Health Of Collecting Canadian Coins, What's Wrong?

Pfrien, thanks for your view of this great unsolved mystery. I'll admit I had no brothers and because my dad was a collector, he shared his attention of it upon me and I also recall things like going with him to the "coin store in the city" which was a very special treat. If not for those fond old memories, I might never have gotten hooked - or even known of coin collecting for that matter.

The problem that I see is the hobby has become virtually unknown outside a very small (older) segment with little means of promoting or inviting new interest. My imagination takes me to Rick Mercer or somebody like him asking people on the street "Soooo what do you know of coin collectors, coin collecting, I mean old coin and oh maybe old paper bills?" Their reaction might not be described as inspirational.....

But in reality, why people who have the time and means to become interested - and choose not to - are those who possess the answers.

My wife says she sells to a lot of female customers. Roughly 1/3 maybe? Maybe they just don't like the traditional auction/show environments and are thriving on ebay instead?

As to the OP's original question as to the "Health of Collecting Canadian Coins" I would have to say that our collection is in great shape! Getting better every week. Thanks for asking! :-)

Maybe you should poll the question purelywasted as I am with you in this category.

Good idea on the Poll, just posted.

I think that men tend to do more solitary hobbies and women are more social and that's why men dominate hobbies like coins and stamps.

Over the years I've come to the conclusion there's not really that much difference between the personalities of men and women in general except we may tend to behave in accordance to what society has stereotyped as "normal" differences of male and female behaviour. Heck, many men have come to enjoy cooking and flash back to the 60s - virtually unheard of!

Going back a few decades as well, coin collecting was certainly male dominated because far fewer woman participated in financial decisions -- "money matters" were handled by the sole bread winner, traditionally the male. Although I don't recall the exact year, until somewhere around 1950, wives weren't allowed to open their own bank account without their husbands written permission!

I also suspect (hope) the percentage of women interested in the hobby will increase with time and would go so far as to say it's very important to the future success of coin collecting for this to occur.

I can understand your dilemma. In the early 90s my father in his late 70s more or less dumped his collection on my doorstep "here, you have it!" I was in my 30s then and was too polite to say I didn't want it and too considerate to sell it while he was still alive. Then he passed away a few years later and the collection sat locked away in a safe for the next 20 years. When I thought of it from time to time I'll admit to feeling somewhat guilty for it just sitting there. I tried to talk my children, well into their 30s into taking it but they weren't interested either. Only a couple of years ago, having the time, I finally started to look through it and reassess the value. That's when the bug hit me and I've spent well into the 5 figures completing and upgrading it.

It took all those 20 years for it to fell like it was rightfully "mine" and it's become an extremely enjoyable part of my life now. I am so very grateful I didn't sell it.

Looking back though, I would suggest the problem children have when parents are at the point of giving their collections away is that it's still "yours" and it's extremely uncomfortable for children to acknowledge the evidence that we are all aging by indications such as the finality of treasured things being given away......

Every situation and family is different but I hope perhaps sharing my experience might be helpful.