Two Million, Two Hundred Million?

Anyone who attempts to form a coin collection of a specific series or theme is a coin collector. Anyone who studies the coins or series from any of several possible vantages is a numismatist. An argument could be made that assembling a collection for someone else might not make you a collector.

Most returning collectors are collecting the series they collected back in the '60's or are trying older series they couldn't afford then. There are many millions of these people but there are unlikely to many many more in the future since if they aren't back by now they probably won't come later. Indeed, there numbers should actually start dropping soon as the boomers reach retirement age.

Most of the states quarter collectors are new collectors of all ages. They are disproportionately children and young adults.

Modern bullion and commem collectors come from all the groups even including old timer coin collectors but they tend to be new or returning collectors.

Believe it or not most other modern collectors are new collectors with large numbers of old timers. There are a lot of old timers who have come to appreciate how few of many of these coins were saved and a few who never really quit collecting new coins as the years went by. A few returning collectors dabble in this area too, since there is so much value and they can remember when the coins were new.

I think the State Quarters have introduced an entire generation to collecting. I think there is a terminology issue at hand here. I would call one perhaps "casual collecting" and the other maybe "Serious collecting". At any rate I think the Presidential dollars will have the same effect of bringing more people into the hobby. Mike

Here's an interesting thought....

I just bought 2 19th century U.S. postage stamps (see my thread on the 3-cent story). In fact, I put them in a very nice display. I also buy whatever the current postage stamps the post office has on sale and they stay around my house for months. Am I a stamp collector? I would emphatically say "No". But...why not? Because I have no active interest in philatelist hobby, I have a very narrow area that I had any interest to begin with, and I say I'm not a collector.

I bet you, if you asked many of the people gathering SQ's from change if they're a collector, they'll say, "Hey I just get these out of change when I can, I'm not a coin collector though."

There's an old time liberal Jewish saying that says "A Jew is anyone who says they are." You might just want to apply that axiom to the coin collector as well.

Amoazon99 the mintage number of the silver set is why the 2001&2004 are so high priced. they are the lowest since the 50s
Just look in your Red Book and you can see the mintages of all proof set

Back in 1969 while I was filling my first whitman folder with cents taken from circulation ,,I knew I was a collector !! not because I was filling a book, but because of the passion that doing it raised in me .

IMO being a collector is not all about what we do ,its all about who we are inside .

Metalman

As to how many collectors there are now. 2 million, 10 million, 125 million? All speculative. No one has any idea I'm sure. However, the people that write coin books, magazines, newsletters, TV shows on coins, coin show dealers all attempt to make the hobby sound like there is no end to the amount of people that are now collectors. Back in the mid 70's when they had those silly Bicentennial coins there were many articles about how there are now millions or billions of new collectors due to those coins. That failed. Now the State Quarters, Baby dollars, Weird Nickels also are supposed to have created fantastic amounts of collectors. Just to many people are like sheep. Follow the leader until it's to late. Anyone remember the Beanie Baby Boom that would never end? How about Baseball/football cards, Hot Wheel cars with red wall tires, Postage stamps, etc. Each started a craze that lasted for a while. Eventually the State Quarters will be on a shelf somewhere, the baby dollars will be on a shelf somewhre and all will be dumped back into circulation since even those people wake up.
Not meaning to be a pesimist but I've been collecting for well over 60 years now and have seen way, way to many hobbies come and go. I firmly believe the amount of coin collectors being advertised is mainly being stated by people that make something in relationship to coins. When I was a kid there was only a Whitman Blue folder and a new thing called The Red Book. Now every place you go someone is selling something for coins. At coin shows some have tables full of coin collecting items and no coins at all.

"On the State Quarters I don't think they will ever increase much. Main reason they not silver and the us mint made millions of them in that run of quarter's. They have no keys dates or such stuff like the old coins do. The other reason was the aftermarket flooded the market with painted , plated, alterations of them. The only ones I ever see that will be worth money are the 1999 silver proof sets, 2001 proof sets, 2004 mint sets. Reason lots them was taken part for books. I never could figure why the 2001 proof set and 2004 mint set is worth so much. I wish I knew why."
Chevrolet


Metallic composition has very little impact on numismatic value. An 1804 dollar is worth millions more than an 1880 $20 gold piece and neither contains more than $1000 worth of metal. Even an '09-S VDB cent is usually worth more than the gold piece. In many cases the value of moderns is CAUSED BY THE FACT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE METALLIC VALUE. People simply didn't save them because they had little value.

The states issues are mostly made and saved in large numbers but there are numerous exceptions to this. There are the varieties and rotated dies for instance. There are also some of these that are elusive in nice well made and well preserved condition like the Delaware Philly issue.

Investing in coins is very risky business but those collecting the states issues are, for the main part, just collecting coins. Whether it's profitable or not remains to be seen but so long as they're having fun they are already ahead of the game. Price will be determined by supply and demand. As always there will be a tendency for common coins to remain common and scarce coins to get scarcer. Any of these may go up or down.