Quote:
Originally Posted by coinman0456  ... I wonder what new & great things will be forthcoming from these newly elected officials. |
Hopefully, nothing.
I recommend highly when you get a chance
Systems of Survival by Jane Jacobs. Jacobs says that there are two ways of making a living, as a Guardian or as a Trader. This reflects the same broader theme of Murray Rothbard's
Power and Market. Even though we buy and sell money for fun, we numismatists often fall into thought patterns that are anti-market and contrary to commerce. The idea of Leadership is one of them.
The ANA suffered two reverses as a result of seeking new, bold leadership. The fact is that true, innovative change comes from unexpected people and unpredicted (unpredictable) events. No one asked for the television to be invented. No one asked for home computers or telephones with cameras in them. Someone got the idea and then sold it.
So, too, with numismatics. No ANA president decided that Errors were Hot or that Phone Cards are Not. The ANA did not launch National Cherrypicking Month. Collectors had been using third party graders for 15 years before the ANA made one company their official grader -- and as well deserved as that might be, collectors still prefer this or that company for this or that coin based on previous experience. In other words, the Market decides differently than Power does. Traders have preferences that Guardians do not.
The Boy Scout Merit Badge for Collecting does not include cracking out a coin and resubmitting it, cherrypicking a dealer, artificially retoning a coin and successfully passing it off as natural in an open club auction, or demonstrating to your troop leader why Red Book pricing is always wrong but always important nonetheless. The point is that Boy Scouting is the paradigm of the Leader or Guardian mode of survival. That model applies to the ANA Board, as well.
Too often, we confuse that ability to take care of the status quo with the ability to discover new horizons. None of the world's "great leaders" has done the world much good. Same is true of the ANA. When it comes to leaders, less is more.
