<< <i> I think it is pretty safe to say that there are not nearly as many young collectors as there were 30 years ago. What will our hobby be like 30 years from now? Will our hobby begin to slowly fade away and become a thing of the past? As fewer and fewer coins are being used in circulation, will there be less and less new people coming into the hobby? Are we a disappearing breed?
Frankly, it doesn't matter. Within 30 years, 90% of the valuable coins will be traded exclusively between numismatic hedge funds. Serious collectors will be out of the picture, more or less. Of course we'll still have people of all ages collecting odds and ends from their pocket change. That is, if coins have not been completely replaced by micropayments systems. >>
I feel that coins are headed for the same demise as stamps. Here is my theory:
Why stamps declined: Computers and internet=email email=less "snail mail" less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Why coins might decline: computers and internet=credit cards credit cards=more convenient and less cash used in day to day transactions less day to day transactions with cash=fewer people looking at their change fewer people looking at their change=fewer people entering the hobby.
<< <i>Why stamps declined: Computers and internet=email email=less "snail mail" less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby >>
In addition to people using less snail mail for personal correspondence, the mail that that people still get a lot of, typically from businesses, has moved to metered mail which doesn't use stamps at all.
Why stamps declined: Computers and internet=email email=less "snail mail" less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Are you a stamp collector?
A real stamp collector has a pretty good idea where the hobby of stamp collecting stands, past present and future.
That may be a catch-all hypothesis...but has nothing to with true philatelly.
<< <i>Why stamps declined: Computers and internet=email email=less "snail mail" less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Are you a stamp collector?
A real stamp collector has a pretty good idea where the hobby of stamp collecting stands, past present and future.
That may be a catch-all hypothesis...but has nothing to with true philatelly.
You better stick to coins. >>
No, I don't collect stamps, but I am aware that the stamp market is in a massive slump
Nope. Alive and well. A rare breed, perhaps; a breed apart, yes, but so it has always been, except for some maybe spikes in popularity in the late '50s and '60s
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
<< <i>I feel that coins are headed for the same demise as stamps. Here is my theory:
Why stamps declined: Computers and internet=email email=less "snail mail" less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Why coins might decline: computers and internet=credit cards credit cards=more convenient and less cash used in day to day transactions less day to day transactions with cash=fewer people looking at their change fewer people looking at their change=fewer people entering the hobby. >>
By your reasoning, collecting old cloths from cigarette packs is also a dying hobby, despite eBay auctions. By your reasoning my other collecting interest -- used hard drives -- should become a booming collectible item soon, since we are consuming personal computers at an increasing rate. However, I have found few fellow collectors of vintage Shugart, Olivetti, or Priam MFM hard drives, even though there are very few new hard drive manufacturers However, it's hard to predict what collectible in the future will have staying power. I've tried stamps, coins, hard drives, microprocessors, jazz records, and even toenails, but my bets are still with U.S. coins.
Keep in mind that the fun of a hobby is engaging in a well-documented chase for the coolest, most obscure specimins that most collectors desire. With stamps, there have been way too many issues, now available at less than face value, and few books about their issue and survival rates, compared to the research to which numismatists have been able to enjoy. Perhaps the U.S. Mint is taking the post office's lead of offering too many new issues to collectors, who would rather get most of them at less than issue price a few years later. Perhaps coins will be less relevant for daily commerce in a few years (as are hard drives with obsolete interfaces). However, you have ignored those of us who read history books/mintage reports/pricing histories. Some of us have turned our love for the obsolete into a passion, and have spread this passion to our children/grandchildren, and have taught them to be almost as anally retentive as us (except for those with eccentric, undocumented collections such as toenails and ESDI hard drives).
If the "hobby of kings" is dying, it is not because coins are becoming irrelevant in everyday commoerce, but because we coin geeks are afraid to admit that we have a store of wealth in our homes, and beause we are reluctant to share our wisdom with kids who can't afford what we have stashed away. Yes, it may be foolish for youngsters to hoard zinc and copper-nickel pocket change for decades, only to see their accumulations fail to keep up with inflation. Yes, youngsters buying every new U.S. Mint product, will take a phynancial beating in the short term, as the Mint gets greedier. Will this affect the supply of Barber Dimes, Franklin halves.or Peace Dolllars or other series to which new collectors may gravitate? No, but the cover charge to get into the circle of knowledgeable collectors of series like Saints, Bust Dollars, or even PCGS certified silver Washington quarters is too much for a curious kid mowing lawns or babysitting. It would be easier for him/her to collect stamps.
I see your logic as saying that collecting money will become as unpopular as collecting souvenirs of postage. Postage may become as passe' as 10MB hard drives of the 1980s, but grandpa's daily wages in metal has more fasination than grandpa's toenails. When Q. David Bowers writes a treatise on toenails or hard drives of the famous, I might trade in the coins of my yourth, but for the time being, I'm telling trusted kids how I get my jollies from starting at and reading about small old circular hunks of metal.
Collect what you like. I predict that money will always be popular, and I am not about to
"Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity" - Hanlon's Razor
Comments
<< <i> I think it is pretty safe to say that there are not nearly as many young collectors as there were 30 years ago. What will our hobby be like 30 years from now? Will our hobby begin to slowly fade away and become a thing of the past? As fewer and fewer coins are being used in circulation, will there be less and less new people coming into the hobby? Are we a disappearing breed?
Frankly, it doesn't matter. Within 30 years, 90% of the valuable coins will be traded exclusively between numismatic hedge funds. Serious collectors will be out of the picture, more or less. Of course we'll still have people of all ages collecting odds and ends from their pocket change. That is, if coins have not been completely replaced by micropayments systems. >>
EEEEEK Perish the thought!
Where's the thumbs down icon?
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Tom - Wouldn't you sell your coins to the hedge funds if they were the highest buyers? Of course you would. Nothing can stop them. It's inevitable.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Why stamps declined:
Computers and internet=email
email=less "snail mail"
less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day
less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Why coins might decline:
computers and internet=credit cards
credit cards=more convenient and less cash used in day to day transactions
less day to day transactions with cash=fewer people looking at their change
fewer people looking at their change=fewer people entering the hobby.
<< <i>Why stamps declined:
Computers and internet=email
email=less "snail mail"
less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day
less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby >>
In addition to people using less snail mail for personal correspondence, the mail that that people still get a lot of, typically from businesses, has moved to metered mail which doesn't use stamps at all.
Computers and internet=email
email=less "snail mail"
less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day
less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Are you a stamp collector?
A real stamp collector has a pretty good idea where the hobby of stamp collecting stands, past present and future.
That may be a catch-all hypothesis...but has nothing to with true philatelly.
You better stick to coins.
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
<< <i>Why stamps declined:
Computers and internet=email
email=less "snail mail"
less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day
less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Are you a stamp collector?
A real stamp collector has a pretty good idea where the hobby of stamp collecting stands, past present and future.
That may be a catch-all hypothesis...but has nothing to with true philatelly.
You better stick to coins. >>
No, I don't collect stamps, but I am aware that the stamp market is in a massive slump
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
<< <i>Are numismatists a disappearing breed? >>
Nope. Alive and well. A rare breed, perhaps; a breed apart, yes, but so it has always been, except for some maybe spikes in popularity in the late '50s and '60s
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
<< <i>I feel that coins are headed for the same demise as stamps. Here is my theory:
Why stamps declined:
Computers and internet=email
email=less "snail mail"
less snail mail=less stamps seen day to day
less stamps seen day to day=less people becoming interested and entering the stamp collecting hobby
Why coins might decline:
computers and internet=credit cards
credit cards=more convenient and less cash used in day to day transactions
less day to day transactions with cash=fewer people looking at their change
fewer people looking at their change=fewer people entering the hobby. >>
By your reasoning, collecting old cloths from cigarette packs is also a dying hobby, despite eBay auctions. By your reasoning my other collecting interest -- used hard drives -- should become a booming collectible item soon, since we are consuming personal computers at an increasing rate. However, I have found few fellow collectors of vintage Shugart, Olivetti, or Priam MFM hard drives, even though there are very few new hard drive manufacturers However, it's hard to predict what collectible in the future will have staying power. I've tried stamps, coins, hard drives, microprocessors, jazz records, and even toenails, but my bets are still with U.S. coins.
Keep in mind that the fun of a hobby is engaging in a well-documented chase for the coolest, most obscure specimins that most collectors desire. With stamps, there have been way too many issues, now available at less than face value, and few books about their issue and survival rates, compared to the research to which numismatists have been able to enjoy. Perhaps the U.S. Mint is taking the post office's lead of offering too many new issues to collectors, who would rather get most of them at less than issue price a few years later. Perhaps coins will be less relevant for daily commerce in a few years (as are hard drives with obsolete interfaces). However, you have ignored those of us who read history books/mintage reports/pricing histories. Some of us have turned our love for the obsolete into a passion, and have spread this passion to our children/grandchildren, and have taught them to be almost as anally retentive as us (except for those with eccentric, undocumented collections such as toenails and ESDI hard drives).
If the "hobby of kings" is dying, it is not because coins are becoming irrelevant in everyday commoerce, but because we coin geeks are afraid to admit that we have a store of wealth in our homes, and beause we are reluctant to share our wisdom with kids who can't afford what we have stashed away. Yes, it may be foolish for youngsters to hoard zinc and copper-nickel pocket change for decades, only to see their accumulations fail to keep up with inflation. Yes, youngsters buying every new U.S. Mint product, will take a phynancial beating in the short term, as the Mint gets greedier. Will this affect the supply of Barber Dimes, Franklin halves.or Peace Dolllars or other series to which new collectors may gravitate? No, but the cover charge to get into the circle of knowledgeable collectors of series like Saints, Bust Dollars, or even PCGS certified silver Washington quarters is too much for a curious kid mowing lawns or babysitting. It would be easier for him/her to collect stamps.
I see your logic as saying that collecting money will become as unpopular as collecting souvenirs of postage. Postage may become as passe' as 10MB hard drives of the 1980s, but grandpa's daily wages in metal has more fasination than grandpa's toenails. When Q. David Bowers writes a treatise on toenails or hard drives of the famous, I might trade in the coins of my yourth, but for the time being, I'm telling trusted kids how I get my jollies from starting at and reading about small old circular hunks of metal.
Collect what you like. I predict that money will always be popular, and I am not about to
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SSDC - Life Member
ANA - Pay As I Go Member