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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;World Colonial, post: 2444641, member: 78153&quot;]Are you saying that the numismatic premiums on the &quot;bullion/junk&quot; markets will disappear?&nbsp; Or the use of these metals as a store of value?</p><p><br /></p><p>If the former, I can see that.&nbsp; If the latter, not in my lifetime because for gold at least, its value has nothing to do with its supposed utility because if it did, it would not be near its most relatively overpriced point in history.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for foreign countries, apparently you believe that affluence is the primary cause of collecting.&nbsp; It is culture, not how much money someone has.&nbsp; Absent a culture change, there is zero reason to believe that societies that have not collected at all or minimally will do so in much larger numbers (either proportionately or absolutely) just because they can afford it.&nbsp; Those who think otherwise have an inflated opinion of the appeal of the hobby to non-collectors who have no interest in it other than financial.&nbsp; There is no evidence for this position, anywhere.&nbsp; Affluence is a necessary precondition but in and of itself not remotely sufficient.</p><p><br /></p><p>To give you a personal example, my father is from Bolivia through German and Spanish ancestry.&nbsp; There is no evidence of collecting in the country at all whether by Europeans or natives, the latter whom never even struck their own coins, ever.&nbsp; The closest to a coin shop I ever saw was in 1975, a plateria.&nbsp; Since returning regularly in 1997, I see coins in markets but its all junk for tourists.&nbsp; It isn&#039;t on their radar.</p><p><br /></p><p>The population is about 12 million with probably three million households or somewhat more.&nbsp; There must be at least 30,000 with a liquid net worth of $1MM USD or near it and a multiple with $100k.&nbsp; The supply of better &quot;collector&quot; coins and &quot;investment&quot; material over five centuries might be worth what, $10MM or somewhat more, at most?</p><p><br /></p><p>The whole point of this lengthy post is that there is plenty of &quot;wealth&quot; available and no shortage of affluent people RIGHT NOW to collect AND pay much higher prices given the pitiful supply to be bought.&nbsp; More wealth will make zero difference to people who aren&#039;t interested and the only thing that will do so is a culture change.&nbsp; For the individual prospective collector, there is little or nothing to buy locally and also no profit motive because no local market exists to liquidate.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can substitute any other country of your choice for Bolivia where there is a limited or no history of collecting and the result is going to be almost exactly the same.&nbsp; The observable evidence better supports that for MOST countries, its going to be buyer&#039;s in developed countries with a cultural affinity (such as Mexican Americans buying Mexico coins in the US) who will move the price level.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for as the competitiveness of US material, an increase in world coin prices will help but except in isolation, there is no reason to believe that the better world coins will approach parity with the US price level where it will matter to anyone reading this post.&nbsp; The US price level is not normal, it is outliers.</p><p><br /></p><p>Its difficult to cover everything but I have a lot more to add if you or anyone else is interested.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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