Posted 01/22/2012 7:14 pm
Less than 1 day ago, I posted the following in response to another thread. My apologies to anyone who has already read it.
Quote:
As mentioned previously, the demographic shift as the baby boomers grow older is having a big effect on both supply and demand. Another major cultural shift involves the fact that most people don't use cash anymore, at least in the US. I know my children think of coins as "antiques" and that attitude is bound to increase rapidly, with or without interesting State Quarters. Like it or not, fully electronic transactions will be the only kind of transaction before long.
Those things would depress me if it weren't for the much more important cultural phenomenon called the Internet. When I was young, coins and coin information were scarce and I'd have to wait all month for the local coin club meeting to be able to talk to anybody about coins. Now, whenever I like, I can have interesting conversations like this one, shop for coins from every corner of the globe, learn about Indian Head die varieties, research Ottoman Empire coins, learn about the historical context of a coin, and get useful answers to any question I can think of. In other words, from a collector's perspective, the Internet has made coin collecting much more rewarding than it used to be.
Many people have the urge to collect things they like. Beautiful, interesting, historical, valuable, and conveniently small antiques will always be popular collector's items. As our society increasingly substitutes virtual objects for physical objects, I don't see other physical objects scratching the same itch any time soon.
As mentioned previously, the demographic shift as the baby boomers grow older is having a big effect on both supply and demand. Another major cultural shift involves the fact that most people don't use cash anymore, at least in the US. I know my children think of coins as "antiques" and that attitude is bound to increase rapidly, with or without interesting State Quarters. Like it or not, fully electronic transactions will be the only kind of transaction before long.
Those things would depress me if it weren't for the much more important cultural phenomenon called the Internet. When I was young, coins and coin information were scarce and I'd have to wait all month for the local coin club meeting to be able to talk to anybody about coins. Now, whenever I like, I can have interesting conversations like this one, shop for coins from every corner of the globe, learn about Indian Head die varieties, research Ottoman Empire coins, learn about the historical context of a coin, and get useful answers to any question I can think of. In other words, from a collector's perspective, the Internet has made coin collecting much more rewarding than it used to be.
Many people have the urge to collect things they like. Beautiful, interesting, historical, valuable, and conveniently small antiques will always be popular collector's items. As our society increasingly substitutes virtual objects for physical objects, I don't see other physical objects scratching the same itch any time soon.
