Collecting Is Changing
From comic book heroes to space exploration, new coin themes are attracting the next generation—even as cash use declines.
Fewer coins and bank notes are used in commerce than in the past, yet the U.S. Mint and Bureau of Engraving and Printing relentlessly continue to pump out more physical cash. There is a flip side to this “coin,” which is the almost ever-increasing interest of the collecting and general public in commemorative coins.
This mix of non-circulating legal tender commemoratives, specially struck otherwise bullion issues, and circulating commemoratives are still being spent as cash. The times are changing, and so is coin collecting. There will always be a healthy number of collectors seeking older coins.
Collectors seeking new or very recently released coins are changing with the times, which is a good thing. Several different designs appear annually on the reverse of our quarters. The mint recently announced NASA’s space shuttle as the reverse theme for its next American Innovations dollar coin. People still view our current $2 bank note as a commemorative because of the vignette on the back, even if “it ain’t so.”
Subjects of interest to the public, including the Superman and Batman comic book heroes (also the subject of many popular movies), set to appear on coins, will appeal to a new generation that hopefully will decide to collect them. Some of these younger collectors will eventually gravitate towards seeking older coins as well, but regardless, this change (call it modernization, if you like) is a good thing considering the continuing decline in using coins and bank notes in commerce.
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