Convenience: The End of Coin Collecting?


Society is, and always has been, guided by convenience. The human race continuously is, and always has been, guided by the search for ease and instant gratification. In other words shortcuts.

Take fast food for instance. Did it really start in the 20th century? It seems like a good guess. Think about the birth of franchises like McDonald’s, White Castle, and In-N-Out. But the fast food tradition started much farther back in time, long before America was founded. Excavations of the ancient city of Pompeii have revealed that the Romans of that day had businesses known as thermopolia, or their day fast food restaurants, that sold prepared meals to be carried home.

Today we have numerous fast food choices, numerous drive-thru services, and even prefab homes. You don’t have to go to the restaurant; you can call Grubhub or Uber Eats and have your meal delivered to wherever you happen to be. Your groceries can be ordered online and delivered directly to your home.

So how is modern day convenience affecting our coin-collecting hobby? People are shying away from using cash. A majority of companies now pay employees with direct deposit. We then pay our bills online with credit or debit cards, never actually touching any physical money. When was the last time you went to the post office and bought stamps?

I went to a doctor recently and when I tried to pay the bill with money, I was told that the office didn’t accept cash. Really???

How long before governments stop issuing hard coins and currency entirely? What will be left for coin collectors to collect? There is already talk of ending the denominations of cents and nickels. More than one country has already done so (think Canada). 2019 statistics from Iceland report that less than 10% of their retail transactions are done with cash. Which country is next? What is the next coin-collecting generation going to collect? Emailed receipts?

Wouldn’t that be “Convenient”?


Friday, April 19th, 2024 Uncategorized