Can we craft a sticky thread on ancient coins?

We give the same info and advice many times each week.

How about we craft a thread on some basics like avoiding fakes, good places to buy ancients, useful websites, what to include when asking for coin authentication, etc.

We could kick it around until perfected then get the mods to stickyificate it.

John

 

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I think it has been tried before but was rejected. I think that a sticky for on-line references and another for fake s would be invaluable.

 

CCF uses the sticky type format. As confusing as that forum is to me the sticky is easily accessed.
Of course there's FAC, it's rather simple to navigate.
Yes I'm tech challenged, lol.

 

Only Ancient coins and paper money Do Not have any stickies (just checked). I think it is possible. Remember that members can post to stickies, and some seem to have moved away from the main themes. It is CLOSING a thread to future posts after a stickie is formed, that the forum doesn't want to do. The Ancient thread is one of the better self controlled groups so if anyone could maintain the rules and procedures, it should be this one. Some areas might be problematic, such as listing places to buy, where if a vendor was not listed, it might be angry. In a regular post, tough luck, but if it looks like a forum endorsement or the reverse, the site could be blamed. But I would go for it. Jim

 

Okay, I will try to craft something as a starting point.

We could write 1000 pages on ancients, but my idea is to answer the top 5 newbie questions or top 5 best pieces of advice.

If people like we could make it more comprehensive over time.

 

I think the vast majority of new member questions focus on whether a coin is real or fake. Most of the online resources have a lot of good explanations about what to look for but what most lack is a corresponding photo log comparing good coin detail to corresponding fake detail.

If some of the members or even dealers who have a good ancient fakes drawer would be willing to post a picture of a fake exhibiting a certain characteristic and a genuine showing what you would want to see instead side by side with explanation I think that would be invaluable to everyone! Some suggestions!

1. Casting seam vs genuine flan
2. Casting bubble vs corrosion vs luster??
3. Weak/washed-out lettering vs strong lettering
4. Flow lines vs no flow lines
5. Natural edge vs filed or unnatural edge
6. Natural flan cracks vs shallow (cast) cracks that don't go through to both sides
7. Signs of tooling vs natural detail

Also some tutorial about how to use a loup or other equipment etc. This list could go on and on but you get my point. Perhaps this is too ambitious a suggestion?

 

I was actually thinking of focusing on the "How to ask if your coin is authentic/help me identify this coin" as the starting point because, you are right, we get 4-5 posts like that every week (which I think many of us enjoy helping people with). I was going to suggest posting pictures of obverse, reverse, and edges. Embed the photos directly in the post. Include the weight in grams and diameter in mm. Post one coin per thread. Tell us where you got the coin (maybe)? Tell them to ask nicely and some knowledgeable people will help you out within hours.

Then follow up with some common signs that things are fake, like seams, bubbles, soft details, wrong weights, $5000 coins bought for $100, etc.

I suggest posting references to web sites listing fakes, fake sellers, and books that help identify fakes, rather than repeating all that here.

Add some links to search engines like CNG, ACS, wildwinds, forum, etc.

Maybe give some advice for beginners on safe places to look for authentic ancient coins.

All these good pieces of advice are dispensed every week here.

 

I gotcha. Like I said I figured my suggestion was a bit too ambitious

Sometimes I have a problem with taking off on grand projects before I have my feet firmly under me. What you suggest above makes perfect sense.

 

I think we all could get carried away here easily.

I think we should try the keep it short and sweet approach first and see if people find it useful but I am making this up as I go so, suggestions welcome.

 

"Is this fake?" (because something this old has to be fake)

"How much is it worth?" (so I can sell it)

"Is this rare?" (its ancient so its got to be extremely rare)

"What is this coin?" (these perfect details and clear legends aren't helping me)

"Where to buy ancient coins?" (because I can't simply Google this)



Seriously though, I also agree about needing a sticky section with basic and helpful info. Probably wouldn't completely eliminate all of the repeat beginner questions but it couldn't hurt.

 

I fear this sticky shortcut would make us seem even more elitist than we already do. After all, people drop in here with a treasure in their hand and it is our job to tell them that they have been cheated and should have listened to the advise we gave to the last guy who posted here before they started looking at the venue. I'm not sure there is a nice way to handle this but I am reasonably sure that it is not a note saying, "You should have read canned answer #3."

 

Nailed it

 

Problem with stickies is no one reads them. Might be a good thing but what Doug said.

 

I agree with Jwt. No one reads stickies. We'd sacrificed "front page" real estate and still have to deal with such questions.

One of the Forvm boards (Fake Coin Reports, Notorious Fake Sellers, and Discussions) has a record 12 stickies leading the board. Given how often Joe Sermarini directs posters to those stickies, few people seem to bother reading them.

 

I read stickies when going to a new website but maybe I am not typical. I find it helps to keep you from looking like a dork right off the bat.

I am okay with dropping the idea.

 

I like the idea, particularly if we take the approach Theodosius suggested here:

There was a recent request for help identifying something that I think many people ignored because it was given the title 'a Spanish coin' when the person had no real idea what the coin was (I suggested mongol, but the thread died from there...). Perhaps some initial guidance may have caused that poster to pick a better title that would identify the thread as one that needed help

 

I like the idea of a sticky with the top 5 or so most asked questions. I do read stickies before I comment on a new board.

I would, however, add one further section. How about a link to the most common reference sources on ancient coins? If not then perhaps a list of the most common references so those who wish can pursue their research more thoroughly.

 

If the majority of people want a "read this first" sticky note, I suggest having only one such sticky note at the top of the ancients forum. The first post could be a table of contents for the rest of the thread, and the thread could be compiled by a single person for ease of editing and readability.

 

I don't do a lot of question-answering so I don't know how valuable my input is, but here it is anyway:

Part of joining a collecting community of any kind is beginner questions. More than getting the info on whether your coin is genuine, you get an opportunity to interact with other people who have similar interests, to make jokes and develop bonds and do all those other things that not-yet-friends do on the way to becoming friends (internet friends, even!).

Cutting out those beginner questions makes the bar to full-fledged forum contributor quite a bit higher. Cut those out and you have to have confidence in your knowledge and maybe even some photos before you might feel comfortable posting.

 

Good point @hoth2