are there many coin collectors in Oz

[somecoinstohelpcharities]

Just curious

[kopenhagen5]

There are numerous Societies and Associations.

http://www.numismatics.org.au/

As to the number of private collectors in Aus, countless amateurs no doubt.

(I collect banknotes as opposed to coins)

[siddieswans]

I am sure that there are many self-managed superannuation funds that are investing in coins and banknotes - they are constantly being touted as excellent investment vehicles.

[emptyheadted]

not that many, small market at the moment but i would still say good investment, i have heard the chinese are starting to invest in the Australian coin market and if this is true then the sky is the limit

[jean2579]

We are in a regional town and there are two coin clubs here. They are quite popular in the rural and regional areas. My OH has a very large and diverse collection. Some of the men in his club have very extensive collections. They run auctions every few months amongst the groups.

[numismatichemist]

It depends what you mean by "many".

In terms of percentage of the population, Australia has fewer collectors than, say, America or Britain or Germany. But more than most places in Africa or South America. Combined wioth our small population comapered to most of those places, and there aren't very many coin collectors in Australia. You can choose from quite a few different market indicators that will confirm this.

The index of coin clubs in Australia can fit onto a single piece of paper, as printed in the CAB Magazine. A similar list of coin clubs in America would be the size of a small book.

THe CAB Magazine is the only coin collector magazine in the country. There are at least eight in America.

The MInts have a pretty good idea of how many MInt Sets they expect to sell; I think the number of mint sets produced by a country is directly proportional to the number of collectors in that country. MIntages for Austrlaian sets are far smaller than mintages for American sets.

The ANDA Show is the biggest coin show in the country; they get, what, 30 to 40 dealers there? That many dealers would fit into a tiny corner of one of the big American coin shows like FUN, NYINC or CICF.

[emptyheadted]

due to say 1972 1973 ect only have 10,000 proof sets yet always readily advalable i would say less than 10,000 collectors, 1930 penny only 1500 yet alway a few for sale, so i would say about 1000 serious collectors but i have heard china is starting to buy our coins and if that is true i wont take much for the market to sky rocket

[bjackson0000]

Personally, I think there are more than we think, but not all are actively collecting at the moment. Several would have settled on their collections, taken a break, or temporarily lost a bit of interest. Younger collectors are more focused on slabbed coins, which is changing the nature and direction of coin collecting IMO. I suspect many of the active collectors are not what I would refer to as traditional coin collectors, as in the past. But that is only my opinion based on what I have witnessed at auctions, discussion boards and recent market trends.

[siddieswans]

Interesting article in SMH Money setion yesterday on investing in art works - including jewellery, antiques, rare coins, stamps and manuscripts, through SMSFs. Belinda Downie said last year she is targeting super investors, arranging storage, insurance and annual valuations as part of the package. About 30% of her clients are now buying through their SMSFs.

Not sure you could call these folk traditional coin collectors though.

[17356peter]

in my view, investers are not collectors:  they read tomorrow's FT or The Australian, and they get spooked, and shift into whatever the next fad is.
We collectors love our collections - we build them with research and care.  Sometimes we make mistakes.  Sometimes we pare our collections, but we still cherish the memories.
If you look at the number of dealers around the country - selling their wares at exorbitant prices, to cover the rent and overheads of retail premises; and then you add the internet-dealers that work from home; and you relaize that they're all doing plenty of business - enough to stay in business - so there must be plenty of customers ...
the town where I live only has one dealer and no clubs, so I am largely restricted the internet for my collecting activities - and there's plenty of other collectors on line.