Collecting is no longer confined to physical items, with plenty of virtual options popping up over the years. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
My siblings and I once spent much time going through our late father’s large stamp and coin collections – working out whether there were any priceless, rare treasures to make us wealthy beyond our dreams.
We took them to one of Canberra’s very own experts on collectables – Edlins in Alinga St – to have them valued. Disappointingly, there wasn’t anything of great earthly worth, but the intrinsic value was way beyond dollars.
Collecting things was and is a tangible, deliberate pursuit. In the past, you’d wait for the postie to deliver a letter, hopefully paid for with a rare stamp, or scour secondhand bookstores for a first edition. You’d trade postcards with relatives and pen-pals or carefully catalogue coins collected from travels.
It was not just about the objects – it was about the stories, the rituals, and the connections they represented.
Philately, the collecting of stamps, is a gateway to geography, history, and art. Stamp collecting has been in steady decline for decades. As email, text messaging, and online financial transactions have grown, fewer people are sending letters and fewer stamps are printed.
For younger generations, stamps are no longer a part of daily life, let alone a source of fascination.
Deltiology is the collecting of postcards and was once a vibrant hobby. Now the idea of sending a physical card from a holiday makes no sense. Why wait days for a message when you can share a photo instantly?
Even coin and banknote collecting (numismatics and notaphily) face challenges. As digital payments replace cash, the circulation of currency is declining. Some countries are phasing out coins altogether.
Many of those pastimes and hobbies have faded but, as technology takes over, the nature of collecting has taken on a new form.
From NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to a whole range of virtual objects found in the vast gaming community, the world of collecting is undergoing a psychological and cultural shift.
But what drives people to collect things they can’t touch? And what does this mean for places such as Edlins?
At first glance, digital collectibles seem counterintuitive. Why pay thousands of dollars for a JPEG? The answer lies in the same instincts that have driven collectors for centuries: the desire for scarcity, status, nostalgia and self-expression.
Digital collectibles, like their physical mates, often come in limited editions. Blockchain technology ensures that each item is unique and verifiable. This uniqueness creates a sense of worth – apparently owning a rare NFT is akin to owning a rare coin or first-edition book.
It’s not about the object itself, but what it represents: the prestige and the belonging.
In the past, some collectors curated their own personal museums. Today, those cabinets are virtual. There are platforms called OpenSea, NBA Top Shot, and Reddit’s Collectible Avatars that allow users to showcase their digital finds.
Digital collectibles often come with badges, rankings, or perks. They’re not just things you own – they’re things you use to show who you are.
Nostalgia plays a powerful role in digital collecting. It taps into memories of early internet culture, childhood games, or discontinued toys.
For millennials and Gen Z, these digital artifacts stir up a past that feels both personal and communal. The boomers who thought these generations didn’t care about the past are wrong.
In a world where much of our social life happens online, digital possessions become part of our brand.
Is that a bit like owning a 1930 penny?
Of course, digital collecting isn’t perfect. Critics argue that NFTs are environmentally damaging as they suck up huge amounts of power to run data storage. And unlike physical objects, digital items can disappear if a platform shuts down.
There is also a thing called bit-rot. Virtual collections can, like their physical forebears, slowly decay and lose their value.
Cultural institutions are taking notice. Some museums are experimenting with NFT exhibitions or acquiring digital art for their collections. Others are exploring how to preserve and interpret digital culture.
Collecting is about more than objects. It’s about meaning, memory, and identity.
In the digital age, those impulses haven’t disappeared, they’ve just found new outlets.
Whether it’s a rare Pokémon card, a virtual sneaker, or a meme on the blockchain, digital collectibles are the new artifacts of our time.
There are new business opportunities awaiting the innovators and those who can adapt as needed. Will the Edlins of the business world eventually become the arbiter and auctioneers of online collections of NFT art? Will they become depositories that protect precious memorabilia from bit-rot?
Seems collecting stuff is a human trait that won’t go away.
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