I've handled a few coins along the way; even had some Danish 1870's gold coins I was gifted by family members at college graduation. Old as they might be, they have never been worth more than the bullion value. But they are still fun.

The same thing applies to stamp collections, which is more my arena. People have great expectations, and aren't often happy to know that a once common stamp isn't valuable just by merit of being old, it has merely become a common OLD stamp.

Most hard goods are becoming more and more difficult to market... the younger generations of today are less inclined towards home ownership and putting down roots, so "stuff" is losing its relative importance.