A Lesson on Colonial Coins

That's what I found to be pretty funny. The "Reserved" posts will save themselves at the same time as the first post.

 

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This is an admirable effort, but there is some major work needed. First and foremost, the sentences themselves are painful to read. You need to brush up on your grammar and overall writing style before you put out more 'lessons.' Grammar is the clothing for your digital persona - posting something with bad grammar is akin to walking in with a sloppy, stained shirt and expecting to be taken seriously.

The next thing you need to work on is the structure of your course. What is the first thing that a student gets when they walk into the first class? A syllabus! We need to know where the course is going, what it will cover, and when it will cover topics. It wouldn't hurt to add some additional reading, too.

I would also advise you polish things up a bit. Do not ever post an unfinished rough draft. If you don't take it serious enough to clean things up before you present them, why should your 'students'? Along the same lines, I don't think Cointalk is the best venue for this endeavor. Your first lesson is little more than a slightly more detailed discussion post with a fancy name. If you're serious about this, develop a new platform. Design a website or an app that can deliver these lessons in a better way than our forum. Free education is the wave of the future. If you can design this in a clean, easily accessible, and entertaining way, I have no doubt that there will be a great demand. I bet you'll even be able to monetize it somewhere down the road.

One final thought: I urge you to consider your audience. Thusfar, you are focusing on extremely basic lessons. Who wants those? Why would a potential student choose your lessons over the myriad of other better designed and better written courses?

I wish you the best. I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

Hello Josh's Coins,

Best of luck & success with your project to teach the basics. I assume that the introductory course will be a miniature version of what the ANA has offered. Have you taken the diploma courses offered by the ANA? Here is a link which includes a comprehensive syllabus. http://www.money.org/explore-the-world-of-money/school-of-numismatics/numismatic-diploma.aspx The information on this link may give you some ideas regarding how to organize your course(s).

If you have the opportunity, check-out the hard-copy books supplied with the ANA course & see how all the information was organized. The course books may be available directly from the ANA's lending library. It is worth checking with the ANA library directly. I have these books if you would like to borrow them.

When I took the ANA diploma course, it included the "Money Talks" book as mandatory reading. Unfortunately, I loaned my copy to a fellow & it was never returned.

Here is how the ANA organizes their class material:
"Introduction To Numismatics"
"Grading Coins Today"
"Detecting Counterfeit & Altered U.S. Coins"
"The Modern Minting Process"
"U.S. Minting Errors & Varieties"
"Grading Mint State U.S. Coins"

 

I got as far as the first sentence. Which American colony was settled by England "in the early 1500s"?

 

I have decided that it would be in my best interest to stop making these threads. Not many admire my efforts so I feel as if my time and effort put into this is simply not worth it.

 

Josh, I think many of us admire your enthusiasm for this hobby and your desire to teach/share information. What you are being offered is constructive criticism. Take the emotion out of it and read what is being written. At your age, you're not expected to have perfected the craft of writing, but with time you just might.

I agree with the posters who are imploring you to read, re-read, edit and then re-edit your posts. I've been in sales/marketing for 25+ years. Before I send ANY e-mail or communication to a customer, I type it, then re-read it, edit and re-edit to make sure my message is clear and concise.

Professional writers have editors, so even they need to have people review their work to ensure it is clear and concise.

Don't stop posting, but do the work prior to the post and I believe you will get a better reception.

 

Josh, you may find this site of interest for your research. It's an extensive project by Louis Jordan at Notre Dame University. When it comes to Colonial and Early American coinage, I have yet to come across a more thorough overview - as far as free online resources go. I've spent many hours reading these articles and recommend them highly...

http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/

 

+1 to the John Anthony source above.

Josh, here are a couple of more resources as you proceed and advance in your work:

The Princeton University Numismatic Collection

American Numismatic Society

 

More than a few members already hinted at the must-haves you seem to ignore. Must have a firm grasp on reality, must identify target audience and venue, must be aware of what is already offered in your surroundings, etc.

Coin Talk is not really a place for your on a whim ideas. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, well, you'll get called out on it. You need a rookie coin forum with three members on it, to practice and perfect whatever it is you are trying to do at any given time. Your efforts are completely lost on me and you are wasting your time with me as part of your audience (must identify proper target audience and venue).

Now, if you don't mind, I have to get back to designing the newest ipad that is going to change the world. A lot of work still ahead, before I unveil it on Coin Talk... now, if I could only find my chisel.

 

I have decided to begin writing threads and threads like these. This 1 will be revised shortly. So stay tuned.

 

Still working on revisions...