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What is the biggest threat to the future of Coin Collecting?
BryceM
Posts: 11,930 ✭✭✭✭✭
It's sort of interesting to look at various hobbies and their history over time. Some wax and wane. Some flash and burn out. Some were pretty small to start with.
This hobby seems to have a solid history and reasonable collector base at present, but ........
Counterfeit coins are bad enough. Counterfeit slabs are worse. If these get good enough to fool 99% of collectors (some might be getting close), the widespread acceptance of certified coins might suffer. Knock out that bit of marketable acceptance, and a good part of the demand could evaporate due to market uncertainty. If or when counterfeits become sophisticated enough to be indistinguishable from the "real deal", the value derived from scarcity is forever gone.
Or, is the relative aging of the coin collecting populace a bigger problem? Is the boat-load of modern mint products diluting collector interest? Does physical money and our association with it dissolve as the electronic age progresses?
I don't really hope to get rich off of my coin "investment", since for me it's primarily a hobby to be enjoyed for its own sake. Still, I'd like to think I can get my money back out of it if I really ever need to.
Just wonderin.......
This hobby seems to have a solid history and reasonable collector base at present, but ........
Counterfeit coins are bad enough. Counterfeit slabs are worse. If these get good enough to fool 99% of collectors (some might be getting close), the widespread acceptance of certified coins might suffer. Knock out that bit of marketable acceptance, and a good part of the demand could evaporate due to market uncertainty. If or when counterfeits become sophisticated enough to be indistinguishable from the "real deal", the value derived from scarcity is forever gone.
Or, is the relative aging of the coin collecting populace a bigger problem? Is the boat-load of modern mint products diluting collector interest? Does physical money and our association with it dissolve as the electronic age progresses?
I don't really hope to get rich off of my coin "investment", since for me it's primarily a hobby to be enjoyed for its own sake. Still, I'd like to think I can get my money back out of it if I really ever need to.
Just wonderin.......
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Buying top quality Seated Dimes in Gem BU and Proof.
Buying great coins - monster eye appeal only.
<< <i>China >>
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>Or, is the relative aging of the coin collecting populace a bigger problem? >>
Yes
<< <i>Is the boat-load of modern mint products diluting collector interest? >>
Yes
<< <i>Does physical money and our association with it dissolve as the electronic age progresses? >>
Huge Yes.
<< <i>I would say the lack of new collectors. Kids now a days have a lot more entertainment to occupy their time. >>
I have to go with this over the fakes. It will not be long before PCGS/NGC puts RF chips in the slabs.
-Keith
<< <i>
<< <i>China >>
Hey those guys buy and collect alot of coins too......
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
We are creating a lot of new interest in the hobby due to the precious metals spikes. People looking for gold are getting exposed to the classics. I feel many collectors will be brought into the hobby because of this.
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the uncertainty of future events
it is often what we don't think of rather than do that gets us in the end
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<< <i>What is the biggest threat to the future of Coin Collecting? >>
Future? What Future?
Do you mean the one that wasn;t there in the 50's?
Or perhaps the one that dies with the issuance of Clad Coins?
IMO, as long as there are folks buying big ticket coins and making big buck profits, there will always be interest in coins and as such there will always be a future for coin collecting.
Counterfeits or not.
After all, there's still a future for election buttons! (I saw that on National Treasure!
The name is LEE!
sleezy dealers with overgrades coins,
the fact I have to buy TPG slabbed coins to be sure I'm getting what I pay for,
China,
The biggest problem that affects me is the fact that I am not a big name collector. I have some, in my opinion, very nice coins but if they hit the market they would command mediocre money. If they fell into the hands of a big name collector or dealer they could be sold the next week for prenium money, at least twice what I probably got for them. I know, nobody said the world is fair.
As far as young collectors go. When I was 18 I went to coin shows and was usually one of the youngest ones there. But here it is 40 some years later and the hobby is full of people my age. Where did they all come from. In 40 years there be plenty of 50 to 60 year old collectors and dealers to fill the bourse at the coin shows.
Ron
<< <i>China >>
<< <i>
<< <i>I would say the lack of new collectors. Kids now a days have a lot more entertainment to occupy their time. >>
I have to go with this over the fakes. It will not be long before PCGS/NGC puts RF chips in the slabs. >>
You are doing well, subject 15837. You are a good person.
The first just makes coins obsolete.
The second makes them.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
<< <i>What is the biggest threat to the future of Coin Collecting? >>
No new blood entering the hobby.
In my opinion, PCGS, at least on certain value coins, needs to setup some sort of password system to verify the coin...IE...with each PCGS coin graded of over a certain value, a URL and password is issued with this particular coin, and the password info gets transferred to the new owner who can change the password if he likes to use for the next seller...IE...each coin would have their own individual page on the PCGS website for verification. I realize this would take extra money and software cost for PCGS and add to the cost of grading, but I think it's time for this to be done. The public certification number by itself would then be of no value to the scammers.
Sorry if this is being done now in some way and I'm just not aware of it.
Fred, Las Vegas, NV
"A car is a tool that takes you from one place to another. Everything beyond that is a payment for other people's perception of you."
Lots of threats listed so far BUT I believe the biggest threat of all is
GREED !!
#2. The loss of interest in antique objects among the younger generations because of a lack of interest in history. This stems from contempt for our nation’s past embedded in our younger generations by poorly informed and educated teachers and professors who believe that our nation's history is not worthy of respect.
#3. An overall, permanent downgrade of our nation’s prosperity as a result of misguided government programs that kill individual initiative, economic freedom and entrepreneurship.
15-25 years ago there were 35 coin shops in a 10 mile radius
of me and today I can only think of 5
Steve
<< <i>
<< <i>What is the biggest threat to the future of Coin Collecting? >>
No new blood entering the hobby. >>
Not everybody is a "born" collector and quite a few never even consider it until they hit their 50's with an "something I've always wanted to do" attitude.
Personally, I think there's lots and lots of new blood entering the hobby on a daily basis.
The name is LEE!
Kids have always had other distractions. Sadly, today they are couch-based.
Lance.
Counterfeiting is a serious issue, and there will be an ongoing arms race in authentication technology. But, coin doctoring destroys the originals, catering to whatever whim or fad is sought that week. I suspect doctors are at work faking an "original" look.
The grading services will soon handle the counterfeit coin/holder business.
<< <i>
<< <i>What is the biggest threat to the future of Coin Collecting? >>
No new blood entering the hobby. >>
I'm with that. I walk around a lot more wheelchairs and walkers at shows than I do 9 year old kids running around.
The biggest threat? The casual collector. We might have twice as many collectors in a decade but they'll be filling out their presidental dollar series and state quarter folders without ever cracking open a Redbook. There's so much to collect from circulation now at face value that it's gonna be hard for the next generation to justify spending $1900 on a bust dime.
<< <i>china and the us government
Yup. One in six Americans are now below the poverty level and you know they aren't out buying expensive coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I find they're easy to collect. Blindness is probably a threat.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
<< <i>All of the above and the dissapearance of local Shops.
15-25 years ago there were 35 coin shops in a 10 mile radius
of me and today I can only think of 5
Steve >>
What's a coin shop?
Better yet.
A year ago or so I'd have been right there with you but I'm currently dating a pretty little Chinese gal. She was under the assumption that you get mugged once or twice a day in the US and that you dodge bullets and serial killers as soon as you step out of the airport.
I told her I was under the assumption that everybody copies Hollywood movies and makes knock offs and that the knock offs are made by little kids chained to sewing machines.
Our understanding of each other and what we are taught is clearly lacking.
The biggest threat to coin collecting........And I'm surprised no one has said this yet........Non use of coins. Plastic and electronic money.
John
Never view my other linked pages. They aren't coin related.
<< <i>
<< <i>china and the us government
Yup. One in six Americans are now below the poverty level and you know they aren't out buying expensive coins. >>
Even worse... 1 in 4.5 CHILDREN are now below the poverty level!!!!!
NGC registry V-Nickel proof #6!!!!
working on proof shield nickels # 8 with a bullet!!!!
RIP "BEAR"
<< <i>The biggest threat is that 99 percent of the coins out there are widgets and the 1 percent of good coins is far out of reach for 99.7 percent of collectors. >>
I think that you are slamming "widgets" unfairly if what you are labeling as "widgets" are all common date coins. A 100+ year old Mint State, common date Morgan dollar is a "widget," but its history and the fact that it exits in that condition provides a wonderful narrative to those who are willing study it. A 1932 ten dollar gold piece is a "widget" to many gold collectors, but the date fascinates me. To many, when it was minted, it might have seemed like a small fortune during the Great Depression, and it’s in the only U.S. coin from the 1930s that most collectors can aspire to own.
Do I enjoy the “rare” coins in my collection? You bet, but I enjoy a lot of the common pieces too. One of the really undesirable trends that I have seen over the last 20 years in the coin market has been an over emphasis on “key dates.” Common dates “widgets” are a lot more affordable, and often have a great story to tell for those who are willing to seek it.
<< <i>A 1932 ten dollar gold piece is a "widget" to many gold collectors, but the date fascinates me. To many, when it was minted, it might have seemed like a small fortune during the Great Depression, and it’s in the only U.S. coin from the 1930s that most collectors can aspire to own. >>
This coin is also one of my favorites for the reasons you cited. Minted during the depths of the Great Depression, this coin has a lot of history and it's the last collectible (affordable) classic gold coin produced by the U.S. Mint.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I think "someone" did say that.
-Keith
.... and for the record, I absolutely applaud the efforts from all of the TPG's and board members to stay ahead of the counterfeiters.
As far as electronic commerce making coins obsolete, you could say the same thing about the rare book market. I for one would always be happy to own a first edition, no matter how easy it was to read on my little tablet widget.