Cointalk is a non-SERIOUS forum

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My hobby is fun and removes me from my daily pressures of work. Ergo, I like the light atmosphere on Coin Talk, and yet I gain a lot of credible information. I don’t take CoinTalk too seriously, rather it is a fun diversion. A hobby.

I find when I am not happy with something, I just walk away.

 

Thinking of @Ryro and his deep loss at this time.

Namaste


Carthage Third Punic War Serrate Double Shekel 149-146 BCE 12.8g 26mm Wreathd Tanit-Horse pellet raised leg SNG COP 404

 

After reading the posts here, and the ones on Forum, it raised some questions of a more philosophical nature, which helped me form my opinion. Who decides who should and should not be considered a collector of ancient coins? What should be the requirements for a collector of ancient coins? Who decides if a certain collecting style is appropriate, or not?

I also find it interesting to see that people tend to impose their views on collecting ancient coins on other people. Is that part of a community feeling, an invisible guideline on what should be and should not be, that defines that community? Cointalk is not excluded from that behaviour. Some ways of collecting are frowned upon, as opposed to others. Are those opinions just an opinion, formed by e.g. experiences from another decade? Or echos of a time when what should be was more clearly defined, in a time when new collectors bring about new mores?

In my opinion, the atmosphere at Forum is of a more serious nature. The atmosphere here is more of a community, as brilliantly explained by @Roman Collector above. Which is right, which is wrong? Should there even be a right, or wrong? I don't really care. I believe that everyone should do what he or she wants. Collect, sell for a profit, hoard, put it away in a volt, share for everyone to see and score likes, slab, un-slab, etc. After all, to me it's a hobby. But I also think it's best not to ignore the fact that what I call a hobby is some else's serious profession, or business. It's a matter of respecting everyone's preferences. If you don't like it, don't reply, make a respectful outing of your discenting opinion, start your own forum, etc. Just stop imposing your opinion on others. It would generally speaking make the world a much nicer place.

 

This a million times over!!

This is my virtual home gathering my virtual family to explore the awesomeness of our shared love of ancient coins and the history they represent.

No better place on the internets.

Erin

 

What's with all the serious faces? You need to turn those frowns upside down. Here, have a ring I found in a Cracker Jack box to amuse yourselves.

- Alexander the Great. Babylon. 323 BCE.

 

I find Coin Talk to have a bit of everything. There's plenty of serious, scholarly writing here but also some pretty humorous stuff as well and MOST OF ALL I feel comfortable writing and reading here. There's very little of the "gotcha" response which tends to foster nastiness. I also find it informative when I want to know about some oddball coin I have encountered and cannot properly attribute. By the way I have a well educated and bright daughter who has no interest in numismatics but peruses the site to see what I may have written about. She has told me that she is impressed with the caliber of the other people whose posts she also reads while doing so and the camaraderie among the posters she sees here. I am well pleased by what I read here. Here, everybody knows your name.

 

From my perspective this is a great community with no apparent elitism.
Certainly there are some very knowledgeable members here who freely give time to share their knowledge and interests and then others, like me, who observe from the wings and benefit from this.
Academics publish papers and this is important to them in respect of their standing and employment opportunities in their community and my opinion is that someone on a more focused, "academic" website is making a comparison that is not relevant here. We are all academics in our own way as every day is a school day but I like the "like" button because it proves my Internet is working as sometimes I get a "like" too in return.
The other thing I have noticed regarded "likes" and "comments" is that newcomers are made welcome and the value of a coin does not appear to influence comments favourably or unfavourably, if people can help, they do. It's all about the coins and the history and thankfully CT is not an investment forum.
I was taught that you cannot give offence only take it and others have expressed more eloquently the fact that everyone has a choice and this is a community that you choose to be part of. If you don't like something you simply ignore it or find another community.
My definition of a collector of ancient coins is very simple, if you have more than one ancient coin and are curious about them, you are a collector. Plurality of opinion is no bad thing either.

 

After the person who started the thread over there responded to our thread by dismissing it as consisting mostly of ridiculous Internet memes, I felt compelled to say something over there. It was probably a mistake, but it seems unfair that this guy continues to stir the pot. Note that I most definitely did not say anything negative about Forvm itself. In fact, not one person in this thread has responded in that manner.

 

Interestingly, when I first glanced at Forum's "Collecting & research participation vs. showing off" I misread it as "Collecting and research participation is showing off." and upon second glance thought that possibly "vs." had been autocorrected from the original "is."

I guess the correct interpretation all depends on your perspective.

 

Eh, to me CT caters to a wide variety of collectors. One must remember all collectors started pretty clueless. They come on here asking "dumb" questions. I gladly answer them. Most people just want the answer, but a few stick around to learn more and understand why. Those are the future ancient collectors. While they may be few in number, you never know which will be the long term ones, so you need to answer everyone courteously.

I can read more academic forums, but also like a laugh or two at times, and the freedom to be wrong and not raked over the coals over it. I don't want to have to cross check every post three times before I post.

 

While I have been exposed to other sites, CT is the only place I visit on a daily basis. And while I mostly lurk in the background, I am elated with the golden "info nuggets" I find here on a consistent basis. I am a lot less serious collector than most, but I still need a daily fix, & this is sublime!

 

In defense of the “pile on” thread, it’s in precisely these kinds of threads that one can discern interesting variants (bust types, legend breaks, etc.) of a given type.

Even as I write, someone has recently posted two early Licinian campgate coins, inviting others to do the same. From that thread I’ve already learned about scarcer varieties (those with reverse legends ending in -NN), variant bust types, possible collecting subsets by mintmarks, etc.

In short, there is valuable information to be gleaned even from so-called “pile on” threads, if one is curious enough.

 

The best thing about "Coin talk", you get to virtually meet so many nice people who love the hobby as much as I do. Also, I have learned so much from other members great posts, and best of all, the beautifull coins they are so generous to share.
John

 

OK, to start, I will use my favorite numismatic saying. This is my hobby, I do it for fun." I agree 100% with DonnaML's post.

I've been collecting coins of one genre or another since I was a kid. I am now a
old fart. I started collecting US and Canadian coins in the mid 50's. In the way back machine Canadian coins and US circulated side by side at par. One could even find "fish scales" aka five cent silver coins. Before going off to university at seventeen I was up to US silver.

And so it went until I was in my mid thirties when I discovered ancients as well as the beauty and history of other cultures both ancient and current. My collecting is now a very satisfying melange...mix with ninety percent Byzantine and Arab/Byzantine. The other ten percent is wide open. So many coins, so little time.

I have thoroughly enjoyed and support Coin Talk. I love the spirit of this site and learn from, as well as pass on info in the field of numismatics. That reminds me, I need to send in some support money to help keep this fantastic community viable. The check is in the mail. No, really. I have my check book open right now.

 

Not sure why I was quoted in the last post...no big deal
But reading some post I see a division somewhat going on.... yes true I dont collect ancient coins, I have had some in my collection years ago....but the membership isnt segregated by World,US, or ancients.
I see the membership here as one....not divided up by what collected. I do read threads that pertains to other interest than what I collect...may or may not reply ....but CT is about coins last check...and it matters not when ,where, or who..? We are here so discuss coins the common thread...and no matter what one collects we are still talking coins.

 

If you are worried about whether your public, social, coin-related forums are "serious enough", then you've taken your hobby a bit too far.

 

OMG...if you took it as offensive, I humbly and abjectly apologize. There are so many instances where you correct misinformation and hand out the "true goods" that you are one of the MOST important assets of CT. The other Doug looks out for offenders of a different sort.