With the intention of buying one of two Peace Dollars remaining to complete my series this afternoon, I stopped by my local coin shop. With visions of that mint state 1928 Peace Dollar which they had not three weeks prior an all too common reality hit me like a right hook from Connor McGregor. A husband and wife business of forty plus years now shuttered for good.

Mixing with the thoughts of owning a 1928 for a similarly low price postponed I began wondering of other like dealers. While there are shops I could go to, this one was the only "local" shop, I can not help but wonder about the state of those as well. Being as the few which remain within a reasonable driving distance are also well established and owned/operated by elderly individuals, are these facing a similar demise? Simply put, at least in my area, there are no younger people carrying on the brick and mortar type business. What's to become of local coin shops when the owners retire, or the inevitable shall happen?

As you think about that, might I suggest supporting a few occasionally? I truly believe we are entering the end to an era. Thoughts and comments greatly appreciated. 

I think as brick and mortar storefronts become more expensive to operate, a lot more dealers are going the internet route.  In my area, there are two coin shops that I occasionally visit, one of them is run by two Brothers and their Dad who have had the business going for over 50 years.  The other coin shop is run by a older (but not elderly) couple who are open fairly limited hours. Both shops hit the local show circuit and one of the shops manages the bourse for our Statewide show. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that the coin shops are evolving with the times and many of the younger dealers, who might have been brick/mortar owners in the past have gone internet and have gone show circuit.  I hope my local two shops are around for years to come but I can do just as well, coin acquisition-wise using internet resources and local, statewide, and national show attendance.

I have to agree. I am forced to drive one hour each way to my "local" shop. He wants to retire this year. The guy that wants to buy it is about 40ish so that is good. We'll see. There was on about 20 minutes from me. He was only open Mon-Fri 10-12. Even then you better call as he was seldom there. One day, like you, he was gone..Good luck on a MS 1928 Peace Dollar...

Not a shop for miles and miles. So I can forget that

Here in Pennsylvania you can find quite a few dealers. Shows are taking place almost every month with plenty of dealers present. We have  local flea market type places that are open on Sunday nearby. I found a nice flea market type place about an hour away that had 5-6 coin dealers set up. Another location has 5-6 people set up. Some of them are dealing in buying and selling silver, but also have coins. I know collectibles as a whole seem to be on the down slide. 

I just learned yesterday my local'ish shop will be closing 31 December. Thankfully, the new owner starts 1 Jan. He is a younger guy. Nice guy. We'll see. The old owner is going to be there and help him for ?

Years ago I bought a sports collectable store for my wife I think I liked it more better than her. It kept her busy and me setting up players coming to the store. The kids went nuts. There favorite Yankee Met Or Rang

@Mike B
Years ago I bought a sports collectable store for my wife I think I liked it more better than her. It kept her busy and me setting up players coming to the store. The kids went nuts. There favorite Yankee Met Or Rangers they were the big hit. I used to love talking to Mark Messier  Gretzky it was great. You met them in there hotel and you brought pictures sticks and jerseys for them to sign.even had a dinner after one signing regular guys. They registered in the hotel across the street from the garden. We knew there agent. When we came home with the signed pictures for 20.00 we have them away to the kids. Anything else was big money We had Ty.Domie  crazy man kids loved him we did good for seven years and then Stiner signed all the players to contrats. We wanted a Yankee it went from the standerd 5000 to ten.. Forget about Mess and Wayne. Twenty thousand. . So us and the other stores went out of bussiness. Everything rookie cards pictures in Storage. We went out on top. This is what happens rent goes up. You can't win.The brick stores gone . Because of one man. 

If it hadn't been Steiner it would've been somebody else.
I'm new to coin collecting but Amazon and Ebay are making it hard for almost any brick and mortar store.  Just look at chains like Barnes and Noble and Toys 'R Us, to name just two.

I believe it's the internet . Some stores have brick stores and stores on ebay. The net was a whole has hurt the entire way of buying. It's easy cheaper and you can tracking item you want.