JUSTIN COUCH: YOUTUBE COIN GUY

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V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 23, June 5, 2022, Article 19

"I just wanted to pass this article to share with E-Sylum readers. It's about a young adult (31 is still young adult?) who uses social media to teach people about the basics of coin collecting. One thing I find interesting is that he has more than 400,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. I've read various estimates of the number of coin collectors in the United States, one which placed the number of serious collectors at around a million. In no way am I suggesting that most of the subscribers to his channel might have more than just a casual interest in coin collecting, but when just one person discussing coins on YouTube has a following that large, it makes me wonder if the true numbers of casual and serious collectors are underestimated."

Surrounded by a camera, a computer and a ring light in the upstairs office of his self-proclaimed "bachelor pad," Justin Couch's face lights up and he becomes full of energy. He begins his YouTube videos by getting straight to the point, showing different coins that are worth hundreds, even thousands of dollars, and explaining why to his 419,000-plus subscribers. Most of the videos are under 10 minutes long and leave you wanting to pick your pocket to see if your spare change might lead to instant fortune.

The 31-year-old's interest in currency was piqued by his grandmother when he was a child. Couch, who grew up in Ludlow and now lives in Florence, later became fascinated by YouTube in college and it inspired him to study electronic media and broadcasting at Northern Kentucky University. After graduating, he thought he would end up using his degree to help someone else behind the scenes, but when that didn't pan out, Couch thought he might as well try it all on his own.

I'm like, man, I could really make good coin videos with much better editing skills than some of the other people had. And it was a very non-competitive niche on YouTube at the time, Couch said. And while there are more content creators these days, Couch Collectibles – as he's known on YouTube – has found his following. He has hundreds of thousands of subscribers on YouTube and Facebook and is steadily growing his audiences on Instagram and TikTok.

History is what really fascinates Couch about coin collecting. The fact that someone held this coin 100 years ago when times were completely different, it's interesting to think about that. Especially silver dollars, someone was using this as a dollar, and now it's worth at least $30 or $40 just in silver value. So that's kind of what intrigues me.

Couch's parents had a hard time making sense of his career choice when he first began: When my mom talked to my dad, she was like, ‘I think you need to tell your son to get a real job.' " But he says that didn't last very long. The first month, he made around $100 creating his own content, and then that increased to $300 and then $800 and within six months he was making a few grand a month with it consistently increasing.

Recently, Couch was in his local FedEx store and was caught off guard when a guy approached him. He was like, ‘Oh my God, you're Couch Collectibles!' and he went on to tell me that he, his wife and son watch my videos and search through coins, Couch stated proudly. It shocked me, I was thrown off.

With a following that grows more every day, he might just have to get used to that.