Numismatic Success Takes Initiative

[Architecht]

A comment thread for the front page story.

 

http://www.collectors-society.com/news/viewarticle.asp?IDArticle=251

[Hoot]

Great article Arch. Thanks for the linky.

 

Hoot

[michael]

a superlative article

[cpm9ball]

Wouldn't it be fascinating if you could go back to the 19th Century and actually talk to the collectors of the period? What were they looking for in the coins they collected? Which were their "sleepers"? The communications between the collectors had to be unbearably slow by today's standards. The same could be said for the early 20th Century, although the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution enabled them to communicate and interact to a somewhat greater degree.

 

Today, we are fortunate to be able to obtain firsthand information from the collectors of the last 50 years as they did with their predecessors. Even though the development of computer and internet technology has made information-gathering practically instantaneous, it still doesn't compare to the ability to be able to chat with the veterans and listen to their stories.

 

It seems that with every generation, there is a "new generation of pioneers" arising to carry on the traditions and advance us into the future. With the advent of the TPG's grading is becoming more of a science. It's entirely possible that, in the future, coins may be graded by computer scans and "technicians" will be relegated to the more mundane task of adding or subtracting points for the subjective values.

 

The collector, one who has the ability to "spot" rarities and predict availablity, is very similar to a stock market analyst. The job requires intense study of the past, knowledge of current trends and the guts to pick the "sleepers" for the future. The current generation of "Modern" collectors are picking their "sleepers" now. And, just like the stock market, some will succeed and some will fail. Wouldn't it be interesting if you could go into the future 150-200 years to learn what has been written about them.

 

Great article, Arch!

 

Chris