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 Replies: 15 / Views: 1,851 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
849 Posts |
I am one of them - turning 60 this year. As a large segment of the population moves into this age bracket do you think it will be a blessing or a curse to the coin collecting hobby?
Will people in this age bracket be buyers or sellers? I am not sure. Some may become pensioners on small incomes and need the extra cash and start selling off their collections. Others may feel they have more disposable income as houses are paid for, debts are paid, and children are no longer a big expense. Those people may decide to spend more on their hobby.
I spent more this year on my hobby than I ever have as I feel I fall into the latter group. When I quit working in a couple of years I will curb my hobby spending quite a bit but expect to not need to liquidate my collection. I expect to keep it to enjoy and then eventually pass it on to my kids if they are interested.
Any thoughts?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
500 Posts |
There's also another side to the baby boomers, as more of them are passing away, an increasing number of their old collections are likely to get dumped at banks by children and grand children that don't know any better.
Sad, but true..
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
With the understanding that, either way, numismatists will always form a vanishingly small demographic.... I'm thinking it'll be a relative boom. An increasing population retiring and looking for spare-time activities, the Internet disseminating information faster and in greater quantity than ever before, should add up to an infusion of new (but old  ) blood. |
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Valued Member
United States
315 Posts |
My vote is that any positive effect they might have had in driving the price up by collecting is long past. The scenario above of heirs dumping collections is far more likely. It probably will only affect numismatic value, not pm.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
The boomers still extend well below the people coming up on retirement. I'm just about at the tail end of the boomers and I'm still looking at a probably 30+ more years of collecting. Even a 60 year old can expect close to 20 more years of collecting. So why stop? And by the time the boomers are gone the generation X and Y and even the millennials will be in the 40+ age range when most of the collectors are most active. People are constantly predicting the downfall of the hobby due to all the collectors dying off, but over the past forty years I'm not seeing it.
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Valued Member
United States
315 Posts |
@condor101: what do you think is more likely: baby boomers surviving into their 80s and 90s, or their heirs dumping their collections?
Edited by Superhal
10/19/2013 06:20 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
716 Posts |
I am a baby boomer and in the process of upgrading my collection. Now that I am retired, the kids are gone and the mortgage is paid off. I have more time to devote to my hobby and also I have more disposable income. I have no intention of disposing of my collection and am looking forward to many years of actively upgrading my collection and spoiling my grandchildren.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9162 Posts |
I think I fit into the senior end of the baby boomers and started this hobby for fun and some thing to do, that was over 10 years ago and the inflation has taken the pension to where I have to watch what I spend. I still buy for the kids and grandkids and will kept this up for as long as I can.
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Valued Member
United States
201 Posts |
While I agree that some heirs will run to the bank to cash collections in, I have chosen to openly talk with my kids about what I have and the important history behind each coin or note. I have found that they love this hobby as much as I do and have even contributed to my collection....with the tongue and cheek stipulation that, "eventually I get these back, right Dad?"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2541 Posts |
I think there will be a modest uptick in folks participating. A lot of boomers are also going to be retiring in poverty unfortunately, since pensions are a vanishing thing, and most haven't done the required planning, thus necessitating liquidation of their collections.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
I think it has become a more difficult market to collect coins as I have seen a fair number of coin prices going up. Precious metals is another example of prices going up.
Human population increases but it's not like the supply of coins increase - they always keep on falling as some might get melted down, damaged, improperly stored, burnt down etc.
My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseriesMy numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htmRegularly updated at least once a month. |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
I am 66 and have had much more fun collecting coins over the past 3-5 years than I had in the previous 20. Now that I am retired, I have more time to search for coins, attend coin shows, spend time looking on the internet, etc. Best of all my income still allows me to purchase coins that I never could have in the past. I find that I am much more selective about the coins that I do collect.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
Human population increases but it's not like the supply of coins increase - they always keep on falling as some might get melted down, damaged, improperly stored, burnt down etc. Great point. With the increases in population you can actually have a smaller percentage of people collecting yet still have the same or more collectors total. As far as baby boomers themselves its all just going to depend on how responsible the generation was as a whole with retirement planning. Collecting itself has a lot of good things going for it though between the internet making it more available and the PM craze getting people more interested in coins you have to figure at least some of those PM collectors will come over to numismatic collecting as well. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
Many good comments here and I agree the aging baby boomers could be a (relative) boom in collecting even if it's a small one. I was born at the very end of the baby boom and turned 49 last month. There are 3 other family members who collect at least a little and that is likely to grow when they retire.
My 62 year old brother-in-law is retiring the end of this year, my 57 years old brother has at least 5 more years of working, and my 34 year old nephew will be at it awhile.
Don't know if my relatives are typical but I see coin collecting growing somewhat over the next decade or two. Even modest growth of 5% or 10% would be great by me.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
@condor101: what do you think is more likely: baby boomers surviving into their 80s and 90s, or their heirs dumping their collections? Both. The boomers are very likely to last into their 80's, and THEN the heir dump the collections. Remember the heirs don't get the collections until after the collector dies. And for a lot of boomers that is 20 years or more away. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17941 Posts |
I suspect that there could be a resurgence of interest in pre-decimal UK, Australian and NZ coins, as 'Baby Boomer' collectors in those countries will be attracted to the coins they remember from their youth. I also think quite a few people in those countries who put together collections from change in the 1960s will be dusting down their old albums and spending more time with their collections as they retire. It's possible that some exciting new varieties or unknown rarities will come to light as people open bags of coins that have been untouched at the back of a drawer for 45 years or so.
Edited by NumisRob
10/20/2013 05:10 am
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,851 |
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Posted 10/19/2013 02:28 am
