick winners. Metals are not helping.

Deflation of prices. The key dates in the popularly collected silver series (Washington quarters, walkers, merc dimes) are a glut on the market in circ grades, yet their price remain high - too high to attract fresh buyers. The copper keys, 1909 S VDB, 1877, etc. are also not attractively priced for low end and problem pieces.

I think, the profit motive, which is what you see on "American Pickers", for instance, is what attracts many people to the hobby. >>

This response seems to me to be dead on accurate.

keets · July 13, 2014 11:39PM

I think, the profit motive, which is what you see on "American Pickers", for instance, is what attracts many people to the hobby.

that is optimistic because it probably ends up driving just as many newcomers away while giving the Hobby bad PR. what happens is that someone with no prior experience becomes interested and sees prices online that they have no understanding about. I see them frequently and they wonder why I offer them $19 for their VF 1896 Morgan Dollar when they see them listed for $65 on the internet. the result would be different if new collectors accepted that it takes years to get a grasp on what we take for granted. this is the age of instant gratification/reward and that isn't how it typically works here.

our Hobby may be one of the worst when it comes to uneducated entry thinking it's easy picking

topstuf · July 14, 2014 1:15AM

<< Complaining kids aren't in "our" world is about as useless as them attempting to wrap us old pharts up into those video games THEY are addicted to. >>

BINGO!

That's where their interest lies. No matter how many YNs on here post, they are NOT representative of their generation as a bloc.

We also have to contend now with what DESTROYED antique toy collecting....... TERRIFIC FAKES!

As far as ....starting.... a collection now, too expensive for most and the keys would simply be unattainable. Ergo, interest dead due to inability to complete.

I'm 73. I love looking at present offerings of gems from the gemster dealers but have no interest in acquiring them to put in a box and keep an image on my computer to look at.

I'm also pretty much of an expert on guns and same thing there. I've owned and sold some amazing guns. Do I miss them? Sure, at times.
But is there any incentive to buy some more? Nope.

And I guess that age factor reminds me of what's probably the ....greatest.... threat to collectibles of ALL areas.
The demographic bomb.
My contemporaries are ALL looking to .................... SELL .......................... all the "treasures" they sought in the glory days.

I still contend that the trend is down and accelerating in that direction.

(to those who "collect not invest" I would bet some pretty substantial money that those collections are quite thin on 4 and 5 figure coins and up)

JMHO

Baley · July 14, 2014 1:49AM

And I guess that age factor reminds me of what's probably the ....greatest.... threat to collectibles of ALL areas.
The demographic bomb.
My contemporaries are ALL looking to .................... SELL .......................... all the "treasures" they sought in the glory days.

So, who did you and they buy the coins from in the first place?? Wait, let me guess.... is it from the previous old guys who were selling their treasures?

IMO, real coins will be fine, and continue on up in value in fits and starts. Bullion will behave as bullion does, manias and crashes every 30 or so years (takes a generation to forget)

If anything kills (or cripples) the coin market, it will be not fakes, but a deluge of modern crap, as happened with stamps, sports cards, comic books, etc.

Notice the classic blue chips stamps, cards, and comics are still valuable. The modern stuff, not so much. There are just too many issues to keep up with, in too high mintages.

TwoSides2aCoin · July 14, 2014 2:03AM

"it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings"

If anything crashes coins

Comments

Leave a Comment