As a member, what is the most important or memorable thing you learned from another member? 1 1

[Henri Charriere]

Since becoming a member, what is the most important or memorable thing you learned from another member on this Forum?

[samclemen3991]

I will give 2 answers.  The first is that there is such a thing as a coin collecting community online.  I collected coins for decades with zero interaction with any other collectors.  My beloved dog and friend, Cinnamon, died in 2017.  To assuage my grief I went on line looking for distraction.  It was a total shock to me that there were any other people online who cared about coins.

The second epiphany I had was just how interlocked pictures have become with coins.  Even now I am still trying to learn all the nuances involving coins and pictures.  I have yet to take the next step and start taking and posting pictures but I think the internet and life have forever been altered.  James

[Greenstang]

That there are opinions different from mine 

Spoiler

[R__Rash]

1.  He who steals my purse steals nothing.

2. A little acetone bath on your junk coins goes along way

3. this is not necessarily an error coin board, but honest, sincere questions might be tolerated.

Edited August 12 by R__Rash

[VKurtB]

On 8/12/2024 at 1:55 PM, R__Rash said:

1.  He who steals my purse steals nothing.

2. A little acetone bath on your junk coins goes along way

3. this is not necessarily an error coin board, but honest, sincere questions might be tolerated.

Reason for 3: because RELATIVE TO INITIAL BELIEFS, there are virtually no error coins. Less than 1 in 1000 reported error coins are.

[ldhair]

I learned to not buy ugly. There will never be a shortage of pretty coins. Take your time and wait for the right coin to come along. Ugly is hard to sell but quality is easy to sell.  

The importance of this came true to me this year while selling parts of my collection. Quality coins brought crazy prices. Ugly stuff had very few bidders. 

[RonnieR131]

 I've realized that 'error' inquiries are here to stay, forever. An irritating thought, but it is a reality, a fact. I've learned from a few contributors how to gently handle those questions with informative answers and while doing so not being disrespectful. That's quite a task, considering there is an upcoming generation that gets their feelings hurt so easily. I can't do it, so I don't comment anymore. I always hope that they submit their parking lot coins to NGC after being argumentative. To me, $80 is a cheap lesson that they need to learn. So, I've enjoyed watching several members do it the right way, and hopefully don't run off those newbies and in turn they will learn and grow. 

[RWB]

Collectors' questions are much more numerous than expected from bourse and club conversations.

[powermad5000]

I've learned a plethora of things from many members so I can't really point to one thing as being the most important, or one contributor as being the most informative. Taken as a collective, the most important thing I have learned is how to determine what makes a coin worthy of purchase and addition to my collection.

As a lesser, I have learned how to explain some of the things I see on coins and why or why not that makes a particular coin truly of interest from a collecting standpoint. Things I have learned here also have helped elevate my self grading to be able to purchase and submit coins successfully and avoid disappointing returns grading wise and price wise on my submissions.

An edit note to add, I want to thank EVERYBODY here who has contributed to this forum and for allowing me to be a part of this and continue to be a part of this and teaching me so many different things since I came here. Thank you everybody! 

Edited August 13 by powermad5000

[EarlyUS.com]

Not so much a question that I got answered, but I did see advice to "start a coin club" on here a number of years ago.  And while I didn't exactly start a new coin club, I have helped resurrect the local club which had only two active members as of four years ago.  Now we regularly have 12 - 15 attendees with at least double that many members who show up occasionally.

[VKurtB]

On 8/15/2024 at 8:12 AM, EarlyUS.com said:

Not so much a question that I got answered, but I did see advice to "start a coin club" on here a number of years ago.  And while I didn't exactly start a new coin club, I have helped resurrect the local club which had only two active members as of four years ago.  Now we regularly have 12 - 15 attendees with at least double that many members who show up occasionally.

I got spoiled by encountering the Red Rose Coin Club of Lancaster, PA. They meet twice a month and routinely attracted over 100 members at a typical meeting back when I was in Pennsylvania. That beats the Chicago Coin Club’s typical turnout. Lancaster is a town of about 50,000, but the surrounding county is over half a million. Some of the most august collectors in the country are in Lancaster County, as is Classical Numismatic Group.

[powermad5000]

On 8/15/2024 at 11:35 AM, VKurtB said:

That beats the Chicago Coin Club’s typical turnout.

I wanted to join this club until I read the requirements to maintain being a member and from where I am at, I would have to be retired to join. I cannot control my working schedule or overtime so I wouldn't be able to make the mandatory attendance meetings required.

[Henri Charriere]

I learned many things -- mostly from vigilant Moderators.  🤣

Seriously, early on I learned the reason why so few "Original" Gold Roosters 🐓  dated 1899-1906 have been certified in the highest grades is because not enough examples have been submitted.  @RWB 's statement is as true today as the day he made it some five years ago.  Not a single such coin has been certified MS-67 since the dawn of civilization.

Another thing I learned was supply and demand are inexplicably intertwined.  Recently, I acquired a "unique." test pattern.  Top Pop; 1/0.  But what is its actual F.M.V.? Supppse no one expresses an interest in it, then what?  This is something I had never given much thought to before. Supply is only one part of the equation, but without Demand... pffft!  This was brought home to me when the owner of the sole ducat known to man was told several thousand more had been recovered from an 18th Century wreck that had previously been inaccessible due to the lack of development in retrieval technology. I credit @Just Bob with that simple lesson in economic dynamic that regretfully eluded my brother his entire life.

I credit  @James_OldeTowne for explaining something I had never know anything about because I was wholly unaware of it. Buying Sight-Seen vs. Sight-Unseen. This is critical. If you are unable to emulate the lifestyles of the rich and famous, you would enjoy the privilege of examining a coin of interest first-hand.  If you are like me, all is not lost if a seller has a written policy accepting returns which allow you to examine a coin and return it within a stated period of time. If an item you happen to be interested in states "NO RETURNS ACCEPTED," it may be best to move on.  In my case, the coin must be certified.  Why? Because buying RAW and submitting it is an unknown path fraught with peril.

Last, but not least... @VKurtB . Another member conceded he lives vicariously thru him.  So do I.  He has lived the life I could only dream of.

***

There are many others, too numerous to mention, whom everyone admires and respects. They know who they are.

 

[Henri Charriere]

@powermad5000 :

Respectfully, you're going to have to do a lot better than suggesting a local coin club enforces a minyan for membership.

I ain't buyin' it.  🤣

[powermad5000]

On 8/15/2024 at 6:32 PM, Henri Charriere said:

Respectfully, you're going to have to do a lot better than suggesting a local coin club enforces a minyan for membership.

You can see for yourself if you go to their website and read their rules. Online attendance is allowed but I don't do any Zoomie Loomie stuff. I am a face to face kind of person. Also, it does not make allowances for if I have to work overtime and cannot attend.

[Henri Charriere]

On 8/15/2024 at 11:27 PM, powermad5000 said:

You can see for yourself if you go to their website and read their rules. Online attendance is allowed but I don't do any Zoomie Loomie stuff. I am a face to face kind of person. Also, it does not make allowances for if I have to work overtime and cannot attend.

Just pullin' your leg, here, PM5000.

NOW, If you need someone to stand in for you, no problem... 

"Ricky!  Do me a solid and warm up that Gulfstream... (and be sure to put away the counterfeit silverware).  🤣

There's nothing we wouldn't do for a friend in need.  

[powermad5000]

On 8/16/2024 at 12:08 PM, Henri Charriere said:

Just pullin' your leg, here, PM5000.

NOW, If you need someone to stand in for you, no problem... 

"Ricky!  Do me a solid and warm up that Gulfstream... (and be sure to put away the counterfeit silverware).  🤣

There's nothing we wouldn't do for a friend in need.  

Counterfeit silverware  

[VKurtB]

On 8/15/2024 at 6:30 PM, Henri Charriere said:

Last, but not least... @VKurtB . Another member conceded he lives vicariously thru him.  So do I.  He has lived the life I could only dream of.

Why is that? Just because Josh Shapiro has been in my LinkedIn network for 15 years? Yes, THAT Josh Shapiro.

[powermad5000]

On 8/17/2024 at 10:52 PM, VKurtB said:

Why is that? Just because Josh Shapiro has been in my LinkedIn network for 15 years?

That would not make me want to live vicariously through you. Your trips overseas does for me. {dream bubble............maybe when I retire...............}

[VKurtB]

On 8/17/2024 at 11:49 PM, powermad5000 said:

That would not make me want to live vicariously through you. Your trips overseas does for me. {dream bubble............maybe when I retire...............}

I just made travel plans again for the 2025 World Money Fair in Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪. I’m staying in the Mitte district, an upgrade from my Neukölln haunt, flying business class, Newark to Paris to Berlin on Air France, with a “free day” both before and after the show in Berlin. Maybe I can find some cool places to explore that Wednesday and Sunday. (Groundhog Day.) I’m staying in the shadow of the television tower, at Alexanderplatz, now that I know how the public transit S-Bahn works. It is nearly impossible to NOT eat well in Berlin. I’m going back to do the show right after a year flailing around a little too much. My investments have done very well and next year starts my mandatory IRA withdrawals. The funds are available. 

[VKurtB]

On 8/13/2024 at 11:21 AM, RonnieR131 said:

there is an upcoming generation that gets their feelings hurt so easily.

I consider it a solemn duty to push back against this daily, if not hourly. They NEED their feelings hurt. Look, I am a committed “boomer”, and frankly, I have ZERO respect for the intelligence of anyone of a younger generation. I have now voted in over 100 public elections (due to Alabama run-offs) and no Gen X Y or Z or Millennial has any shot at out-voting me. I vote EVERY time, and I have to show a photo ID proving my citizenship every time too. We call it a secure election.

Edited August 18 by VKurtB

[Henri Charriere]

On 8/18/2024 at 1:23 PM, VKurtB said:

I consider it a solemn duty to push back against this daily, if not hourly. They NEED their feelings hurt. Look, I am a committed “boomer”, and frankly, I have ZERO respect for the intelligence of anyone of a younger generation. I have now voted in over 100 public elections (due to Alabama run-offs) and no Gen X Y or Z or Millennial has any shot at out-voting me. I vote EVERY time, and I have to show a photo ID proving my citizenship every time too. We call it a secure election.

Of note, VKB hasn't lost a single follower behind his stance.  In fact, there isn't a space big enough to list all his followers on one page.  If he were to become a "kinder, more gentler" member, the backlash, I suspect, would be immediate and consequential. I guess some people prefer members who speak directly. And everytime he does his numbers grow.  He has a luxury few enjoy, he doesn't need the various Forums; they need him.  Malheureusement, I am as only good as my last post.  NGC needs no reason at all to eliminate me: I serve at their pleasure.

[VKurtB]

On 8/18/2024 at 12:55 PM, Henri Charriere said:

I guess some people prefer members who speak directly.

I know I do. You can stick your fake compassion where the sun doesn’t shine, as far as I’m concerned. Look, I’m not naive. A lot of people here (members) need to treat newbies as potential customers. I don’t. I have nothing to sell to ANYONE, either here or anywhere else. My collection goes to my son, every stinking piece of it, and it’s over 100,000 pieces. 
 

And when I do seek out advice from major dealers at major shows (ANA, FUN, PAN, etc.), I seek, nay expect, nay DEMAND, nay REQUIRE direct, frank, and even brutal responses. I am usually asking for expertise for a competitive exhibit I am scoring, but not always.

I have the BEST ADVICE for anyone with a thin skin. FIND A DIFFERENT HOBBY! Nobody in this one owes you a darned thing - least of all, “positivity”.

Edited August 18 by VKurtB

[Henri Charriere]

An aside:  My wife is unfailingly polite.  When an administrative law judge at Social Security ruled against her, at the conclusion of the hearing, she smiled and responded:  "Thank you so much for thinking about me."  She was too old to adopt, so I married her instead with her family's blessing.

[Rod D.]

I owe my participation and dedication to these boards to one person; Hoghead. He gave me the courage, as a newbie, to post. 
 

What I learned: “buy the book first” (anonymous and everyone here).

I also love this place. 

[powermad5000]

On 8/18/2024 at 6:08 PM, Rod D. said:

I owe my participation and dedication to these boards to one person; Hoghead. He gave me the courage, as a newbie, to post. 

Hoghead is an awesome guy! I hope he is doing ok.