Misuse of the word Original

[supertooth]

Hello my fellow numismatists---Has anyone out there been noticing how our coin terms are being misused and mistreated? Not to mention our coins? As a kid, the word original to me meant that the coin had been kept in the same state as when it had come from the mint---other than whatever circulation wear that it had gotten along the way. That noone had fooled with it. In short, that Mother Nature was the only one who had done anything to it. Today, I fear the worst for these 'original' coins. For they are being dipped and AT to death----and yet sold on the marketplace as 'original'. They are sold as 'market acceptable' but not as 'original' or 'original skinned'. Our friend, CTcollector, just put on a post on the PCGS boards regarding AT ruining our hobby. Please read it. We had just spoken of this in PM messages to one another. In short, we are fed up with people destroying coins for the sake of a buck. Those of us who are traditionalists deserve and must speak out to preserve the true meaning of 'originality'. We need to educate everybody who will listen. But we also need a designation label on the TPGS slabs that says 'original' or 'original skinned'. This abuse of our coins has got to stop before there are none left to save. Do we 'traditionalists' need a union to speak for us? Are we not entitled to our fair due? Does not every collector who buys a TPG coin the right to know if it is truly 'original' or if it has been dipped or AT or conserved? Surely those who do not collect solely for the potential money profits deserve to have their little niche too? All your thoughts are welcome. Thanks. Bob [supertooth]

[truthteller]

I find the use of "original skin" to be awkward. One can dip a coin and "put on" original "skin" quite easily.

 

 

 

TRUTH

[TomB]

I share your angst but am not certain what is the best course of action to follow. One may always vote with his wallet, but that does not stop those who simply don't care about originality or those who are targetting collectors who are not aware of what to look for.

 

However, I do not believe the TPGs are the main reason for this abuse of coinage. After all, prior to the advent of successful TPGs there were coins altered with great frequency. The TPGs have created a niche market of what might be termed market acceptable manipulation. This may have curbed much of the aggressive manipulation, but encourages more subtle deception.

[braddick]

I find the use of "original skin" to be awkward. One can dip a coin and "put on" original "skin" quite easily.

 

 

 

TRUTH

And I always thought, at first, Original Sin by INXS was a racist song, but if you listen to the words carefully you'll discover it's not.

[IGWT]

One may always vote with his wallet, but that does not stop those who simply don't care about originality or those who are targetting collectors who are not aware of what to look for.

 

Part of the problem is that the next generation of collectors won't know the look of an "original" coin. BTW, I think that there is a proper place for true conservation.

[michael]

for me the only cure is for a collectgor to learn and know and understand what he is lookingf at by many years of study and scholarship and also the many mistakes made along the way

 

as a collecgor with no greed resale ulterior motives and also with all past coin markets and times

 

and even MORESO ESPECIALLY SO WITH THIS MARKET MOVING FORWARD

 

YOU GOT TO SPECIALIZE SPECIALIZE SPECIALIZE

 

IF YOU DO NOT DO ALL OF THE ABOVE WEATHER IT IUS HARD OR YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT

 

then let the buyer beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

and you will if you do not do all of the above first even if it takes you a decade or more you are going to get it the broom handle up your wazoo with it broken off up there to boot

 

now if this is hard to do

 

well so be it this is THE ONLY WAY

 

this is the only way

 

such is life and it is not a fair game but the above is the blind truth

 

NO NO NO NO NO ever at any time grading service is ever going to give collectors that do not specialize and gain experience for themselves waht they need

 

THEY GOT TO GERT IT FOR THEMSELVES

 

not easy but crystal clear choices

 

make your decisions for yourself and if you do not aDO ALL OF THE ABOVE FIRST

 

this is okie just let the buyer beware

[James_OldeTowne]

The use of the term "original" has come to mean "natural". By that, I mean the coin has not been subjected to an artificial environment or action of some sort, something that lies outside of the realm of the usual process of commerce. So, cleaning, dipping, retoning, those things are not original, as you wouldn't expect a coin used in the normal course of commerce to suffer those indignities.

 

I don't think "original" means "as it left the mint", because then circulated coins could never be considered original. But of course, an uncirculated coin that is as it left the mint is original.

 

James

[CTcollector]

OK Bob - I put my thinking cap on over the weekend and thought about how us "traditionalist" collectors can help raise awareness to what we percieve to be the current plagues on the hobby - AT, conservation, gradeflation, greed, etc... All of which are leading to the slow extinction of original coins available in the market place.

 

The grading services and "at large" dealer community are not going to step up. They are making way too much money to change the status quo. It is up to the collector base to take the initiative and offer an alternative view to the current state of the hobby. Additionally, we can not force people to appreciate originality. It is within each collector whether originality is something they are passionate about or not.

 

So what can we do - we can educate and make collectors better informed to what they are doing. At least to those that are motivated and interested. Unfortunately, knowledge is tightly guarded within the coin hobby and it is very tought to extract it from the insiders. Its their competitive advantage. So lets try our best to even out the playing field a little bit. I'm sure if we get a bunch of us together we can shed some good light.

 

I was thinking about organizing a club, but that seemed logistically tough. Then it dawned on me when I was repsonding to Brusewears post on his Kennedy, lets use this board in some capacity to communicate educational points to a large audience. A weekly article or something. We can get a few guys together an alternate. What do you think ?