Female Vs Male Collectors ?

Here in eastern Australia, I'd agree with the 90:10 ratio. This is what I see at coin shows, and also what I read in the membership records of the coin club of which I'm the Secretary - 200 past and present members on the books, only 20 women. I'm actually a member of two coin clubs, there's an active membership of about 30 people between the two of them - and only two of them are women.

I do not know why coin collecting has such a strong male bias, but it's been discussed on the forum many times before. Here's just one old thread on the subject and here's an old but still open forum poll in the Canadian section.

As I commented in the other thread, it's not a universal ratio. There are more female coin collectors in Britain, for example. I've heard it suggested that women there are more likely to find an old Roman or mediaeval coin while gardening, which gets them interested in coins. But this can't explain the higher proportions of female collectors in places like New Zealand and Western Australia, where that sort of thing can't happen.

I do know that, once a hobby acquires an extreme gender imbalance, the stereotype becomes self-reinforcing: coin dealers, for example, will tend to assume if a couple walk into their shop that they're there because the guy is a collector, not the girl. If a woman who wants to collect coins faces such active bias, they're likely to become discouraged and go find some other hobby where they aren't prejudiced against. I'd also imagine it's intimidating walking into a coin club and being the only woman there, so when it happens, she doesn't join - so there still aren't any other women there the next time a woman walks through the door.

Cool Slur is a gal!! I just figured Slur is so close to Sir.'well Slur pleased to make your acquaintance. Pm sometime on your Christmas break. I'd like to be able to chat with more gals and share our own perspective on coins. I'm also intrigued by the little you've written about your home currency.

At the end of the summer the mint was giving away coins, not sure the name of the contest ,but more female winners than men. here is the link http://www.mint.ca/store/content/pr...s&lang=en_CA

Hey! Congratulations!! Keep us in the loop as you create a new generation of coin collectors!!

Thanks Roger, I will.


MoneyPenny
I think you are right with your statement in regards to NCLT and bring up a good point. Females that buy NCLT I think dabble in circulating coins but more of a "put it in the sock drawer" thing. Older tokens, 50 cent pieces etc.

I'm a female coin collector and I thoroughly enjoy it!

It's been a year since I got my first coin and I haven't looked back. I first became interested in coins after looking at my dad's collection.

I collect because there are so many coins that it's a hobby that will last a lifetime!

I'm working on getting my friend into the hobby. I got her a silver quarter for Christmas. She showed interest in my small Newfoundland collection.

As Pocket Change mentioned about coffee, I find myself starting to take the money I would normally spend on going to Starbucks or Tim Hortons and putting it aside for coins. I can make my coffee at home :). Doing this helped me get my Tribute Penny.

I certainly hope more females discover the endless opportunities in this hobby!

Erin

i think its because guys are nerdier and like to spot the small differences in things.

http://www.cpucollection.se/

see, nerdier, or is that more nerdy?

Universalcoins, I have a similar experiences when it comes to talking about planes. I have a boy friend (we are not dating or anything, just friends) who shared my interest in commercial aviation. I am the more talkative of the two, but he gets addressed more often than I do when talking about aviation stuff with others.

I once picked up a book on Spitfire (one of the few war planes I can recognise out of the corner of my eye), turned a few pages, and put it back down. The guy behind the table said, "Do you know what this is?"