Letters Following Names

As a young numismatist, many years ago, I was very impressed with the letters after the names on dealers business cards. Nowadays, there are even more opportunities to gather letters to put after your name. At first glance, seeing that alphabet soup seems quite impressive. Let's look at what it all means:

ANA - I paid $36.00 (minimum) this year to possibly have my name published on a mailing list. I didn't have to meet any professional or educaitonal requirements to get these letters, and I probably don't know any more about coins than an experienced collector.

NGC C. S. - I paid $99.00 so that for the period of one year, I can have my coins handled and graded by someone else at the rate of 1000 per day. Of course, this costs me extra (from something like $11 to $30 per coin). They do, however get encased in plastic. Many inexperienced collectors will pay a high premium for that piece of plastic without looking at the coin! Oh, by the way. I don't need to know anything about coins to get these letters either; I just have to pay my money.

CONECA - I am interested in error coins. These letters cost me $35 per year to put after my name.

SSDC - I collect silver dollars. There seems to be no functioning web site so I don't know how much these letters will cost me for the honor of putting them after my name. I also don't know whether I need to know anything about siver dollars in order to put the letters there.

This is why letters don't impress me. Show me 15 or 20 coins that you've graded with which 4 or 5 other experienced collectors will concur and that will impress me.

Lest anyone be insulted by this post, I have letters from the above list that I COULD put behind my name, but choose not to because they mean absolutely nothing other than the fact that I had some extra money to blow which I should have spent on coins, or books about coins.

 

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Letters or names printed can also help other collectors find the club or foum!
I have printed on my card....
CoinTalk...WINS...ANA...and I think that is all...but maybe from that little word CoinTalk other collectors I know will come and share what they know.

WINS....is a great club...but its much more than a club...its family

Speedy

 

That was part of my point. The letters, actually the affiliations, represent areas of interest or concentration in a certain area of collecting rather than conveying an endorsement of expert knowledge. One should not be misled into thinking that simply because an individual signs a document, email, or forum post with a littany of memberships, that person is an expert or has any more knowledge about a particular coin than any other collector might have.

 

Remember Robin William's character in "Good Morning Vietnam" when he was concerned about then former V. P. Richard Nixon visiting their base:

"Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P. shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T. 'cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could become a M.I.A. and then we'd all be put out on K.P."

Sorry...just couldn't help it. Everytime somebody gets wrapped up with initials after their name, I smile as I think about this scene.

 

well, letters mean about as much as anything else that can indicate something about a person.

A man (or woman) can hold a PhD from an Ivy League education - that doesn't mean they are smart... by your analysis, it means they dropped 6 figures for a piece of paper they can hang on a wall. To some extent that is true. But it is also a good indicator that the person has the appropriate training and acquired the appropriate knowledge to gain that piece of paper.

For the associations that you mentioned, it is also correct to say 'that person paid X amount of dollars to be a member'. It can also reason that if the person was out to swindle or misrepresent themselves in the hobby, they probably would not bother becoming a member of the ANA - because they would eventually be kicked out - which is worse than not ever becoming a member in the first place.

In short, no matter what a business card or resume states, you can never know a person without spending the time and effort to know that person... so some people think those letters help tell others a little about themselves.

 

Doesn't the presence of having "letters" after someone's name on a business card or the like normally also signify that even if the person knows nothing about coins/currency, they are at least willing to pay a little money to gain some kind of knowledge about the subject?

~AJ

 

You know, the cynic in me has been begging to say the following statement:

If you can show me a person that has graded 15 or 20 coins that 4 or 5 other experienced collectors will concur... I will show you a collector whos ability has superceded all the third party grading services combined...

Sign that person up as president of the ANA.

 

I quite agree sjnebay, and would equate a young numismatist as someone with a BS degree (bull s---). Now you have the more experienced and seasoned collector who is now starting to think of going into error and type coins and they would have a MS degree (more of the same). Then you have the old hands at the game, and they are sporting a PhD degree behind their names (Piled higher and deeper). You will find this type as officers and presidents of various coin associations and 3PG companies.

Think about it.... !

 

What would make you think that a person at a TPG knows anymore about grading say... Morgans, than someone who has been collecting them for ten years or more? Furthermore, what does any of it have to do with the ANA? Nowhere on their website did I see a requirement for any specific knowledge or expertise in order to become a member.

 

Not even close to the same thing, Rick. If a person has a degree from an institution of higher learning, that institution places their endorsement in that person's knowledge. That endorsement is what the person is paying for; not the piece of paper with the degree written on it. That's why an engineer from MIT will probably be hired more readily and earn a much higher starting salary than an engineer from any average college or university. There are also prerequites, besides the money, for getting a degree.

On the other hand anyone with $99 bucks can stick NGC C.S. after their name, and the ANA costs a bunch less.

A PhD from MIT means something. NGC C.S means nothing.

 

Yeah... that was sort of a joke. However, the point of the joke is that it is often very difficult to get 4 or 5 experienced collectors to agree on the grade of a coin - no matter how good you are at it.

It actually has nothing to do with the ANA - if my joke caused you to scour their ANA website for requirements in order to become a member, I apologize.

 

I think you misunderstood my point.

You say that an engineer from MIT will probably earn more than an engineer from an average college - that's true. Why? Because people think that an engineer with a degree from MIT is smarter or more able to perform a job than an engineer from an average college... but do you think that's an absolute? Probably, in fact 'without a doubt', no, it is not an absolute. But it is an indicator. You don't know which person is more qualified until you actually know the people applying for the job. Since you can't know everybody, you accept indicators - which is why the guy from MIT will earn more than a guy from an average college, yes?

Same thing with numismatic associations. A lot of people collect coins, but not nearly all of those people join the ANA. That's a good indicator that that person is a little more serious about their hobby. Is it an absolute? absolutely not. A lot of people take their hobby very seriously and are not members... again, if you knew everybody, you would who is more or less serious about the hobby to gain more experience in it. Since you can't know everybody, people add the letters to tell you a little something about themselves - which is a good indicator, and you take that for what you think it's worth.

So, yes, I know they are not the same thing - but I hope I have described how I see these two issues as somewhat similar.

 

That made me have a big belly laugh just like the French white flag factory burning down.

Best,

HS

 

Thats easy Doug.....

(G)ee's (D)udes (J)ust (M)ake (S)ome (P)roofs

See..that was easy huh??

RickieB

 

Or it could be.....(G)old-(D)ucats-(J)-(M)-(S)-(M)...
I can't think of the last 4 but I'm sure GD stands for Gold Ducats!!

Speedy

 

Nicely put, I completely agree with you. We have a lot of those types here in my country too.

 

How about "Gold Ducats Juggle My Sanity Palpably!"

Kevin Johnson, MDiv

 

Sure does! It means you spend 5 times more for the same degree...and respect in the industry...than if you had gone to George Tech

Sorry...couldn't resist.