What % Of The World's Population Do You Think Collect Coins?

Sure wish sometimes there were only 700 collectors. I was at a coin show today and had to leave due to how crowded it was. And I'd be willing to bet anyone that there were at least that many at this show and that was a half hour before they were supposed to open. Can't get any good deals when the place is overcrowded. Close to 100 dealers alone.
I don't think anyone knows how many people collect coins and mostly similar reasons like how many collect guns, knives, swords, rare paintings or anything of value.

The fewer the better.

I always wanted to be a "1%"er Altho yes, I think it is much less than that but I am glad I am part of it!

I think the number is higher. Coin collecting as a holder of value or for the pleasure of satisfying our instinctual desire to hunt? The hunting drive is our reason for collecting. Anything.

The people in India collect gold, it is a cultural tradition; but it also satisfies the urge. We collect from passion, for historical connections, for social acceptance, for that itch to accurately identify and complete the fo'shizzle.

Everyone in the world collects. Just coins, maybe not a large percentage. I ASSUME it would be 2 - 5% and then you can toss in the commodities collectors and I see, maybe, double digits.

Just the coins incorporated into jewelry in India, China, and the muddle east probably outweigh the coins collected by 'coin collectors' in America and Europe.

So, who are the coin collectors?

I think we should be referring to coin and currency aficionado's; then yes maybe 1%.

Now, about stamp collecting......

Whoah... thread necro from 2012.

I live in a small town of 2500. You have to go 50 miles before you hit a town over 20,000. In other words, pretty rural.

Two auctions houses near us (one 8 blocks from my home) has coins and coin collections for sale on a pretty regular basis.

It is rare to have less than 30-40 coin collectors show up for every one of those auctions that does include coins.

If even a couple of "more valuable" coins are included, such as a $5 gold common date common grade or a Bust anything, then that number can increase to 50+ potential bidders.

Since there is so much less person to person contact than there was 20 years ago, I enjoy those auctions for the human contact as much as I do for the potential to buy something.

When I was working on the 3rd book in a series on tokens I read a good deal concerning the number of people who counted themselves as collectors, regardless of how that was defined, and for coin collectors only it was very near the 10% mark for males. Less than 2% for females.

I'm too lazy to dig all of that out (especially since my reference boxes are stacked in the attic), but I'm pretty sure that was how many people SAID they collected coins. Those results were the results of university study for a doctorate degree, so I'm sure they were pretty reliable.

Of course, I'm guessing a high percentage of people would say they like broccoli, too, just to be "politically foody".

I think it would be a lot easier to lump people into "developed" and "developing" countries or regions of the world before talking about statistics.

I have only ever met a few people who would shrug off and spend a Wheat cent they noticed in their change. Almost everybody I have ever asked has a jar with a few wheat cents, maybe some State Quarters, and a couple foreign coins that were souvenirs from a trip abroad. For the US, I suspect I would be lowballing when I say 50-75% have at least one coin that they would not spend. I suspect that number would be similar for Canada, Europe, and Australia/NZ.

In China, old cash coins are believed to bring good luck and fortune, especially those of Kangxi and Qianlong. I would not be surprised if at least 30-50% of the Chinese population has at least one such coin tucked away somewhere.

I had one close Indian friend in college, and her family was not necessarily avid, but had a fair knowledge of British colonial issues, and did passively collect anything that came their way.

As far as Africa, the Middle East, and South America, I would suspect the 0.05% would be much closer--these countries generally have not churned out a numismatically significant coin since at least the 1940s, and are heavily stricken with poverty. I suspect that money there is spent and not kept, especially when saving could mean losing the value to inflation.