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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Eidolon, post: 3816038, member: 102103&quot;]I think there have been a number of generational shifts which will change the shape of our hobby:</p><p>1)&nbsp; Many brick-and-mortar stores are going out of business.&nbsp; At least in my area 2 of the 3 local shops have closed or moved in the last year.&nbsp; The 3rd is run by a 76-year-old man and probably won&#039;t outlast him. So rising real estate rents in cities and suburbs will drive out many local shops.&nbsp; Internet will replace this to some degree, but is less useful for low-end coins due to shipping and transaction costs.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) More sophisticated counterfeiting (esp. Chinese) has made buying coins of unknown pedigree risky.&nbsp; Thus the value added by third party grading services, who can attempt to confirm authenticity.&nbsp; This is most useful at the high end.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) The generation who lived through the shift away from silver coins (1964 in the US) is getting older.&nbsp; This created a large pool of potential coin collectors, but I don&#039;t see a comparable modern event to bring in new collectors en masse.&nbsp; I&#039;m amazed at how many coin collectors never set foot in a shop, but collect only from current circulating coins or possibly modern coins from foreign travel.&nbsp; Series like the state quarters have had some success in attracting new collectors of coins found &quot;in the wild,&quot; but I think the market will saturate as the novelty wears off.&nbsp; Appreciation potential for modern coins seems poor due to large mintages and low value of the underlying metal as an inflation hedge.&nbsp; The very highest grades may be an exception.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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