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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,140 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5831 Posts |
The USPS killed stamp collecting for most US collectors.
I enjoyed soaking used bulk lots as a kid and as adult, but it stop when everything goes self adhesive.
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Moderator
 Australia
16830 Posts |
Phonecard collecting died out when the technology moved on and they stopped making and using phonecards.
Stamp collecting is dying out, because the technology has moved on and they no longer make and use stamps to anywhere near the extent they used to.
Coin collecting will die out, if/when the technology moves on and coins are no longer made and used as money. "Used as money" is already redundant in the United States, where the de facto highest face value coin (the quarter) has virtually no buying power, so is essentially useless as "money". Coins with higher face value exist elsewhere (Canada, the Eurozone, Britain, Australia, Japan, etc) but it is rare for new high-value circulating coins to be introduced now; coins are seen as obsolete technology, too inconvenient and (for high value coins) too easy to counterfeit.
This is all disregarding whatever push might be happening from the banks to abolish coins as a money-saving measure, and/or from governments as an anti-dark-economy measure.
Once it becomes virtually impossible to find a coin "in the wild", or to use a coin as money if you have one, then coin collecting will become the interest of a tiny eccentric minority with an interest in obsolete artifacts.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
United States
470 Posts |
Quote:
Stamp collecting is very much alive, if not so well publicized.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2281 Posts |
No
You realize when you know how to think, it empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5174 Posts |
Quote:
but it is rare for new high-value circulating coins to be introduced now Depends on what qualifies as "new", I guess... but yeah, I can think of several big denomination additions from the mid-1990s (£2, ¥500, 10 NIS) but offhand nothing newer than that (that didn't involve a very recently created currency). I'm really hoping that coins won't go obsolete, but it sure seems that the world is going that way (for now, at least). |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
599 Posts |
Agree with Sap.
Coin collecting will eventually become an eccentricity.
Hopefully not in my lifetime.
Watch your top knot
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The discussion in this thread explains some of the reason
why I have spread my collecting interests across the whole of numismatics, ancient to modern, covering all cultures.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
The slabbing, the marketing tactics, the investor interest, the get-rich-quick folks, etc. have all contributed to promoting negativity in this fine hobby, methinks; this, in some measure, mind you. Coin collecting has been around since the first coins came off the anvil. I don't see it ending. The problem is that it's become so aligned with gathering wealth in a now inflation-driven economy. Those who view coins as "product" or simple commodities will forever fall by the wayside. True collectors, those who enjoy and study coins, will remain. It's worked for me; and, for almost seven decades now.
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Moderator
United States
188560 Posts |
Quote:
Agree with Sap. Same. He said everything I was thinking as I read the OP. I do not believe it will completely die in our lifetime, but it is quite possible our heirs' heirs will end up with more junk to be disposed. It is an uneasy feeling for those of us who take the long view.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5185 Posts |
Coin usage will make a big comeback if governments start abusing digital infrastructure. Not to mention the possibility of a network hack or a total network collapse by EMP.
For instance, people in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan went back to barter and coin usage when both countries shut down the entire internet to prevent dissent.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5394 Posts |
"Coin collecting will eventually become an eccentricity."
Umm . it already is in my place !!
Coins will be collected for a very long time into the
future . It looks like the hobby is doing just fine!
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1048 Posts |
Thanks for everyone's considered thoughts. I love the hobby and have been collecting for nearly 60 years. But I can't shake the anxiety that numismatics will one day become the preserve of a dwindling, ageing minority. I know --- it's a totally senior citizen kind of concern.
I guess part of what's eating me is the profound disinterest shown by my own descendants. When I was a kid, my grandfather would present me with coins from his collection every so often. It was indescribable joy for me. But while the young in my family adopted my love of music, of history and of fine art, their eyes glaze over when I attempt to elicit their interest in coins.
Edited by pristine2
07/27/2023 11:11 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6506 Posts |
I think we chewed over many causes of dwindling interest on other threads. Just to summarize a few: 1. Many classic coins that are collected are made from silver. As inflation has driven the price of silver nuts, the part of the coin that represents historical value has shrunk relative to its value as precious metal. Younger enthusiasts aren't going to park their limited funds into a collectible that can gyrate wildly with the commodities markets. That's assuming they can afford silver coinage at all. 2. The mint itself has swamped us with new quarter designs, new dollar designs, and a host of short-term commemorative coins like LAP nickels and Lincoln's life cents. I have compared it to comic books in the 1980s, where there were so many "collectors edition" comics produced each month that it was impossible to keep up. 3. Companies are monetizing the heck out of coins. It costs over fifty bucks just to get a coin graded. Once rare coins started being treated as a fine art category that defends against inflation, that priced out newcomers. 4. Fakes are a huge problem. Rookies can't reliably buy anything cool on ebay because the probability of getting cheated by a high quality fake is pretty high. Additionally, there are a lot of bait-and-switch listings on ebay and elsewhere. You can't even trust TPG slabbed coins because the slabs are so easily faked. Coin shows seem just as suspect. How could you ever be sure that a dealer didn't sell you a good Chinese fake for $100? You need to have a pro-grade knowledge to evaluate coins, and that just isn't feasible for newcomers. 5. Almost all the good stuff is taken already. The people with the $$$ already have the real $$$ coins. Eventually that will backfire, as they are effectively filtering the market down to a tiny fraction of interested people who can afford the cool stuff. At some point there will be an oversupply relative to demand, but that might be a very long time away, and low volume niche markets are notoriously sticky. 6. Shipping and handling on low end coins can be more expensive than the coins. Travel to a coin show can burn more money in gas than a rookie can spend on coins. There are lots of frictional costs to coin collecting that didn't exist years ago. The way I see it, the problem boils down to a simple premise: can a kid with $20 in his pocket buy some cool coins in 2023? I believe that due to a lot of factors, the answer is a no. I also happen to believe that coin collecting organizations do not conduct effective outreach to kids interested in coins. The emphasis is placed on the big money coins. If you want to engage new people in a hobby, then there must be a starting point that is economical, enjoyable, and relatable to them. There are a few books like Strike It Rich with Pocket Change that are somewhat engaging, but books aren't as popular as they once were. The podcast offerings are either sensational ($1.5M coin found in vending machine!!1!), dull (35 minutes about pennies), or both. But even if a vast horde of new enthusiasts could be recruited, they will be interested in new areas, not in filling albums with silver Morgan dollars. |
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Valued Member
United States
295 Posts |
It doesn't really concern me if coin collecting becomes less popular, since if anything it will make the stuff I want less expensive. Though I think with such a wide interest in precious metals, coins made of gold or silver should maintain their appeal in the long run. Unlike stamps which are made of paper, precious metal coins actually have intrinsic value that I think people will always be interested in to some degree.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6506 Posts |
If the demand for silver is far higher than the historic value of the coins, they might just be melted for bullion.
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,140 |
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Posted 07/27/2023 12:51 am
