I agree some due to death and lost interest...

...and yes, it's not easy to sit at a table trying to write membership. I know, I sat at our club hospitality table for a few years at the Florida United Numistmatist convention (at that time a larger show than ANA) and only wrote up one or two new members per year. Same at the East Coast Collectorama show; only one new member...

...but there is a fact that we need to look at and try to correct since a large majority of those who have dropped out of the club are still very active collectors who do a wealth of business and maintain their collection -- while some write articles in the ANA Numistmatis magazine and some have gone on to write books along with lecturing on our interests...

...and it's also true that one either has the "Bug" or doesn't, but we know of many, many who do have that bug but have no interest in joining up with us -- as we know for a fact that in some gaming jurisdictions around the world other groups have become well-organized...

...so, we can't just assume that lots of interest is being lost when it's not (some, yes).

Given the numbers you've posted it seems that in five years from now we'll have a membership close to 50% of what membership is currently.

Yes, the hobby is strong; more chip clubs around than ever before; more organized gatherings/swap meets both here in the USA and in Europe and most of all more books and magazine/tabloid articles being written than ever before as well...

...so to blame the drop of membership on the economy does not wash in my opinion.

Let's hope we can get a lot more feedback in trying to make some corrections as it seems that we've reached the point where we need to fix something in a professional manner as stated by Westen...

BTW... Those Bananas were 59c a pound at Walmart today...