I am hard pressed to point to a single most important lesson that coin talkers have taught me. It may be a lesson inadvertently taught. What I mean by that is that hanging around the site soaking up the atmosphere, I think the lesson I most learned is that if a person starts to make the hobby an investment strategy, you are bound to be somewhat disappointed, and to lose out on the fun the hobby can impart. It seems to me that those who enjoy the hobby the most are the people who are less worried about wether or not they can sell that coin for a bit more than what they paid for it, and instead look to the history, the beauty, or just the patriotism of holding old coinage. Now no investment minded collector has ever said, I sure do not enjoy the hobby very much, I would probably enjoy just having a few million dollars more than having a nice collection. And this observation has absolutely nothing to do with what series, or paper money, or anything else that anyone collects. Sure it would be nice that if you sell off part of your collection to receive a bit more than you paid, but if you make that your main goal then it seems that all sorts of other things pop up, you cannot really fraternize with other collectors, it seems like the end is that you tend to downgrade anything else that another has, and make what you have to be worth more. Grading can get pathological, not merely subjective, every seller is trying to take you to the cleaners, every buyer is trying to steal from you, where is the enjoyment in that? It may not be the most important part of collecting coins, but it helps me to enjoy the hobby, no reason to wring the last cent out of every deal, nor to try to beat the dealer down in price on everything.
Don't trust NGC's grading. I nearly spent $100 dollars on a 1921S Morgan Silver dollar that was marked MS65 in that state the coin would be worth $1,325 but the coin was actually MS64 and in that state is only worth $175 There were scratches on the reverse of the coin but I didn't know that NGC would do that to a coin its liked they looked right past the scratches. Thank you CT you saved me $100!! Btw I'm only 18 so I'm not sure what catagory I will fall under I'm guess the 18 and under maybe but I was thinking it said under 18 but the other option was over 18 so I'm not sure.
Nervous about shipping coins for the first time? Wondering how you are going to pack that 1976 proof set that is to be sent to Spain? And how much it will cost to get to Barcelona? No sweat! One thing that I've learned from the experienced numismatists at CoinTalk is how to handle packing and shipping of coins. 1. Don't allow loose coins to rattle in your package. 2. Padded envelopes work best, but you can make your own by wrapping the lot in bubble wrap and stuffing it in your package. 3. Never let tape to come into direct contact with a coin. 4. An inexpensive digital scale is invaluable in determining shipping weight. 5. The US Postal website allows one to calculate postage to anywhere on the globe. 6. Tape edges and seams with shipping tape for strength. 7. When shipping from the US to a foreign country, subtle declarations like "hobby supplies" or "machine parts" should be used for obvious reasons. 8. Delivery confirmation (only 70 cents) can work wonders in boosting the buyer's ease of mind. 9. Too much email communication is better than too little or none at all to create the confidence bond between buyer and seller. It's more fun to receive packages than ship, but I thought I'd share some tips that I've learned here that make my buyers happy.
Reading a thread like this one can teach you more that a shelf of books or ten hours on Google. It;s that simple!!!
ok... time to announce the winners! Our YN winner is shoewrecky and our other winner is insomniac! Congratulations to you both! PM me with your snail mail addresses and I will send you each a 2009-P dime. I want to thank everyone who participated. I enjoyed all of the responses.
Congrats shoewrecky! I enjoyed reading the responses in this thread, though I admit, I was a little motivated to try and win given my numismatic interests Thanks again for the contest! Very thought provoking.
It only took a week to realize that I havent emailed my address to him...It's definitely a Monday for the past 6 days lol.
I am hard pressed to point to one single lesson so I'll be a bit abstract. The free exchange of ideas here at cointalk not only have made me a smarter collector but have allowed me to receive and pass on knowledge that I otherwise would not have gotten or been able without constant exposure to like minded people.
