Hobby Resilience - Long Term

[Hankphenom]

I wonder what happened to stamps and coins, stagnating or even declining in value, as opposed to other collectibles that have appreciated, some exponentially, over the years. I think stamps and coins are still popular, with millions of collectors and large conventions, so what explains the difference? Maybe they're just not as much fun or as interesting as the others? They were probably the earliest major collectibles, why didn't they at least keep pace?

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I wonder what happened to stamps and coins, stagnating or even declining in value, as opposed to other collectibles that have appreciated, some exponentially, over the years. I think stamps and coins are still popular, with millions of collectors and large conventions, so what explains the difference? Maybe they're just not as much fun or as interesting as the others? They were probably the earliest major collectibles, why didn't they at least keep pace?

Take some names like Bugs Raymond, Hooks Wiltse, Nap Rucker, Rough Carrigan. Probably nobody else, of any note, has ever had these names, besides the ballplayers of the 1910 era. I would bet that every year, fewer and fewer people know who these men were. 20 or 30 years from now, far fewer people will know (or care) than today. 50 years from now, they may be completely obscure, save for a tiny number of hard core baseball historians.

Hank, we've discussed The Glory of Their Times before. I would say that book has done for tobacco era cards what the 1952 Topps Mantle has done for post war cards. So, I would say, keeping interest (and value) alive for the old common baseball cards keys on keeping alive the history of the game during that era, through books and movies.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Hank, we've discussed The Glory of Their Times before. I would say that book has done for tobacco era cards what the 1952 Topps Mantle has done for post war cards. So, I would say, keeping interest (and value) alive for the old common baseball cards keys on keeping alive the history of the game during that era, through books and movies.

Yes, Mark, I've always thought that the publication of Larry's book followed shortly thereafter by the beginnings of collecting conventions, SABR meetings, and other manifestations of a heightened interest in baseball history is no coincidence. And baseball and other cards had a long history before that, some of the few mass collectibles you could point to along with stamps and coins, there just wasn't much organization or money to it. I've wondered on occasion if you had a nice Babe Ruth signed baseball in say, 1955, and wanted to sell it, where would you go and what could you get for it? I'd guess an antiques dealer might give you fifty bucks and try to sell it for a hundred, but even that might be overstating the market at that time for something that could buy your kid a college education today.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I wonder what happened to stamps and coins, stagnating or even declining in value, as opposed to other collectibles that have appreciated, some exponentially, over the years. I think stamps and coins are still popular, with millions of collectors and large conventions, so what explains the difference? Maybe they're just not as much fun or as interesting as the others? They were probably the earliest major collectibles, why didn't they at least keep pace?

Baseball, Football, Basketball, Antiques Roadshow, American Pickers, Storage Wars, etc. all on TV and cable and generating public interest. But even with all these shows, can't remember when I last saw coins or stamps on any of them.

[Mike D.]

On stamps and coins...you gotta remember, there are people right now who are adults who probably have handled coins and/or stamps a handful of times in their lives.

OK, "a handful" is probably an exaggeration, but these days you can probably go MONTHS without touching either a stamp or a coin.