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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;thegreatdane, post: 2878362, member: 83311&quot;]Hi all, I&#039;m relatively new to posting here, but I thought I&#039;d chime in since this is a subject that&#039;s been on my mind as well. </p><p><br /></p><p>I think many of us can relate to picking up a &quot;cool&quot; coin when we were younger, or experiencing a moment of fascination with a coin or coins which helped us get into the hobby of collecting. As we do inevitably move toward using less coins and currency, there will, in my mind, be a lesser catalyst for new collectors to pick up the hobby.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, the same technologies that may hurt the hobby in some ways by making monetized coins less common or obsolete will also help it in others. Just look at what&#039;s happened in recent years. Since the rise of the internet, coin prices have risen MUCH faster than the rate of inflation, and arguably also faster than prices of almost any non-commodity good. This is during a time where cash transactions have been falling. This must be due at least in part to a greater availability of information and a new level of access to formerly more geographically limited markets.</p><p><br /></p><p>Future generations may not have as much childhood or early adulthood exposure to coins as we have had, but they will undoubtedly come into contact with coinage in some shape or form. It&#039;s human nature to want to get close to history and to feel it in some way, and to collect things. Coins will probably always remain a preferable way to do that. There is no other single historic and accessible &quot;thing&quot; you can collect from nearly all ages in recorded history. Not stamps. Not guns. Not books.</p><p><br /></p><p>Coins are one of the best ways to stay in contact with human history, and I&#039;m inclined to believe that won&#039;t change even in my lifetime.</p><p><br /></p><p>On a side note, I find it funny that I can write this with such confidence. Only a week ago, I expressed a similar doubt to my wife about collecting &quot;toy&quot; soldier figures. I wondered if the store I had bought them from would go out of business at some point. Her response: &quot;I don&#039;t think so. People will always enjoy things with a history attached to them.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>If I am wrong, my current modest collection may drop precipitously in value. BUT, as a lifelong I-don&#039;t-care-what-others-think collector, I will look at the glass as half-full and go on the coin shopping spree of a lifetime to make up for it <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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