Ebay...Still a Cherrypickers Paradise 2017'

For the coin community it was good that he started this thread and discussion. Otherwise some unsuspecting soul would have paid a lot of money for it.

 

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It's true that I learned the die markers of matte proof 09 VDBs because of this thread...

 

Unfortunately, someone might still pay a lot for it.

 

What!?!?!!?!

I did not know that!! I HAVE heard about a proof buffalo nickel being cherried from them, so i guess they werent too far from the truth in that regard.

 

No, it works for their business. You buy something from them, you get excited, then you're beyond disappointed.

 

Yes, I too remember the Golden Age before the Internet made deceptive promotions possible.

 

They were always "there", now they're "everywhere" and all at once, too. The single biggest impact of the Internet is that it has made it FAAAAR easier for crooks and idiots to assemble in a critical mass. We used to get some semblance of security from the distances between them.

 

The "semblance of security" is still very much a thing.

"Critical mass" aside, grifters have always been around; if pre-Internet isolation kept them from reaching a larger audience, it also contained the tales of their successes. In other words, you didn't hear about so many of them.

The Internet has reduced friction for a lot of things, both good and evil.

 

From where I sit, FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR more evil than good. Like by a ratio of several thousand to one.

 

But we've agreed not to discuss politics here.

I think the good the Internet does is critical, as long as we can keep the evil from destroying us. Kind of the story of most new technologies, really. I'm still a fan of new technologies, though; even at my age, I'd rather look forward than back, most of the time.

 

I'm only on the 'net because I look out at this vast cesspool of evil and misinformation (YouTube coin videos are a prime example), and I feel compelled to BE the one against the many thousands. Consider it a Kantian categorical imperative.

 

If only one in many thousands on the Internet is good, that still adds up to many, MANY thousands that are good. And now they're all at my fingertips.

If not for the Internet, the only thing I'd know about you is a few columns in coin periodicals, at best. I'm kind of happy that I get to see more.

 

I guess I never felt the good ones WEREN'T at my fingertips. I still write letters and put stamps on them, and twice a year, or more (I'm now closer to Baltimore AND Pittsburgh/Monroeville), I literally touch many of them hand to hand. I never felt that living away from civilization was a net plus.

 

Despite the plethora of disinformation, the internet has an ever-growing database of factual information. Places like archive.org, newman numismatic portal, all the independent high quality resources (Lincoln Resource, Error Ref, Franlin Lovers, etc), even the photostock from auction houses like HA, just didn't exist 20 years ago. It's just a tool. Like any tool, how well it works depends on how well you know how to use it.

 

I don't have the patience, nor the remaining days, to tolerate such a low signal to noise ratio.

 

Yeah, but there are always cat videos...

 

“You are young yet, my friend,” replied my host, “but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see."

From The short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” by Edgar Allan Poe

 

Same as it ever was.

 

Delusions of grandeur. Wish we had an update on the Lincoln.