Here we are in 2022 and when it comes to finding collectible coins in your change you can basically forget it. The only ones you are likely to find these days are common old garden crud such as ‘Diversity’, ‘Peoples Act’ or (shudder me timbers) one of the dreadful ‘Paddington’ designs.
There are two good reasons for this – firstly because bugger all has been put into circulation for years (apart for the aforementioned pap) and secondly because every man and his dog is now an ‘avid coin collector’.
It is a very sad old state of affairs indeed!
Is this likely to change? Will we see more releases go into circulation in years to come?
Personally I don’t think so. I do not want to be a prophet of doom, but I am going on the evidence. The Royal Mint have got everything in place nicely for ‘purchase only’ releases so why would they lose money by putting new coins out there??? Sure, they make token gestures with a handful of ‘Jubilee’ or something oh so very exciting as ‘Brexit’ (which we were all sick of seeing and hearing about before it even happened). But proper releases of the best designs no longer happen. Fancy one of the prettier coins? Then reach for your wallet cos you are going to pay!
Meanwhile, even common as doggy-doo coins such as ‘Libraries’ or ‘Tiggywinkle’ are virtually non-existent. And this is because they have all but been sucked out of the system by people who are convinced they will be ‘worth a lot of money one day’. Lol. Watch those reappear in time as people get a powerful ‘reality slap’.
Coin collecting has always cost money as there have always been rare additions to buy. But these days it costs far more dollar. Because most new coins will automatically mean another tenner. And considering the massive amount which are now released each year (basically since the media were used to drum up far more interest in 2016 onwards) numismatics is now a very costly hobby indeed!
It is worth looking at how many fifty pences and two pound coins came out each year before 2016. They were far, far less frequent I can assure you! Since then, the amount of new coins is absolutely crazy….. until you remember the only way of obtaining most of these is by purchasing them….
KER-CHING!!!
Lol. Because then it all makes sense!
But….. we will all keep on buying them or we will have gaps in our collections. Shock! Horror! And The Royal Mint are very aware of this. For any serious coin collector this would be an unthinkable situation! Therefore, each time a new release goes on sale, we are led back to the RM checkout by the short and curlies.
Clever and crafty business methods.
Wheels within wheels.
Coins within attractive packs 😀
© Article copyright Mik Smith 2022
MAIN IMAGE – reblogged from irishamerica.com (apologies to anyone with harlequinophobia……)
When I started collecting, I felt that buying coins was cheating, now I break into a cold sweat if I think I have missed a new release, and follow the lemmings into the royal mint ravine.
Hahahhaha. Yes, that sounds very much like a chapter from my story too Gary 🙂 We all get suckered into it in the end!
The cost of these uncirculated coins is getting out of hand a bit, but to keep the set going you have to have them, Gary’s comment about the Royal Mint Ravine is spot on.
Absolutely. And yes, Gary’s comment summed it all up very well indeed 🙂
Bit late to leave a comment but I feel I must. As a kid I collected coins back in the 1960s and the treasures we found back then in our change. That’s why I feel sorry for the youngsters today trying to collect. I saw the boom and bust in stamp collecting during the 1970s. Coin collecting I feel is heading in the same direction. All I can say to young collectors is to take your time and think carefully about any purchase from the Royal Mint. A collecting mania can be a good thing but you must be able to rein it in when required.