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 Replies: 31 / Views: 3,975 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1374 Posts |
I often wonder where our hobby is headed and what I can do to contribute.
We all want to see our hobby live on and thrive, and want others to enjoy it as much as we do. I'm not quite 30 and don't have a fellow coin collecting friend within two decades of my age.
I often wonder what would make the hobby better. What about the younger generation and how technology has impacted our craft? Just some random thoughts.
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
Some way to stem the flow of counterfeits/counterfeit slabs...I realize this is a tall order but its probably the biggest threat to the hobby. Major threat of counterfeits completely erodes trust and 'casual dealing' and ensures that everything is all security-obsessive. Which can sometimes be necessary but will end up destroying some of the fun in it.
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Valued Member
United States
99 Posts |
don't worry the hobby wont die at least, I'm 18 years old and what got me into this was looking at the dates of pennies trying to find the oldest one, I started this in late July this year. I remember my grandfather used to have me put together rolls of coins from his unwanted leftovers of spare change and he would tell me about all the different coins, rare coins, and show me his collection. I never really paid much attention or cared for it at the time. but now I always look at my spare change from shopping, or when I work at subway in the register when business is slow. I let my friends know about numismatics hobby, I teach them about pennies (what I mostly collect and know about) error pennies older pennies. how values in condition is very important and that its addicting when you find something good, because you will always keep looking for something better (ever since I found a 1909 in penny roll searching I've been hooked). I think I made my grandpa proud to see the hobby live on to his grandson. there's a lot to learn from history of coins too, the introduction of gold coins during gold rush. depression hit and gov. took back gold. how the value of money was back then was the reason for unheard of cents like the 2 cent piece or 3 cent piece etc. and how the coins change in composition. I've shocked my friends with all this info in only a few months from this hobby of mine. its just fun =)
Edited by pennycollecter93
12/30/2011 11:41 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
650 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
What does the hobby need? IMHO:
1) Fewer counterfeits, hands down. The counterfeiters are getting crafty, especially in this economy; which leads me to...
2) For TPGs to return to authentication as their primary focus rather than giving out ridiculous designations for ludicrous sums of money ("First Strike"/"Early Releases" must die yesterday; *that* malarkey ruins the hobby).
3) There need to be some better collection tracking solutions that are freely available as the current options are restricted to registry sets or are clunky. Imagine if Google ever rose the the challenge? :-)
(I'm actually working on a collection tracker right now [which I've dubbed "Numismetrica"], but it's still a ways off before I'll be able to release the tracking portion of it to the public.)
4) Better public education about numismatics as a field and it's place in our country's daily commerce and history. To illustrate: 9 out of 10 people I talk to have never taken the time to stop and even look at their pocket change (and this reduces to about 7 out of 10 for people who work with cash daily, such as cashiers or bank tellers).
I'm sure I'll think of others. :-)
But to your question: What can you do? Take your pick. :-)
Edited by SteveCaruso
12/31/2011 12:31 am
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Valued Member
United States
73 Posts |
All great responses. Evangelizing is the key to new interest.
I am 66 yrs old and one of the youngest (about 5 younger) in our club of over 100 members.
Its one of the oldest in the US but shrinking almost daily. Some members are so old they have passed on their collections due to vision problems yet they are still seen at monthly meetings. We have only a couple kids, a couple teens, and a couple guys in their 20s with most others being old farts. That makes the hobby look 'OLD and irrelevant' to kids.
All the contemporary -stuff-/collector offerings that I personally dont care for being offered by the Mint, seems like it should be great for newcomers to the hobby. Its varied, great looking and not expensive. Now if we can just get folks to really LOOK at the money in their pocket and wonder about its heritage and future maybe the hobby will continue.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Drsandman2: What is the most effective way of contributing to the health of the coin collecting hobby?
Encourage the young!
Most lifetime collectors have a dawning of interest in their elememtary school years. That has been made obvious to me from relevent threads I have seen in the CCF.
In almost all cases, that dawning of interest was initiated by someone in their family. Give your kids some interesting coins that you think would arouse their curiosity. In later years if that curiosity 'takes', it will be self perpetuating.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
 , pennycollecter93! (is it too late to spell collector correctly?) Quote:
I think I made my grandpa proud to see the hobby live on to his grandson. At the risk of sounding pecuniary, I would consider passing along my collection to a grandson who would appreciate it over a closer relative who didn't. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
Second cel_691. Give a raw AG Barber half or some other silver quarter, half or dollar coin to someone 25 or under. Johnny Appleseed goes silver.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
667 Posts |
The hobby is in good hands. I coach basketball in addition to everything else I do. One of my players wanted change for the pop machine. I didn't have exact change for a 5 dollar bill so I gave her 6 quarters. She went in her purse and said here is a dollar coin for the change. It was a cool Grant dollar, I had not seen one yet. I told her that they are going to stop making these. She looked at it and said maybe I will just keep this and save it. So I figure if a 15 year old girl can figure out that this coin might be special some day then the Coin World and hobby are in good hands with the youth. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
If e teen realizes they can turn a little money into more money by flipping coins, it won't be long before spending hours on ebaY/CL replaces a video game. Either can be an adrenaline rush.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1374 Posts |
sel_69l - Great points about catching on young.
I started officially collecting no later than age 8, inspired by the collection my Great Granddad left behind.
Wow, a lot of great responses here! I can see that many are referring to a nostalgia for the hobby that is obtained at youth in a cultural fashion. If some are alluding that the hobby tends to follow ethnic lines, then that would make total sense. Its costly heritage is American history.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
What we're doing right here, right now, at CCF is one of the most important things possible for the future of coin collecting. We're bringing the hobby into the realm of modern technology, bringing it to the Internet, where the collectors of the future can easily access the great store of knowledge held by more experienced collectors.
Knowledge is key, and here we're making it more accessible than ever before. So, one easy thing you can do to help the future of collecting is to be here, sharing what you've learned.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
I remember when it was almost impossible to find gold and silver spots. Now there are dozens of sites that will calculate the spot value of a pile of coins.
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
I meant the thing about making change by the way, it does seem like many Americans are scared of their own odd-denomination money.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
What does this hobby need? BAH, HUMBUG with all this making new collectors. It is really simple. Less coin collectors. Less books, no TV shows about them, less coin stores, less coin web sites, etc. Then as they deminish, I could get more, more, more for myself.  Most coin collectors don't realize that the more of us there are, the higher the prices will be on what we need, want and can find.  We really need to get everyone interested in collecting something else, not coins.  Kind of kidding, maybe. Actually not to much more can be done to increase the interest in this hobbby. Coin stors, coin shows, TV and newspaper and magazines all now carry coins. Even many of those mail order catalogs we are bombarded with in the mail now carry coins. Our Mint makes way more types of coins than ever in the past and they get sold out fast. Remember there used to be very few coin Albums on the market but now 10 to 15 manufacturers make them. Also, numerous companies now make Folders for coins too. Coin clubs are increasing everywhere. And on the internete, there are numerous coin web sites poping up all the time. About the only thing left to advertise this hobby is to have a Goodyear Blimp fly overhead with coins shown one the side. Edited by just carl
12/31/2011 5:25 pm
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Replies: 31 / Views: 3,975 |
Posted 12/30/2011 11:37 pm
