Coin collectors hope for younger generation.

[Mackaydon]

Deep,
I remember two such events. One guy was trying to get his kid involved in stamps and simply asked for donated stamps. Apparently, you and I sent him some. Another guy wanted stamps for some presentation. He was traveling from San Diego to LA and I had him stop off at a Denny's on his route, gave him a selection of stamps, a catalogue, hinges, mag. glass and tongs. Never heard from either again. Hopefully, the stamps went to the intended person who is now a stamp collector; or who, at least now knows the advantages of stamp collecting.
Don...

 

[DeepseekerADS]

That a hard pill to swallow but what can you do except move one. One thing I did get out of this is you’re a good man.

Thanks for the compliment. The truth of life is that nothing is of value, when value is no longer taught! Coin collecting changed with the silver hype in about 1980 thereabouts with the Hunt Brothers and the predators who assumed the throne.

 

[Mackaydon]

Truth
Yes, except for the rare one, stamps have depreciated for the most part; in some cases down to worthless to a collector. However, the educational value and the nostalgic value associated with collecting stamps 'back in the day' remains priceless.
Don....

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Deep, I remember two such events. One guy was trying to get his kid involved in stamps and simply asked for donated stamps. Apparently, you and I sent him some. Don...

Yep! That was the guy Don.

At least we tried. That was the best we could do in order to just try to resurrect a forgotten hobby. My kids will get my 5 big boxes and albums full.

But they'll all be worthless unless somebody likes to look through our books for entertainment.

 

[Truth]

Truth
Yes, except for the rare one, stamps have depreciated for the most part; in some cases down to worthless to a collector. However, the educational value and the nostalgic value associated with collecting stamps 'back in the day' remains priceless.
Don....

Amen to that Don [emoji1317]

 

[smokeythecat]

I have known this one coin dealer for YEARS. Like thirty or more. He is very knowledgeable. We were recently talking about collecting in general. He stated stamp collecting is nearly dead, and regarding coins, has 12 sellers for 1 buyer! The last huge show he went to had very few attendees. Bad news. I have picked up more wheaties, steel cents and silvers in change in the last 3 months than in the last decade. Kids are just spending their parent's and grandparent's collections. Relics and artifacts are right there with them. When I went to the last militaria show at Gettysburg recently, I'd say the average age of the visitors was 60. These is a lot more activity at the bottle shows, and the average age is closer to 45. All in all collecting is going down the tubes it seems. Tweeting is up!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Tweeting is up!

You're right Smokey, I think that actually nails the issue. It'll only degrade from there - but I'm NOT paranoid, right?

It's like the coming times will completely lose the realization of what should have value in our world. It's not even in the same realistic eyes wide open world people like you and I have.

 

[Paleo_joe]

No hobby lasts forever. It’s natural for a new generation to have different interests. The world changes.

 

[kingskid1611]

I collected stamps when I was younger but it has since went the way of the dodo bird. I have them all and see people trying to sell thousands all the time. Unfortunately with the new forever stamps it has died. I am still an avid coin collector or according to my wife "hoarder". I can't seem to get my kids interested in any of it but they have completed sets of some coins for their inheritance…..and yea they will probably send them coins back into the wild when they get them but I tried. I still buy out stamp collections when I find them but usually have to educate on prices.

 

[Ogre1190]

My younger daughter (46 yo) still collects stamps and still gets a kick out of it. Glad I got her interested at the right age. Glad, too, she loves detecting as much as I do. 😁

 

[smokeythecat]

My daughters who are in their 30's like and admire my collection of somewhat useless stuff, but do not want 99% of it mainly due to the fact they live in apartments and can't think out of their box. I am downsizing everything right now. Most of the stuff I purchased over the last few years is now gone, it was not hard to sell, but for coins especially, I took a loss. Oh well. Better than getting them cashed in at McDonald's.

I have sent goodie boxes of items to each daughter. They were smaller items they could "handle". More goodie boxes are to come.

 

[Truth]

As far as coins go I buy high quality old coins gold/silver, hoard silver bars and I love it. I buy what I want, get it and just look at it, put it in the safe and break them out every once in awhile and look at them some more. My detected coins are my babies. I have them in display cases, on my bed table next to me and even around my neck. I tell my boys get out of college, work hard, save your money because I’m broke and won’t be leaving much. They have a idea I like old gold and silver, but know idea how much I like it. So when the elbows hit the pine box they’ll have a very nice nest egg to spilt (with instructions of course) and sell, sell, sell )) I’m gone.

As far as the dug ones....they coming with me

 

[FreeBirdTim]

No hobby lasts forever. It’s natural for a new generation to have different interests. The world changes

Yup, as an eBay seller, you have to know which hobbies are dead and which collectibles have very little value now. Stamp collecting, Avon bottles and plates, many older Hallmark ornaments, collector plates in general, most older magazines, sports cards from the 1980's and 1990's and so on are all dead in the water. Go to any yard sale and you will see all these items just sitting on seller's tables all day long.

On the other hand, I can never find enough license plates, old carpentry tools, pre-1900 bottles, porcelain signs, gas station memorabilia, cone top and flat top beer cans, rusty barn finds and the like. Lots of guys working on decorating their man caves right now, I guess.

 

[Truth]

Yup, as an eBay seller, you have to know which hobbies are dead and which collectibles have very little value now. Stamp collecting, Avon bottles and plates, many older Hallmark ornaments, collector plates in general, most older magazines, sports cards from the 1980's and 1990's and so on are all dead in the water. Go to any yard sale and you will see all these items just sitting on seller's tables all day long.

On the other hand, I can never find enough license plates, old carpentry tools, pre-1900 bottles, porcelain signs, gas station memorabilia, cone top and flat top beer cans, rusty barn finds and the like. Lots of guys working on decorating their man caves right now, I guess.

What’s your eBay name I love everything you mentioned. I refuse to call my office a man cave because to me that means the rest of the house is basically the wife’s. And that dog don’t hunt. Lol

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I don't want to violate any policy here with outside links, but you can probably figure out one of my eBay ID's...

 

[chub]

I collected 130 vintage model aircraft engines from the 1930's to 1970s. I sold them a while back and glad I did! The bottom fell out shortly after. Recently Ive just started developing a thing for vintage movie cameras...love the quality and appearance. I also have a collection of bee smokers...
My kids like the cameras but are just humouring me. At the same time Im just humouring them with all their tech / phone crud!

I had a great,great uncle whos family owned a bakery in the early 1900s to 1930s. In the early days they delivered bread daily by horse and cart. Cigarette cards were popular when tobacco was sold in tins. He asked ALL the customers to keep the cigarette cards along the route. He amassed several thousand. Back in the early 90s they were worth something, but as time has worn on they have diminished in value significantly to almost worthless.I gave them to my mother 20 years ago...the eternal hoarder.

on another note I cant remember the last time I recieved a letter...let alone one with a stamp!? At the same time coins have very little value these days and are pretty much a nuisance in my pocket.

I agree with truth, the ones I have dug have more value - just because

chub

 

[smokeythecat]

I like 18th century anything, with a little Civil War to boot. I have found it better to have a mid range priced item than 100 low end items, and also have learned that a super mega expensive item, well, you'd better be prepared to die with said item. I've never had one of those, however, I knew someone who had a $125k Pennsylvania rifle. I don't think he ever sold it and he's a dealer. Beautiful piece, but, like who has that kind of money? The $2-5 minie balls, those can be hard to sell online. The $100-500 buttons, pretty easy. Pricier stuff is a gamble. Just some observations.

 

[Owassokie]

HI , PLENTY of persons with medical conditions and disabilities will never able to drive so what do you call them ?

Tp

He wasn't talking about "PLENTY of persons" with disabilities, he was talking about his sons, who obviously have the ability to drive. Why are you always looking for a fight?

 

[UnderMiner]

I started treasure hunting in 1999 when I was 8 years old and haven't stopped since. I am part of the "millennial" generation but live more like someone from the greatest generation with a never ending zeal for self-sufficiency, family, country, honor, and respect. I have survived a self-funded liberal university education, boot camp, and rigorous government-funded training all the while collecting coins, antiques, and keeping my core beliefs intact.

In my early days of treasure hunting I would imagine myself as a romanticized pirate and all of this as a game but as time went on I began to realize more and more the historic significance of the artifacts I saved and their real world purpose - to preserve the past so that future generations can learn from it no matter how seemingly worthless or trivial these artifacts may seem to be. That is why I no longer think of the things I find in terms of monetary worth but in terms of historic value - because sometimes a rusty iron pot found in a ditch near an early american homestead is worth more in historic value than a gold ring made two years ago is worth monetarily... if that makes sense. This is why my overall plan is to eventually open a museum to display the many artifacts I own and continue to find and collect through the years.

I have a very well paying steady career and alot saved throughout the years (been working steady jobs since I was 14 and just landed my dream career two years ago) so hopefully by the time I'm 28 or 29 in a few years I will be able to start my museum - I already have a plan. It will likely be in eastern PA and will display artifacts that span many centuries and will be ever expanding. Admittance will be free of charge of course. I am also writing a book on treasure hunting - it will have loads of pictures and include way more information and stories than I have ever shared publicly on T-Net (I've only posted about 10% of my treasure stories here, and not even the really good ones). So rest assured, this new generation does have young people who take a liking to this hobby and I'm sure there always will be.

 

[Clad2Silver]

Coin collecting and stamp collecting are dying hobbies. Back in the 40's and 50's there was no internet and other electronic forms of entertainment to occupy people's minds so folks sought other means of entertainment. I've been collecting coins since the 50's and I also do a small amount of stamp collecting. Years ago young people attended coin clubs and coin shows, not so any more. Our coin club has over 100 active members and there are no young members at the meetings, just old geezers like me. Ditto for coin shows. The local stamp dealer in my area is calling it quits because of the tremendous drop off in sales over the years. There'll always be a certain number of collectors but it'll never be like it once was. Stamps and coins are about history, geography, economics, etc. Do today's young people have any interest in things like that? Or are they just interested in the latest APP or video game?