Association activities

I'm interested in knowing if you are involved in association activities regarding numismatics, are there numismatic associations in your country and locality?

In Finland we have approximately 20 local numismatic associations and in top of all we have The Finnish Association of Numismatic Societies. Totally we have rougly 1.000 association members in Finland, which is not much. At the moment I am the Chairman of our local numismatic association in addition to the Finnish Asociation of Numismatic Societies. Locally we have monthly meetings with smaller auctions and once a year larger auction and a fair weekend. Most of our member are elderly people, average plus 70 years, which means I'm a junior because I'm not even 60. We try to attract younger enthusiasts, but it’s not easy.

I got involved with the Canadian Paper Money Society (CPMS) back in 2006. I went to one meeting (a luncheon at a show in Niagara Falls) and it was very well attended. Everyone at the lunch was talking about the future of numismatics like we (currency collectors) were a dying breed. Everybody there (except a few younger collectors like myself - like you say under 60) were afraid that the Internet & e-commerce spelled the end for the hobby.

Sorry, I cannot comment on how many members for the CPMS but I only lasted 2 years (I just couldn't see the value of being a member). Incidentally, the CPMS supported the Canadian Paper Money Forum (CPMF) which back then was buzzing with activity. For me, I found there was more value to engage in the forum regularly than attend a few meetings hosted by the CPMS. Lately, I am surprised if there's 2 posts a week on the CPMF. It was shut down in 2018 & it really hasn't recovered.

I also attended 2 workshops (preservation & grading) hosted by the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association RCNA in 2018. The speakers were terrific & I was heartened to see more young collectors & more women in the hobby. I did not join the RCNA & cannot tell you about their memberships or participation. Since the pandemic I can see the value of both associations but I still feel they're a bit of a hard sell to the younger generation who love their Social Media (IG, Reddit & FB).

I am a member of the only club in Belfast. Regular meetings, AGM & a few well organised video link events during the pandemic have kept us going. There was a nice show & tell competition in May 2021. We voted to choose the best entry. Looking forward to the time when actual face to face meetings recommence.
We have regular speakers from the club and sometimes invited.
Feel happy to be a part of this enthusiastic bunch

Is it so that only few of us is a member of a numismatic association? I knew that very many are not members of any association, but I still assumed there were a little more members. Does that mean that the time for associations is over?

I am a memeber of our local coin club here in my town in North Carolina. We meet twice a month and have roughly 50-60 members. A meeting is usually a short business meeting with a presentation of a few minutes and then an auction. We also host a coin show once a year with about 15-20 dealers coming in from around the area.