What is the hardest skill to acquire in numismatics?

Same here. It took me many years to learn that and I still mess up at times.

 

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That's a good one. It isn't easy to know where the line is between contact marks and damage.

 

Grading Gold...

Man is it a tough one!!


RickieB

 

Patience.

 

Remembering all the thing I learned in the pass 52 years of collecting coins

 

Patience, patience, patience. Waiting on the right coin, not jumping prematurely.

I still have much to learn, but the above is my biggest challenge.

 

Ya beat me to it, Mike ! I really, really wanted to post earlier, but the time just wasn't right.

 

Most have been mentioned such as patience, Au/Ms, counterfeits, alterations, etc. But one I think is still available that I am finally learning to conquer relating to grading is "Love at First Bite". Putting aspects to a coin with love in your eyes. Love will up the grade on the coin, turn AT into NT, make it a rare variety, and worth much more than you paid for it. This leads to many Coin Divorces, with you replacing her after discovering her faults that were visible to others and you denying it over and over.

Inspect and buy a coin with "cold eyes" looking for any and every fault. You can fall in love with it in due time. Your collection and finances will be much better for it.



Jim

 

I don't know if this counts as a "skill" or not, but my answer is "patience". Having patience can result in many good things happening. And perhaps even more importantly, it can also help a collector avoid a lot of bad results.

 

Accurately grading by EAC standards at VF30 and above. I still don't have it down after something like 4 years.

 

Because of my sensitivity to light or glares to my eyes, I don't get to enjoy proof coins.