Coin collecting as a hobby has experienced a decline over the last several years. This trend may or may not be reversible. This page is an attempt at presenting the problems of the coin collecting hobby in an organized fashion. Thanks go to Paul Richards <stat@iu.net> for initially putting this list together in an organized fashion. Please don't blame him for any problems you have with the detailed discussion, that's mostly mine. If you feel there are other problems in the coin collecting hobby, or wish to suggest alternative solutions, feel free to contact me via our contact form, and we can address your issues as well. I would like to focus on concrete solutions that the average Joe can implement. Things like writing your congressman, or giving away cheap coins to youth.

This page is sponsored by American Coin on the net.

1. Problems with modern coinage
1. Stagnant, un-appealing designs in circulating coinage
2. No possibility of numismatic value in pocket change
3. Non-precious base metal used for circulating coins
4. Small variety of coins in circulation
5. Overabundance of uninteresting modern commemoratives
6. Coins from overseas are much more interesting
7. Credit cards and the like are replacing "real" money
8. Cannot get coins in quantity from banks
2. Lack of enjoyment and just plain fun
1. Underemphasis on the enjoyment of collecting (fun)
2. Too many distractions (TV, computers, baseball cards)
3. Lack of emphasis on historical and artistic beauty of coins
4. Children not taught historical setting for coins
5. Lack of supporting colorful arts such as storytelling
6. No cultivation of inquisitiveness in children
7. Strong need for mentors for new collectiors
8. Not enough women in the hobby
9. We are at a low ebb of the normal coin hobby cycle
10. Unwillingness to look beyond national borders
11. Close-mindedness and snobby "cliques" in hobby
3. Frustration factors
1. Overcomplicated 1 to 70 grading system
2. Strong emphasis on grading technicalities
3. Too much coin data to comprehend
4. Frustration with effort required for research and study
5. Recent emphasis on complicated variety collecting
6. Disappointments with results from grading service
4. Fear and secrecy
1. Inhibition and secrecy due to danger of burglary or robbery
2. "Best You Can Afford" teaching scares people away
3. Coins are not easy to display for viewing
4. Fear that you will not find a sucker to buy your mistakes
5. Get Rich Quick emphasis
1. Coins, in general, are not good investments
2. Focus on economic value of coins, especially resale value
3. Focus on investment potential and get rich quick
4. Overemphasis on mint state coins
5. Coins themselves are more important than collecting them
6. Non-liquidity of unslabbed coins
7. Strong sensitivity of coin prices to small changes in grade
6. Dealer dilemmas
1. Unscrupulous dealers
2. Overpriced material on TV shopping networks
3. Dealer profit margins are too high
4. Over priced specialized packaging
5. Coins are too expensive
6. Pricing inconsistancies
7. Safe Sex Slabs
1. Sterility of slabbed coins (slabs are the safe-sex of coins)
2. You can't hold a slabbed coin between your fingers!
3. Collector money going into slabs, not into coins
4. Collectors become museum curators

Special thanks to contributors:

Kelly L. Anderson
Michael S. Fey
Henry Mensch
Pete Caler

1. Problems with modern coinage

1. Stagnant, un-appealing designs in circulating coinage


PROBLEM: Many coin collectors blame the stagnation of the hobby on the downright ugly modern coinage of the United States. Collectors from around the world largely debunk this theory because despite having interesting coin programs, including circulating commemoratives, the hobby is in decline in these countries as well.

KELLY: If you believe this to be a problem, you should write to the president, your congressman, the chairman of the coinage committee of congress and to the secretary of the Treasury. All of these people have some say over the current coinage design.

HENRY: The house committee on banking and financial services is found on http://www.house.gov/banking/. The senate committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs (!!) can be found at http://www.senate.gov/committee/banking.html these places include lists of members, committee addresses, etc. a correspondence directory for the us treasury can be found at http://www.ustreas.gov/treasury/opc/opc0005.html

KELLY: Hey, this is working in that we now have the Sac Dollar and the very exciting statehood  quarters... much progress has been made since this problem was first stated here in 1996.

 

2. No possibility of numismatic value in pocket change


PROBLEM: You can't find valuable coins in change like you could in the 50s. Back then you really stood a reasonable chance of picking up a 1909 S lincoln cent in change if you looked long enough.

KELLY: There isn't a really good solution. However, you can learn to look for varieties in circulating coins. You can also buy bags of wheat cents or junk silver and look for varieties and rarer dates in these. You can still occasionally find silver war nickels, and the occasional junk silver coin, but that's about as far as it goes.

FEY: To find treasure, you need look no further than your local coin clubs, local coin dealers, and shows. There are rare and valuable coins sitting in dealer cases unattributed. I see them all the time. The key is knowledge. Buy a coin book, expand into other series, then go out hunting! It's great fun. Here's the obvious. If you limit yourself to searching for a few coins, then your chances for success will be low. If you have many possibilities to choose from, then your chances for success will be high. The same philosophy applies for coins in circulation. For those who spend the time to learn what is valuable in circulation today, and go out and search, they will find it rewarding.

3. Non-precious base metal used for circulating coins


PROBLEM: Since coins are now made from worthless materials, they must be worthless as numismatic collectables.

SOLUTION: The problem with modern coins has more to do with how many are manufactured than with the material they are made from. For example, many siege coins were produced on cardboard or from wood. They are extremely valuable and desirable collectables. In addition, if you want to find silver coins, you might consider taking up metal detecting, a related hobby.

FEY: Just got a 1945 silver war nickel yesterday in change from a toll booth. There is still silver out there in the way of foreign coins, and residing in "cookie jars" that non-collectors sometimes dig into. Take an ad in the local newspaper to "BUY" older coins. You never know what you'll might find.

4. Small variety of coins in circulation


See 1.1,1.2

5. Overabundance of uninteresting modern commemoratives


PROBLEM: The mint has recently produced a glut of artistically challenged coins that are priced through the roof.

SOLUTION: One solution has already been implemented. The CCCC (Coin Collectors....I can't remember) is now an advisory body to congress on commemorative coinage issues. Unfortunately, their success has been somewhat limited. The Eunice Shriver commemorative was made with their input, I believe. Let's just say that it makes the Susan B. Anthony dollar look pretty good.

FEY: It's a big world out there. All coinage designs can't be bad. If there's a modern coin design you don't like, try looking at some older foreign designs. I just bought an 1842 Central American Peso-a beautiful design---just for the joy of collecting!

6. Coins from overseas are much more interesting


PROBLEM: Is this a problem?

SOLUTION: Collect foreign coins too.

7. Credit cards and the like are replacing "real" money


PROBLEM: Is this a problem?

SOLUTION: Broaden your definition of numismatics. Collect credit cards. I've got a little collection of e-money related materials. It won't ever be worth anything because its just bits, but it is interesting.

FEY: Ditto. I collect early classic telephone cards.

8. Cannot get coins in quantity from banks

2. Lack of enjoyment and just plain fun

1. Under-emphasis on the enjoyment of collecting (fun)


PROBLEM: There is too much focus on the "investment potential" of coins, on finding that new variety, on achieving the best known set in PCGS holders. Nobody seems interested in coin collecting for the sheer pleasure of it.

SOLUTION: This is where we can really put our best foot forward to attract new blood to the hobby. Participate in a local club. Show that cheap coins can be just as interesting as expensive ones. Give away cheap foreign or junk box coins.

2. Too many distractions (TV, computers, baseball cards)


PROBLEM: In this day of MTV, the Internet, Multi-media and Sega, how are coins supposed to appeal to younger people?

SOLUTION: Tell stories. Get a few steel cents, take them to a group of youth and explain that these were made during the war. Explain the historical context and the personal sacrifice people were asked to make. If you are old enough, share personal experiences. Finally, give the coins away to anyone with minimal interest. Try doing this with a history class at the local school. Most history teachers are interested in getting students engaged in what for most students is a boring requirement.

3. Lack of emphasis on historical and artistic beauty of coins


PROBLEM: Because of the emphasis on quality, investment potential, etc., the historical context and aesthetic beauty of coins are lost on the new collector.

SOLUTION: Education again. Share common date Mercury dimes. They are beautiful and cost less than 50 cents.

4. Children not taught historical setting for coins


PROBLEM: Today's kids don't know history any better than they know geography.

SOLUTION: Education. Spend time with kids. Engage them in interesting stories of the past. Embellish these stories with coins of the era. You don't always have to give the coins away. You can even share relatively scarce coins if they are slabbed and handled in a controlled manner.

5. Lack of supporting colorful arts such as storytelling


PROBLEM: We aren't as good at telling stories as we use to be.

SOLUTION: You can join a local story teller's guild. Sneak into the rec.storytelling newsgroup. Get involved with your local library's story telling program, they nearly all have them now.

6. No cultivation of inquisitiveness in children


PROBLEM: To me, this problem sounds like the typical complaint, most often made by older people, that "today's kids aren't this or that, like we were..." Children are naturally inquisitive. Today's parents, education system, and educational television provide many opportunities for children to develop in many ways. True, kids today often end up being interested in different things that the last generation. The only problem for the hobby is that it is not promoted as heavily as it was in the past.

SOLUTION: I think the majority of this problem is in the hands of those making the complaint. If kids aren't inquisitive, its because they haven't been presented the opportunity. This is an area where slabs come in mighty handy. Kids can't easily destroy a coin in a slab. Try showing kids coins using media that are comfortable to them. Computer programs, the World Wide Web and ANA's "History in your Hands" video come to mind.

7. Strong need for mentors for new collectors


PROBLEM: Because of privacy concerns, or just the busyness of life, a lot of the collectors today don't spend enough time helping youngsters along.

SOLUTION: I think that the Internet provides an excellent medium for helping starting collectors out. It doesn't take as much time, and your privacy is at least somewhat protected. Mailing lists and newsgroups provide a particularly good medium for mentoring.

8. Not enough women in the hobby


PROBLEM: Women aren't interested in coin collecting to the extent that men are.

SOLUTION: Keep working on those cloning experiments :- )

9. We are at a low ebb of the normal coin hobby cycle


PROBLEM: The coin market has traditionally been cyclic in nature. When the stock market is doing well, coins are ignored.

SOLUTION: It seems like its only a matter of time that the stock market is going to go south. It's always happened before. So now is the time to buy, while the prices are better.

10. Unwillingness to look beyond national borders


PROBLEM: Because of the alleged "boringness" of our coins, world coins provide some with a needed variety. Unfortunately, many are not willing to expend the effort to learn about other cultures.

SOLUTION: If you feel this is a problem for you, put together a web page about the coinage of a particular country. Education is the first step.

11. Close-mindedness and snobby "cliques" in hobby

3. Frustration factors

1. Overcomplicated 1 to 70 grading system


PROBLEM: Many feel that the current grading system places premium values on differences that are virtually indistinguishable.

SOLUTION: Now that we've gone down this road, it's hard to see how to go back. Buying the coin, and not the slab becomes difficult for the typical collector. When there is a significant market price difference between 64 and 65 coins, those who paid extra for their 65 are going to be hard pressed to sell for 64 money. A lot of money has been invested based on the current system. Those people whose business is splitting hairs have made a lot of money. Now that all that money has been invested in the current system, you can't go back. You can try to ignore it, but that won't make it go away. You can also bet that differences within circulated grades will gain popularity. After that has played out, somebody will devise a new "market oriented" grading system that will be used to squeeze yet more money out of the hobby. The moral is to be safe, buy visually appealing coins within the grade, no matter what grade you are buying.

2. Strong emphasis on grading technicalities


PROBLEM: With all the minor quality differences making big differences in money, you bet there is a lot of emphasis on grading.

SOLUTION: Learn to grade, or live with losing money. Alternatively, collect coins for which the grade does not greatly effect the price. The 1909 S vdb Lincoln cent and the 1916 D Mercury dimes are good examples of coins where you can't go far wrong by missing the grade a little. Cheaper coins also are also not as grade sensitive, but it is hard to make money on coins worth less than $10 in any case because of the overhead involved in moving them.

3. Too much coin data to comprehend


PROBLEM: If you study your whole life, you won't know half of everything about coins.

SOLUTION: This is the beauty of coin collecting. You are always hearing new facts that you didn't know before. For the trivia aficionado, nothing satisfies like numismatics.

4. Frustration with effort required for research and study


PROBLEM: Coin collection requires skill acquired through study.

SOLUTION: If you don't like studying about coins, this probably isn't the hobby for you. You can collect without studying, but having history in your hands without knowing the history is not nearly as satisfying.

5. Recent emphasis on complicated variety collecting


PROBLEM: The most trivial die varieties, repunched mint marks (RPMs), double dies, repunched dates and even die states command additional money and additional requirements on the part of the collector's knowledge.

SOLUTION: You can still collect by date and mint mark. There aren't enough people who collect by die variety for sellers to always get "book value" out of their "rare" die varieties. Go ahead and make an offer based on the common price if you are collecting by date and mint mark. If you are collecting by type, offer type price. They can only say no. Die variety collecting is yet another way of differentiation just like the 1-70 grading scale. Whenever differentiation can be successfully sold to the collecting public, there is money to be made. The more emphasis you, as a collector, place on trivial differences in coins, the more you can expect to pay for those differences in the future.

6. Disappointments with results from grading service

4. Fear and Secrecy

1. Inhibition and secrecy due to danger of burglary or robbery


PROBLEM: Because there are a lot of bad guys out there, it is risky to be a mentor to the hobby.

SOLUTION: By taking measures to be secure, you can minimize the risks from bad guys. Get and use a safety deposit box. Make sure everybody that knows you collect coins also knows that you use the safety deposit box religiously. I know I do. Lock your doors. If you do have coins at home on occasion, keep them in a secure and/or secret location. Be careful at coin shows if you bring coins or large amounts of money. Don't flash your money around.

2. "Best You Can Afford" teaching scares people away


PROBLEM: The most often given advice in collecting is to buy the highest quality coins you can afford.

SOLUTION: This is bad advice. Better financial advice is buy what you can resell for more. Of course, this advice is harder to implement. The worst problem with the "best you can afford" policy is that it is counter to the "fun" goal of the hobby. It also assumes that collecting is a good investment, which it usually isn't. Once you understand that, you're on the road to enjoying coin collecting for what it is, a hobby.

3. Coins are not easy to display for viewing


PROBLEM: How do you share your coins with others in a secure, yet effective way?

SOLUTION: Heck, this is something that the national collection at the Smithsonian and the museum at the ANA are still trying to figure out. Just try to find something that works for you.

4. Fear that you will not find a sucker to buy your mistakes

5. Get Rich Quick emphasis

1. Coins, in general, are not good investments


PROBLEM: Coins aren't generally a good investment.

SOLUTION: Get the word out. Coins are for fun, not for investing. This investment fervor is the work of the large dealer -- grading service gang. They are in it for the money. They need fat cat clients thinking that they are going to make a killing on their coins. Take the Elliasburg collection as an example. People look at what he did and think wow, he turned a few million dollars into $30,000,000. Friends, if he had put the same money into the stock market, he would have made more. (I'll try to put together real numbers here if I can find them. Anybody with a clue as to what he spent assembling his collection, I want to know)

2. Focus on economic value of coins, especially resale value


PROBLEM: Since the hobby is promoted as an investment scheme, people have an expectation of a return.

SOLUTION: Stop promoting the hobby as an investment scheme, then the unrealistic expectations won't be created in the first place.

3. Focus on investment potential and get rich quick


See 5.2

4. Overemphasis on mint state coins


PROBLEM: Since the "buy the best quality you can afford" mentality exists, and there are people out there with lots of money to spend, a lot of the coins people find "interesting" are uncirculated.

SOLUTION: Let the market deal with this. If more of you aren't interested in unc coins, then eventually, the price of unc coins will drop to a reasonable level. If more of you continue to emphasize high unc grades, especially 65 and above, the market has prevailed, and the prices will continue to be high.

5. Coins themselves are more important than collecting them


PROBLEM: Is this a problem?

SOLUTION: Since I don't understand this problem, I'm hard pressed to come up with a solution :-)

6. Non-liquidity of unslabbed coins


PROBLEM: It is more difficult to sell unslabbed coins than slabbed coins.

SOLUTION: The Internet.

7. Strong sensitivity of coin prices to small changes in grade

6. Dealer dilemmas

1. Unscrupulous dealers


PROBLEM: There are bad coin dealers, just like there are bad people in every line of work.

SOLUTION: Share your good and bad experiences with other collectors. Don't be afraid to post your bad experiences, dealers will learn to be more responsive to every customer when it is easy to share their experiences with large groups. The Internet is a good way to do this.

2. Overpriced material on TV shopping networks


PROBLEM: QVC and others are selling coins on TV and through mass marketing channels for obscene prices.

SOLUTION: Complain to the media companies carrying this type of advertising. You just don't see this kind of thing in Numismatic News, do you?

3. Dealer profit margins are too high


PROBLEM: The perceived value of dealer's contributions does not match the difference between wholesale buy and retail sell prices. The difference can be as much as 40%.

SOLUTION: Sell coins directly to other collectors, buy coins directly from other collectors. If you don't value coin dealers, don't use them. If you do value them, use them. For more on this subject, see

4. Over priced specialized packaging


PROBLEM: Many dealers, but most especially the mint, provide coins at a very high cost in fancy holders. The mint "prestige proof" sets are probably the most obvious example, although a lot of commemorative sets are in this group as well.

SOLUTION: Well, we've won a battle on this one. The mint is producing its last "prestige proof" set this year. Their commemorative packages are still quite expensive, but they have been giving little "presents" to the hobby. The recent release of 25,000 special issues of the botanical commemorative including a matte proof Jefferson nickel for $34 seems like a particularly good deal. The current mint director appears to be a friend of the hobby, but progress in any branch of the government is slow.

5. Coins are too expensive

1. Pricing Inconsistencies

7. Safe Sex Slabs

1. Sterility of slabbed coins (slabs are the safe-sex of coins)


PROBLEM: For some people, the fact that a coin is in a slab is as sad as going to the zoo and seeing the poor animals all penned up is for me.

SOLUTION: If you feel this way, learn how to break coins out of a slab. Free the prisoners!

2. You can't hold a slabbed coin between your fingers!


PROBLEM: The tactile experience of holding history in your hands is lost with the slab.

SOLUTION: Break em out. Alternatively, buy raw coins. Slabs are both a negative and a positive. We focus on the negative on this page, because it is a page of problems. However, the people who complain about slabs generally are very educated about coins. Because of this, they very often don't remove coins from slabs because they know that there is an upside to them as well.

3. Collector money going into slabs, not into coins


PROBLEM: Some people are collecting slabs more than coins.

SOLUTION: I plead guilty in some cases. What is really wrong with this though? Is collecting slabs any more or less strange than baseball cards or dolls? I could collect dolls with coins inside if I really wanted to, couldn't I? As long as this promotes the hobby in general, I'm all for it.

4. Collectors become museum curators