Future Of Coin Collecting

Frankly I'm not seeing much of a decline, the shift from brick and mortar coin shops/coin clubs to the internet is continuing but there are still plenty of collectors out there. On ebay prices for even the most common coins are still fairly stable and there are a lot of realized prices that I'm surprised by (I sure wouldn't pay anywhere close to that). I occasionally go to local estate auctions with coins and I'm always surprised at how many people who I've never seen before at shows, clubs, or shops come out of the woodwork to bid the offerings to retail+++.

Not sure how many of you guys follow social media, but on Instagram there is a huge amount of young coin collectors sharing their collections -- even buying and selling. If anyone is familiar with this app, you can search using a hashtag (i.e. #coincollecting) and a huge amount of results show up.

I think the younger generation is finding new ways to go about collecting by using the Internet and other venues. I don't see this hobby going downhill anytime soon.

Over the forty plus years of collecting I have seen many cycles where the hobby was strong with no end in sight while others were looking rather grim. I attend at least one major show per year, try to squeeze in a few minor ones here and there, and have seen similar results in the younger generation attendees. Yet compared to the hobby numbers themselves the latter seems somewhat stable. Which I can not quite explain. Maybe it's the population of one generation compared to another. There are more of us baby-boomers than the millenials. Maybe it is the technology they seem so engrossed in. Yet they can still be found at the shows. On a bright note, I see quite a few of them posting on the new members link. So welcome young people! (And older, not leaving anyone out.).

What I have noticed, comparing the sold prices for high grade key dates auctioned off through the major houses, is that the prices are down slightly across the board from say five years ago. Perhaps they have peaked for the time being and are in the beginning stages of settling before leveling off. My personal thoughts on the reason? Investors. Not long ago the wealthy, non-collectors were buying them as a hedge in some portfolio. Of course the close of precious metals were much higher at the time. But who knows? Chalk it up as a trend.

As for the future, in a cashless society? I see that as definite boost. People always seem to find interest and collect things which are long gone or near so. So have faith. Our hobby isn't going to dry up and be hoarded by a bunch of us old guys.

There is at least one other right here.

I started collecting at age 9 in 2004. Still going strong. The demographics of coin shows are not representative of the collectors as a whole. My generation grew up with the Internet and we prefer to buy coins with the click of a button rather than having to travel long distances to attend events. It's the way I've done it ever since I started, and it's how I plan to continue as long as I'm collecting.

maybe jbuck, and that would mean collecting would focus on the rarest and finest pieces with a strong pedigree, too expensive for the rest of us

I am worried about the many genuine pieces that are original and interesting and on the market today for a reasonable price when the pollution by better and better numismatic frauds cannot be stopped.
A too high level of pollution with worthless fakes will scare off most collectors and that will ruin the hobby. So it is a priority of the coin collectors community to find ways to stop the pollution.