Reversing The Decline In Stamp Collecting

Full name is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

aka National Airport, Geoff.

On the museum, I was hoping to see a working rotary press but let disappointed. I did really like the RPO though.

Jack Kelley

Climber Steve:

Interesting, I was there from 10-11:30. I agree with you about the need for an index on the pullouts. I got there right at opening and there were a few others along with me waiting for the doors to open. There was a ton of small kids there too...




Yes, I totally agree! It was too dark to see anything. I got a much better view of it last year in NYC.

Chris

I'm not convinced stamp collecting is in a decline based on the number of auction catalogs I receive and the prices realized.

There may be areas of weakness, but in general, things seem to be okay. Maybe the "decline" is that traditional sales venues are not what they were in the past, and the new venues have not reached maturity.

My sense is that stamp collecting is in decline, at least in the U.S.A. Three points: First, Linn's Stamp News has many fewer pages than it used to have. Second, bookstores (the few that are left) carry very few, if any, books on stamp collecting nowadays, and they have no stamp collecting magazines at all. The situation was much different twenty-five years ago. Third, a stamp dealer in this forum told me yesterday that demand for post-1930 U.S.A. stamps had "fallen off a cliff," with no hope for a reversal.

The increasing number of rich people in the U.S.A. may be helping the auction houses sell stamps.

Some countries issues stamps with Hillary and Trump in front of the White house during the campain, I can't beleive any serious collector will purchase such crap..

I promote to non collectors all the Time. Magazines I leave in doctors offices or at the break room at work as free do get picked up.

People I work with take interest in my company postal history items I show and tell.

Christmas I give sheets of postage stamps to family nieces and nephews that are topics appealing to their interest, not to collect but to use as postage.

Neat stamp I see fits a friend's interest, for example trains, I give to them with a note about the fascinating countless other trains etc on stamps. Promoting a way to relax, learn more about ones various interests, and is a low cost passtime with some return for exiting possible.

I donate to the APS Mighty Buck program each year.

My 4 and two year old children like stamps. Butterflies, mushrooms. I buy stamps that match their wondrous interests. They organize them on their own into vario pages and albums, which I also annotate for their future enjoyment. My wife has an interest in "our places we've been" stamp collection (so many national sites are on stamps). After visiting Niagara Falls I make a mission to find several stamps depicting it, organized in order of our travels.

When I briefly sold stamps I always sent out APS referral cards with lots and received APS's $5 checks for maybe a dozen new APS members.

At my work place this month it is Black History Month. I will print out and post on my desk an image and the real stamp being issued in the black heritage series. When passers-by notice, I will explain why so and so is being honored on the new stamp, and ask if they would like one as a momento.

There are many ways to be an ambassador of the hobby. Yes it was and Is the Hobby of Kings and is perfect for those needing a real and tangible outlet for relaxation, knowledge, appreciation of patriotism and diversity. Baby boomers will be retiring by the millions over the next 30 years, and I think a few of them will be nostalgic to return to, or begin with, such a great hobby as is philately.

Crouse27,

Wow, you deserve an award!

Jack Kelley

I tend to believe that stamp collectors are born, not made. People either have the personality type, or they don't. So, I doubt that "outreach," although admirable, does much use.

Other than myself (and folks I meet at stamp shows), I have never known anyone who was a stamp collector.

Back in the 1980's and 1990's, the city in which I lived (Austin, Texas) had stamp shows four or more times each year. By the year 2000, attendance at the shows had declined so much that they were all canceled, permanently.

In my opinion the premise that stamp collecting is dying/shrinking is intellectually dishonest because folks consider parameters that are not valid. Consider the common justifications that we typically hear. For any of the traditional measurements we can easily justify the changes to the advent of the internet.

Loss of brick and mortar stores? The internet. Decline in memberships in clubs and organizations? The internet. Decline in publications and subscriptions? The internet. Live auctions less frequent? The internet.

The missing part of being able to understand whether or not this hobby is growing or shrinking is getting good metrics for online activity. Until we can get a handle on the number of hobbyists who are now interfacing with philately online we are just speculating (at best).

The only premise that I am willing to agree with at this point is that without question our hobby has undergone sweeping changes in the last decade.
Don

You nailed it, Don.

There probably is a substantial drop in post-1930 mint stamps, since huge numbers of collectors looked at past performance of earlier mint stamps and thought they had discovered a great investment. Sort of like the housing bubble.

But the ups and downs can be a good thing.

For example, no doubt after the 2008 financial crash, some stamp collectors must have looked at ways to trim their collecting interests and sold some of the peripheral items - I'm thinking of US mint Duck Stamps in particular, because I had regretted not picking up Ducks when they were cheaper. Then, suddenly, they hit the market in about 2009 at bargain prices. I went nuts and assembled a nice collection of them.

Then the economy recovered and so did the values for US Ducks. So now the dilemma is whether to sell for a quick profit - buy low and sell high, the investment rule, you know - or just be happy with the collection.

Similarly, in the 1970's I had seen the potential increase in silver coin values on the horizon, so when silver peaked at near $50 an ounce I was able to sell enough common date silver coins to pay for all my hobby purchases and buy my wife a car.

If prices never come down, how can a collector "buy low"?

My younger brother bought HUD homes in California after an earlier housing bubble crashed, and sold most of them at the peak of the more recent bubble, and retired young.

Just saying...

Paul, now I understand what your ID is. Nice spot.

You and I were no doubt at many of the same shows way back. I always enjoyed those local shows, and I purchased a lot of fun items at them over the years. It is very sad that they are still long gone.

On topic - one thing that the local shows did for me, was to get me out and 'into stamps', even if I was otherwise taking time off from buying. The local shows were easy to get to, and would keep me involved, and interested, and would put stamps in front of me to enjoy. Now, with the internet, obviously I can see way more stamps any time that I want, but I can't pick them up with tongs, nor put my own magnifier on them. There is no substitute for an in-person experience, for me, even if the internet does now offer nice alternatives.

"There is no substitute for an in-person experience, for me, even if the internet does now offer nice alternatives."

I couldn't agree more!

Austin was my home for forty years, but then I retired and moved away. Still in Texas though, somewhere west of Dallas. :-)

While I agree that the internet must be taken into account, I still feel that there has been some shrinkage.

If Facebook (or more precisely Facebooks Ads) is to be trusted, some rough 'ballparks' for 25-65+ collectors are:

* 454,100 people have interest in Stamp Collecting
* 496,940 people have interest towards philately

In comparison,
* 1,868,300 people have interest in numismatics
* 873,060 people have interest in coin collecting

To get some comparison ground:
* 20,720 people have interest towards APS. I think true membership is about 30,000.... So the Facebooks suggestions can be off by at least 30% (or possibly that 30% is the portion that does not use online services).


Just my 5 cents worth.

-k-