Question about novices and 1964 SMS coins

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by markr, Sep 20, 2020.

  1. markr

    markr Active Member

    To start, I know the history and story with 1964 SMS coins. But there are SO many "I have this 1964 SMS cent/nickel/dime/quarter/half" threads by novices, I really wonder where they find out about them. Is it YouTube? Or somewhere else? Does anyone here knows?

    Thanks.

    Mark
     
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  3. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    I think a lot of folks just google the 1964 half and see the prices of the SMS coins.
     
  4. Burton Strauss III

    Burton Strauss III Brother can you spare a trime? Supporter

    Hanlon's Razor (polite version): Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by ignorance
     
  5. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    I would vote for YouTube. It seems to get people worked up over coins and collecting more than anything else. Also "click-bait" sites. "You may have a coin worth 1 million dollars in your pocket right now." The more "clicks" these get, the more money the poster makes.
     
    John Burgess and tibor like this.
  6. Burton Strauss III

    Burton Strauss III Brother can you spare a trime? Supporter

    Don't forget The Sun (UK).
     
  7. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    Quite possibly. On a whim I just googled "1964 half dollar", and on just the first page were at least two articles (including the very first one) on the 64 SMS and three videos.
     
    markr likes this.
  8. messydesk

    messydesk Well-Known Member

    Sounds like you need to publish an article entitled, "No, Your 1964 Half Dollar is not an SMS Issue."
     
  9. Clawcoins

    Clawcoins Damaging Coins Daily

    YouTube ( )

    many disinformation short click-bait type websites (https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/1964-penny-value/)

    It's peoples' desire to "strike it rich" with
    - inaccurate information
    - the desire to know that they are lucky and the first person in the world to search for it, so it's a quick find.
    - the confident knowledge to know that they are right and everyone else is wrong
    - believing coin / error / variety collecting is simple and knowledge is easily gained by reading a 5 paragraph website.
    - not having enough knowledge to ascertain all the clickbait stuff out there

    But then that is about every newbie coin collector on about every thing.

    just the other day we have a post of someone finding a 1996 quarter with edge lettering error. They read "1996-2011" someplace (misinformation) .. the whole thing was lack of comprehending information and the desire to find a rare error over factual information.

    I don't understand why people can discern common damage over something that has to be a mint error in their eyes.
     
  10. Razz

    Razz Critical Thinker

    Its actually a phenomena called confirmation bias. Everyone one does it to a certain extent although most people aren't even aware they do it. If you know what it is you can be aware and adjust, but no one can be cured. It basically goes that someone will use information to confirm a preconceived belief but ignore information that contradicts their belief.

    So you get someone who will believe a food server in a restaurant when they say face masks don't protect people from COVID 19 transmission because it confirms their belief. They will ignore the mountain of evidence and all the medical professionals on the planet that say masks do help reduce the rate of transmission of COVID 19 because it contradicts their belief.
     
  11. John Burgess

    John Burgess Well-Known Member

    It's the Internet as a whole. Like was said if you happen across a 1964 coin it's now a 50+ year coin and qualifies as old which leads people to look it up, they see an article or a video about the 1964 SMS and they think "maybe this is one", wishful thinking sets in and it's off to the races. Rather that read and learn they'd rather just ask a half hundred experts for opinion's on what they think and tell all of them they are wrong. Hahahahaa
     
    Mike Davis likes this.
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