I for one think that the cash in hand will be gone. I agree with GD that alot of areas in our country are still a little bit isolated but I feel that will be gone in a generation. As ND pointed out the technology is already there for a national currency credit card. However, GD's comment made me think about how a lot of US currency is horded and used as cash payments outside of the United States by citizens of other nations. There must be far reaching economic implications with that and it will be interesting to see how the third world deals with the decline of hard Euro/US dollars if that does take place. As for the hobby/investment of coin collecting. The last time I looked at the map, there was no Roman Empire, no Ottoman Empire, and no Chinese dynastys listed. However, people still collected coins from those eras and past. So with or without the production of coins in the future, I think that there is enough diverse product out there to keep the interests alive and maybe even cause a boom or two every few years with different collections. Especially if people then react with a world without currency by driving up metals. Henceforth, the turning in of reserves by individuals or governments to be melted into bars or chains may take place. This would then thin the ranks of the silver and gold coins that are out of favor which would then make them scarce and perhaps more of a collectable item. But what do I know I have a house built upon sand.
