Liberty Coin Service

Many collectors are concerned about the long-term survival or growth of numismatics. Rising gold and silver prices in the past 35 years have changed the hobby more toward focusing on the financial aspect of rare coins and paper money rather than on the passion and fun of simply collecting. 

The popularity of coin collecting among children has declined as video games and other high tech distractions have become more popular. Over the years there have been a number of articles lamenting a decline in the number of children who collect, stating that this would eventually lead to fewer serious numismatists in the long term.

In my decades of experience, one change that resulted in fewer young coin collectors is the decline in children who deliver newspapers. An unusually high percentage of old-time collectors identify the opportunity of going through the change received when collecting customer subscription payments as sparking their numismatic interest. Alas, home delivery of physical newspapers has declined, a much smaller percentage of children are involved in delivery of them and the newspapers themselves now handle almost all customer payments. Therefore, this means of attracting children to coin collecting is largely obsolete.

Going on a decade ago I served for two years on the American Numismatic Association’s Future of the Hobby Committee. Attracting children to coin collecting was one of the major subjects discussed. We never came up with any “magic” answers. We did understand that the evolving technology of Internet auctions and sales and the growing prosperity of mature adults were contributing to an increase in the number of collectors in ways that were not “traditional.”

My main contribution to the committee was the thesis that those who become coin collectors as children, on average, become more successful adults. In order to come up with metrics to measure this thesis, I specified two – the coin collectors would tend to attain greater average formal education and also earn higher incomes than the average population. While members of the committee acknowledged that this was intuitively sensible, we were unable to find existing research on the thesis. We also realized the barrier of cost and time that it would take to commission research on this narrow subject.

In later conversations with other adults who work with children, such as teachers and Scout leaders, the general reaction was that it was probably true, but would apply to all children who conscientiously take up any hobby.

David Harper, the editor of Numismatic News and Beth Deisher, the now recently retired editor of Coin World also served on this committee. In market research the two publications had done, they found that about 90 percent of young collectors put their collections on hiatus in their teenage years (as I did when I went to college). Only about 10 percent of them resumed collecting in their adult years, with an average age being about 40 when they did so.

The March 2012 issue of The Numismatist includes an article by Dennis Tucker titled, “Looking to the Future.” Tucker does not think it is that important to “lure” children into becoming coin collectors. He also points out that many young collectors lose interest as they reach middle and high school years. Instead of focusing on age, Tucker emphasizes that what may interest a numismatist of any age is how rare coins and paper money relate to other subjects such as history, art, economics, geography and the like.

I can confirm Tucker’s observations about young collectors losing interest once they get into their teenage years. In 2004, the year that the Michigan state quarter was released, the Michigan State Numismatic Society Spring Convention was held in East Lansing. For the event, MSNS put on an extensive program for young numismatists. We also did significant research on the young visitors. The bulk of children who attended ranged from 7 to 12 years old. Attendance by teenagers was sparse. 

Whether or not attracting children to numismatics will “save” the hobby, the indications are that it does have some long- term positive results. In my judgment, it is worth putting at least some efforts into sparking the curiosity of children towards coin collecting. This should be done in such a way as to avoid being an economic drain. Above all, performing such tasks should be fun and entertaining rather than work. 

Here are some concrete ideas on how to attract children to coin collecting. I don’t claim to be original with all of them. I’m trying to avoid duplicating the excellent projects frequently sponsored by coin clubs, or at the US Mint’s H.I.P. Pocket Change website (http://www.usmint.gov/kids/). I also give credit to my wife, Pamela M. Heller, for contributing to this list.

• Solicit ideas for coin designs. When ideas were being considered for the design of the Michigan state quarter, I made presentations at a number of schools. I distributed templates that allowed students the option to draw a coin design, check from a list of possible design concepts, or provide a written description of their idea. Teachers loved this project as it bridged several subjects at once. I was able to tell students that the designer of the Indiana state quarter was a high school student, so that gave them an incentive to propose a sensible design. Later on, in my school presentations, I asked students to propose designs for the Westward Journey nickels. In states that have not yet come out with their version of the America the Beautiful quarters (Michigan’s comes out in 2018), design ideas could be solicited.
• Develop a numismatic-related video game. This idea might be a stretch. Video games seem to be popular because of the amount of action, but perhaps some numismatist works for a video game company and can incorporate coins into some kind of “searching for treasure” game.
• Create trivia quizzes. The ANA posted on its website Presidential trivia quiz when the Presidential dollar series debuted. I also created multiple Presidential trivia quizzes for various age levels where about two-thirds of the items were related to Presidents on coins or paper money. There was some success with both, but neither went viral. All of them were too long. The ANA’s version was related to Presidential quotes and not to coins or paper money. The problem with my versions is that I intended for students to use the Internet to seek answers they did not know. This turned out to be more of an obstacle than I realized. I’m sure that someone can create a much better trivia quiz.
• Share the fun of coin collecting. Parents often do this with their children, with varying success. I have developed a program that I call, “Collecting Coins for Fun and Profit,” that I deliver to local schools, adult organizations and even senior citizen groups. Rather than a boring presentation on how to be a coin collector, I show numismatic trivia that would be interesting to the audience. When presented in a manner that includes lots of audience participation, and made relevant to the local attendees (which is a lot easier than many numismatists might think), the audience perceives coin collecting to be fun and interesting. An important part of my presentations is making sure that the audience has the opportunity to hold in their hands examples of the interesting items.

I personally have the most experience with delivering my “Collecting Coins for Fun and Profit.” I recently incorporated this into a larger program titled, “Tips on Presenting a Fun-Filled Numismatic Presentation to the General Public.” If you will be attending the ANA National Money Show this week at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, I will be presenting this program as one of the Numismatic Theatre events. This program is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, May 11. The convention center is located at 700 14th Street near downtown Denver. My presentation will be in Room 702. There is no charge for ANA members and children under 12, but non-members must pay $6 to be able to access the adjacent bourse floor.

If you will not be attending the Denver ANA to see a live performance, you can send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to request the PowerPoint file of my program in Denver. Although I give an actual presentation of what I share with audiences in the Lansing, Mich., area, you will get the idea of how to adapt such a talk to your area. You can then use your imagination on which youngsters (and the young at heart) to share your passion for numismatics.