What is the most valuable information or tip you learned from coin chat?

Living in Maine is great too except for the lack of coin shows there isn't a single major coin show I know of north of Baltimore but we have snow moose lobster Mosquitos the size of small birds bad roads more snow cold weather tourists a fairly high cost of living and more snow and I love it here!!

 

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Most recently I learned that a member has been driven insane by cabin fever

 

I learned, based on the GTG threads, that an MS64 can have a fair number of flaws; but a MS65 must be nearly perfect.

 

"What is the most valuable information or tip you learned from coin chat?"

Simple, Never argue with an idiot!

 

Timmah has taught me what a CAM and WAM aren't!

 

Unless you REALLY want to.

 

1. Buy the coin and not the holder. Of course I've heard this for years but CT has given me a greater appreciation for how important this is.
2. If you are going to buy a holder, make sure it's PCGS or NGC. I've had it drilled into my head from reading the threads that the grades assigned by even the second tier TPG's (ICG and ANACS) are not accepted by serious numismatists, and that a lot of problem coins end up in these slabs after being rejected by the top tier.
3. Price guides don't mean very much if you ever want to sell a coin. Realized auction prices are the truest indication of what a coin is really worth.
4. Learning the meaning of the word "bidiot" has made me not want to become one...

Most of all, I love reading postings from people that are knowledgeable and passionate about the hobby.

 

First, being nice: I learned that everyone have different ways to collect coins and there's no right or wrong on how to collecting them!

Second, being rude: I learned that half of members from cointalk are edited

 

I can fit 5 passengers in relative comfort in my "redneck Cadillac" Nashua an hour and a half or so from my house

 

Been a collector for a few months, been a member to this site for one day and what you said today,

"When you buy coins as a new collector if you try to get more then you pay for you will end up losing every time"

 

For me it is that uncirculated Carson City Morgan dollars are graded on a different standard than all of the other Mints. The grading services tend to be a little more lenient on them.

 

Another thing I've learned is how to fine tune my eye for coins with totally original surfaces that have never been dipped or cleaned

 

Good one.
I've got to learn how to do that...

 

Never argue with Doug.

 

buy the book

The tpgs have customers that they want to please, the bigger the customer the more they will bend to please them

No matter how little you paid for a coin someone else paid less

PMD is the most used answer when anyone asks about an unusual coin

sometimes after a bunch of people have answered PMD an expert will come out with a true answer

Some coin stories are about as truthful as some fish stories

Every once in a while someone will get lucky with finding coins in rolls or pocket change

not taking advantage of others may sometimes cost you, but it is worth it

some key date coins are withheld from the market to keep prices high,

if flipping a hot coin the shelf life can be very short

what some people call cronyism others may call having good business relationship

a bad reputation among scoin collectors does not seem to harm businesses in the least

hopefully I will learn more and maybe even unlearn some things

 

What is the most valuable information or tip you learned from coin chat?

I will assume the position of "information learned from coin message boards or coin forums."

I have met some incredible people through message boards, I feel this is just as important as raw information. Having the ability to ask questions to some of the most knowledgeable people in the numismatic community via PM is incredible. Equally incredible, they take the time to answer the questions.

 

I buy the coin, not the container. Some containers are wrong. When I have found them, I tell the owner. Some, do not want to hear it. I point it out anyway. I have been tempted to not tell, but I would want to be told. We all make mistakes too.