Does coin collecting have as much character as it used to?

dan1ecu · April 25, 2005 2:02PM

I can remember going into coin shops as a kid and spending hours looking at the coins in person and discussing them with whoever was there at the time. It was a fun way for a kid to spend an afternoon. There was nothing like looking through a big shoe box full of AG-VG Indian Cents... Oh, the excitement when I found a date that I needed! I suspect that the old guy put a few good dates in there when he knew I was coming.

Well, coin collecting is still exciting, but now I look at coins only over the Internet. I haven't been to an actual coin shop since I was about 13. I guess there's a lot less human interaction involved in my collecting nowadays.

Do you think that coin collecting has lost some of its character due to computers? Do you ever go to an old-time coin shop just to remember what it was like when you were young?

Dan

PutTogether · April 25, 2005 2:52PM

The part I remember from being 10 or so, was that the "dream" coins cost like 100 bucks, and I could only have coins that could be had for 2-3 dollars, or fifty times less than what "dream" coins would be. (I can't remember what they were, I just remember that i used to fantasize about owning a hundred dollar coin).

Now my "dream" coins cost well into the five figures, and i can't afford them much more than about a grand. I guess percentage wise, I'm still equally far away, but damn, i wish i was 98 bucks short instead of 50K

CoinResource · April 25, 2005 3:12PM

More impersonal, I still go the local shops tho.

michael · April 25, 2005 3:23PM

Does coin collecting have as much character as it used to?

i think so

numobri · April 25, 2005 3:49PM

I think,MORE.

Brian

relayer · April 25, 2005 4:06PM

I think there are more characters collecting coins today than ever before

carl · April 25, 2005 11:55PM

I actually think coin collecting has grown in interests, varieties, locations of sales, detailes conditions of coins and naturally costs. When I was a kid there were actually few locations, that I remember, to buy coins. Naturally getiing around to look for coins was not big on my parents lists of important items so my finding coin stores was limited. Nowadays there are numerous hobby stores that deal with coins, the internet, flea market dealers, individual sellers and buyers, magazines and newsleters about coins all making the hobby or buisness very exciting, educational and just interesting.
I started about 50 or more years ago so back then this was not a very important or popular hobby at least around my neighborhood.

LanLord · April 26, 2005 12:00AM

Coin collecting doesn't have character, some collectors and some dealers do.

Just need to find those people that are "stand-up people" both in collecting and other aspects of life. Then the hobby will

have the same draw that brought you in those many years ago.

nwcs · April 26, 2005 12:01AM

Nope, I don't think anything has been lost. When i was a kid the only coin shop was owned by a thief who got busted for cheating the elderly and was sentenced to 10+ years. The only other thing around was mail order and vague descriptions and coins that certainly didn't match them.

Longacre · April 26, 2005 12:24AM

Growing up, my cousin used to take me every Saturday to the local coin shop, about 15 minutes away from my house. We did that regularly from about age 10 to age 13. I still remember the day that I realized that he collected coins. We were visting my cousin's house and he showed me the gold coins that he had, commemoratives, etc. He specialized in gold. I used to very much enjoy going to the coin shop every week and watching him deal with the dealer. There were always a few people in the shop that were there to talk to. Occassionally I would buy a Lincoln cent. As for character, I think we might have lost something in that there are less local shops around (although the one that I used to go to as a kid is still there). I think the younger collectors are spending less time in the local shops and more time on the internet for their collecting. In a way it is OK, so long as they stay interested in the hobby, but I feel as though the human interaction that I had in the past was priceless.

Shamika · April 26, 2005 12:34AM

From my perspective, if it weren't for this forum, I'd say coin collecting had lost ALL of it's character. I virtually never get the chance to attend coin shows and there are no decent coin shops in my area.

Hedger · April 26, 2005 12:39AM

Not as good as it used to be and never will be.

orie · April 26, 2005 12:50AM

I liked going to shows and seeing all those dealers with their shirts opened to the navel with big gold medals around their necks held with gold chains that weighed a ton.

partagas · April 26, 2005 12:56AM

Coin collecting for me has changed, only because I have changed. I used ot buy coins to fill my albums because I liked it. Now unfortunately, $$$ gets in the way. Because of 3rd party grading, you have to look for overgraded or undergraded coins so you don't get burnt. Its no longer the good old days, when an AU was an AU and not a ms63 like today.

mgoodm3 · April 26, 2005 1:10AM

For good or bad, it's been commercialized.

Does coin collecting have as much character as it used to?

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