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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 1417454, member: 15309&quot;]That is part of the correct answer Doug.&nbsp; However, I would not limit it simply to coin forums although they are a huge part of it.&nbsp; I credit the explosion of the toned coin market to two separate factors.&nbsp; The first is the internet.&nbsp; As you have pointed out, the coin forums &amp; registries provided an avenue for collectors to show off their collections and spread the popularity.&nbsp; But without E-Bay, Heritage, and the other coin auction websites, there would have been no way for collectors to obtain these coins.&nbsp; Prior to the internet, collectors were limited to buying coins from their local dealer.&nbsp; The internet made every dealer in the world a local dealer.</p><p><br /></p><p>The second factor and equally important is the advent of digital photography.&nbsp; Without the ability to take quick and easy photographs, the collectors would not be able to share their toned coins on the forums, and the E-Bay sellers would not be able to sell their toned coins on the internet.&nbsp; Both factors are related to technology which once discovered are not going away.</p><p><br /></p><p>The end result is that these two advancements in technology dramatically increased the demand for rainbow toned coins which in turn caused the prices to rise.&nbsp; At the time, there were plenty of raw rainbow toned coins languishing in the hidden cases of every B&amp;M dealer in the country.&nbsp; The display cases were full of freshly dipped white material which is what sold back then.&nbsp; Photography &amp; the internet liberated rainbow toned coins and brought them to the masses.&nbsp; It was not some passing fad that made them popular.&nbsp; The fact is that most newbie collectors have never seen a rainbow toned coin.&nbsp; And when they see their first rainbow toned coin they usually have one of two reactions.&nbsp; The first is to be awed by the beauty of rainbow toned coins and immediately become a fan.&nbsp; The second reaction is to view them as a deviation from what they are used to and what they think coins should be, therefore they dislike toned coins.&nbsp; Over time, as these newbie collectors gain more knowledge and experience, they gradually come to appreciate the virtues of toning.&nbsp; These are the collectors who are compared to newbie wine drinkers who prefer simple whites like Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio while resisting the complex reds.&nbsp; But over time, just as the wine drinkers graduate to reds, so do white coin collectors graduate to appreciate toned coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>So we have established that the demand for these coins has increased dramatically over the last decade and that it will only continue to rise, albeit not nearly at the same rate.&nbsp; Therefore, the only threat to toned coin prices is the supply.&nbsp; I submit that the supply of toned coins can only be drastically affected by one factor, artificial toning.&nbsp; However, I take an alternate view as to what would happen if the technology advanced to the stage that anyone could create an AT coin realistic enough to fool the TPG&#039;s.&nbsp; The result would be that the TPG&#039;s would stop slabbing toned coins all together, making the supply of certified rainbow toned coins fixed.&nbsp; While some collectors might write off toned coins all together, I think that most toning enthusiasts would be left fighting over the finite supply of toned coins already encapsulated by the TPG&#039;s.&nbsp; What others predict will cause the collapse of the toned coin market I think may actually cause prices to rise.</p><p><br /></p><p>What really bothers me about this subject is that the large majority of people who state that toned coins are a fad do so without ever providing reasons or evidence to support their &quot;shoot from the hip&quot; conclusion.&nbsp; I have now provided a detailed explanation to my theory about what caused the rise of the rainbow toned coin market and the future stability of that market.&nbsp; Perhaps the toning fad guys could return the favor.&nbsp; In the immortal words of Bart Scott, &quot;CAN&#039;T WAIT!&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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