Options
Young collectors online ... is it fact or fiction?
291fifth
Posts: 24,673 ✭✭✭✭✭
There is no question that young people make heavy use of the internet. I just returned from a trip to the grocery store. While driving there a young man (20's) on a bicycle came around a curve with both hands off the handlebars texting away on his phone! Was he placing an order for a coin he had to have? I'll never know.
Are there really large numbers of young coin collectors active online? What evidence have you seen to either support or refute this notion of large numbers of young online collectors.
All glory is fleeting.
0
Comments
24 here and I wouldn't say there are many young collectors on this board, Instagram is the place to be for people my age. I have done deals with multiple people my age on there, the demographics are closer to the opposite as they are on here.
I used to consider myself a young collector. I just turned 34, so young collectors probably don't view me that way, lol.
On this board, 34 is VERY young.
Hey look at that - it only took me 16 1/2 years to reach post 500...
The only evidence I can provide may be reddits r/coins which boasts 27K subscribers, their subreddits r/coins4sale and r/pmsforsale have 10K between them. Reddit's overall demo skews very young: In 2016, the Reddit user base was 64 percent between the ages of 18 and 29, and another 29 percent were between the ages of 30 and 49
Successful BST Transactions with: PerryHall, MrSlider, Cent1225, SurfinxHI, Blu62vette, robkool, gowithmygut, coinlieutenant, Downtown1974, MilesWaits, Shrub68, justindan
I'm 38 which doesn't feel young but when I go to my local B&M or small local shows I'm usually the youngest guy in the room. I don't do facebook or Instagram so I guess I'm missing out
FB is for old people, like me. ;-)
My daughter, 19, uses Instagram and Reddit. I don't think she's ever used Twitter.
My son, 17, uses Discord and some other messaging app.
I don't know how dealers and older collectors could possibly keep up with a presence on every social media site... unless there's an app for that ;-)
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
So you were a VERY YOUNG 18 when you joined and now look at you!
Old enough to remember buying coins on Yahoo auctions, but not old enough to remember anything pre clad in circulation.
I remember yahoo, too.
I may be one of the youngest here at 21. I peruse the board multiple times a day, and if you see me on my phone, you will most likely see me scrolling through mintage figures or browsing the newest coin listings on Ebay. That being said, I am definitely the outlier.
I remember dial-up AOL. No coins.
You got mail.
I estimate there are zero young collectors not online, excluding the Amish coin collector demographic.
I remember Heritage mailed me auction bid lists before Al Gore invented the internet. That was when TPGS's were new. Lowballed lots of coins, actually won one or two per auction. Good times.
I’m 6 years younger than you and also I know a lot of people my age use Snapchat, discord, and Instagram. My teachers use Facebook and Twitter.
Also not many young people know about coins I once saw someone take a penny out of thier pocket look at it and put it on a table, when I picked it up later I saw that it was a wheat penny!
I will chime in for the under thirty group (29) and agree that Instagram is popping. I enjoy scrolling through the pictures and learning pricing and rarieties... and the community is great. I find lots of useful, in depth knowledge here on the forums but it is not as fast paced as other social media sites (I like fast paced 😉).
That said I just made a deal for over $500 of mixed bullion coins from a fellow collector on Instagram while walking back to my hotel room...
https://tinyurl.com/wbuh7ba (Search PCGS on ebay)
I see quite a bit on Instagram. PCGS has an account too.
I started an Instagram account for our coin club, but I really don't know how to use it.
I'm 32.
I may be the youngest here at 15 and sometimes post about cherrypicks.
"You can't get just one gun." "You can't get just one tattoo." "You can't get just one 1796 Draped Bust Large Cent."
Well I'm 20 with an Instagram page for my coin business. Over 7,000 followers if that is significant to you. There's tons of young collectors on Instagram, and on the internet as a whole.
Edited to add: Instagram insights report that at least 3,780 of my followers are ages 34 and under.
Just before AOL came along I was somehing like 1216248@compuserve.com
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
Been here on this forum since I was 19.
Choice Numismatics www.ChoiceCoin.com
CN eBay
All of my collection is in a safe deposit box!
It is not a myth.... the internet sites have many, many young coin collectors.... I have chatted with a few when I had some time.... do not go to those sites often... It is far more busy than coin shows....Cheers, RickO