Building a YN Initiative

“YNs are the future of the hobby!” A comment so many of us have heard before and one that rings true. Without young people getting involved and becoming interested in being collectors, dealers, graders, and industry leaders, numismatics will eventually cease to exist.

Because YNs, or young numismatists, are an integral part of the future of numismatics, it is important that we make a conscious effort to get more kids involved in the hobby. We have to create YN initiative programs to help make numismatics more accessible for young collectors. This can be a daunting but incredibly rewarding task. As someone who has only recently aged out of YN status and is currently part of multiple successful YN programs, I recommend three things when building a YN initiative: Gear the program towards kids, provide opportunities for active numismatic involvement, and offer multiple levels of participation.

#1 Know Your YN Target Audience

The first and most important thing to keep in mind when building a YN initiative is that it should be geared toward kids. Many of the kids you’ll interact with are not already collectors, so chances are they won’t be very interested in Morgan Dollars. The 50 State Quarters, National Park Quarters, and American Women Quarters are fantastic starting points for new young collectors. These coins all feature different designs, have fun history and inspiring stories behind them, and can be found in circulation, so the kids can enjoy the thrill of the hunt trying to complete their set. Date sets of currently circulating coinage are also a good entry point for new collectors. Any sets they can build by looking through their change or bargain bins at coin shows will make it more easily accessible, affordable, and fun for these budding YNs. A great alternative to the U.S. quarter programs are foreign coins. They tend to draw the attention of new young collectors because many of the designs are completely different from the coins they are used to seeing in their change.

#2 Create Hands-On Numismatic Opportunities

My second suggestion is to provide opportunities for the kids to actively engage with numismatics. This means that during your YN initiative, kids are getting hands-on experience with numismatic items. Active involvement can be something simple, such as searching through change to find coins to fill the holes in their set, matching world coins to their country of origin on a map, or taking them to the bank to search through rolls of coins. You can also encourage them to get even more involved by sending them on a numismatic scavenger hunt, suggesting the use of numismatics for school projects or helping them build an exhibit to compete at a local coin show. It is important to think about what activities will be fun and engaging for the kids you are trying to reach. Younger kids will have a blast with activities like searching through change for their missing National Park Quarters or digging through a treasure chest filled with coins from all over the world. Older kids might enjoy the slightly more involved tasks like scavenger hunts or building exhibits. Having a mix of activities is a great way to ensure you have something that will interest everyone!

#3 Get YNs Involved!

My final suggestion is to offer multiple levels of participation. Every child that participates in your program is going to have different levels of interest. Some of them are going to find coins fascinating from the start, while others might take some time to warm up to them. The kids who are interested right away will most likely want to participate in other activities that help them learn more about numismatics and get hands-on experience with coins. However, the less-interested kids will probably lose interest after the initial, simple activity – and that’s okay. Providing multiple activities gives kids the option to choose how involved they want to be, making them more willing to participate in your program.