From the mouths of babes........

It think it might be time for all of us to take a deep breath and reflect on 1) why we got involved in coin collecting 2) why we show off our collections to our peers and more specifically, 3) why we share our thoughts with others by making journal entries. The teaser refers to a journal entry by Noah Pardee, who just happens to be 9 years old and had to ask his father if he could join the registry and write a journal entry. Imagine his excitement as the whole world of numismatics is unfolding before his eyes. We can only hope that he doesn't read all of the journal entries posted and if he does that his father will continue to support his efforts and be able to explain the passion that some of us 'adults' have for our hobby.

I think that it is important that all have a voice and that there will be differing opinions about everything we can post a journal about. Please try to keep it all in perspective and be civil and supportive of your fellow collectors. If that is too much to ask then I would suggest we all learn when to ignore certain posts that we disagree with. For the sake of the common good and especially the collectors just starting out we need to give them some positive feeling about the 'joys' of collecting.

Personally, I'm having too much fun with my collection to let someone else ruin it for me. Collect what you want and do it the way you want and learn to ignore some of the 'noise' that might discourage your efforts. Above all....have fun! Enjoy collecting and thank God (or your lucky stars) that you have some disposable income to invest. Thanks for your time and good luck in your pursuit of happiness (coin collecting)!