Dave Bowers writes:

In the recent issues of Numismatic News, there have been many articles expressing views of the state of the coin collecting hobby. All havebeen depressing, to say the least. Comments range from the need to mentor young collectors to sustain collecting, to the hobby is on its death bed. Iguess this is an easy conclusion to come to when you go to a coin show and see what looks to be a gathering of 45-70 year-old men, shuffling aroundtables like it's the early bird special at the local Country Buffet. The fact is, in my opinion, that the optics portrayed at your local coin storeand yearly coin shows do not reflect the true demographics of numismatics in the 21st century.

Social media
If you want to find where your average Millennial spends a ton of free time, look no further than their mobile device and social media. It has becomea part of everyday life, on equal footing as putting one's shoes on. I am 34 years old, and I find myself checking Facebook and Instagram multipletimes a day to keep up with friends and family.

One day it struck me, I wonder if there are any coin-related accounts on Instagram that would be interesting to check out. I was stunned to saythe least. I found thousands of accounts relating to numismatics and precious metals, and they were all run by young people. I instantly made anaccount of my own. I quickly realized that at the age of 34, I was one of the eldest amongst the group, and some of these guys had some very nicecoins. It was amazing to see the passion and knowledge portrayed by these 15-25 year-old collectors, and this grew the passion I held for the hobbyexponentially.

If you were looking for a certain Jefferson war nickel in MS-67 graded by NGC, just make a post and there will be numerous people competing forthe sale or trade. Along with showing off your favorite items in your collection, it's a true marketplace for growing your portfolio of awesomecoins.

I quickly realized that in the digital age, this is where the youth of the hobby is, and it is thriving!

eBay
Like I said earlier, coin shows and local coin stores have become relics in the minds of Millennials. As with many industries, brick-and-mortarstores are quickly becoming obsolete in the age of the Internet. This is no different with the hobby of collecting coins.

And on Internet sites such as eBay, numismatic items are being sold by the tens of thousands each week. All one has to do is a quick search forany denomination of coin out there. Morgan dollar: 127,000 search results. Lincoln cent: 89,000 search results. If the hobby is dying out with theyounger generation, who is posting all these coins for sale? Grandpa? Could be, but I think not.

My point is, the next time you see an article about how coin collecting is going the way of the dinosaurs, remember that there are other mediumsout there other than coin shows and stores where items can be attained. Young people will always find new ways to interact with others who sharetheir same interest. And with the electronic age in full swing, it's easier than ever to find an online forum or marketplace to discuss and sellnumismatics.

To read the complete article, see:
Hobby is thriving, if you know where to look(www.numismaticnews.net/article/hobby-thriving-know-look)