1999 DD Obv, profile

Look, this whole thing is how you treat people you do not have to be such a hard ass on new people that have questions. That is all this is about, you can be a perfectionist at home, Why try to instill your ways on someone else that has excitement about a new hobby they have come to enjoy? Then someone like you comes along and belittles them for asking some questions.. JUST QUIT IT!!

 

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You will not hear from me again about this. I'm done with you.

 

The excitement is fine. In fact, it’s great. But what’s also great is the history, legacy, and yes, I’ll use the word again, “standards” of this honorable PROFESSION, whether one engages in it professionally or not. Those who have come before us, EVEN IF THEY ARE IN THEIR GRAVES, as several of my own personal numismatic teachers and mentors are, are entitled to a little stinking deference and respect. This is my deeply and personally held opinion which does not flow from some whim I dug out of my ear canal last week. This is why I value the “old school” ways. I was carefully taught those ways by people who loved coins and the coin hobby, and yes, I get snarky, crabby, sarcastic and maybe even a little “mean” and even “vicious” to those who exhibit no respect and treat this “hobby of kings” merely as a way to turn a quick buck. I’ll NEVER apologize for that feeling, no.

I love this field. It is my only non-employment activity in which I can participate due to physical disability and deteriorating health. I am in a race to see whether I can EVER retire before someone carries me out of the Pennsylvania State Capitol in a body bag. I take this “hobby”, which will become a part time avocation if I win my race mentioned above, very personally. It is my legacy to leave to my only son, and in THAT, I’ve already won. He is, if anything, even more committed to coins than I am. Are. We. Clear?

Don’t feel too badly. My son doesn’t write particularly well either, and I needle him about it, too, as do his professors.

He is in college, has his first serious girlfriend, and STILL has time to go to major coin shows around the country. How many of US have carried THAT off? Not I.

Oh, and regarding your upthread protestation that some nascent collectors might not have time to “read hours on end”, several hours PER WEEK should be the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM one should be willing to engage in in order to be taken seriously as an up and coming numismatist. Doing this field with the attention span of the common gnat is no way to be.

 

I belong to a great coin club with a bunch of members who are very helpful and patient to those of us who are new. I don’t ask as many questions on here as I used to but I am very thankful for the help from others on here who have had the patience to point things out, offer advice and send me in the right direction. If we as numismatists want the hobby to continue and thrive again then we must reach out to those people who are starting out with the newbie questions, teach them, point them in the right direction with just a touch of compassion and humanity. If you put a little effort into someone new to the hobby and you see they are not receptive then let it go. Don’t put any more time in. Ignore it so you don’t get annoyed or angry. Enjoy your part of this great hobby. The hobby will definitely die if the annoyance of more seasoned collectors and numismatists rears it’s ugly head in the form of how I’ve seen it here time and time again. Let people who want to reach out in a positive manner continue to do so and try to mentor those who are not any where close to your level of expertise. It works. It really does.

 

I too have belonged (not for a year now) to one of the absolute GREATEST coin clubs in the country, one that has Farran Zerbe Award winners and several ANA Goodfellows (national convention host chairs) among its members. It was sought out by the ANA to be the host club for this coming year’s convention, too. The most recent Goodfellow, the famous Kerry Wetterstrom (Goodfellow 2012), advised the ANA against selecting his own club, Red Rose Coin Club, of Lancaster, PA, as the host club? Why? Not enough members who “give” are left healthy enough to do the work. The new generation of members are all “takers”, only interested in stacking bullion products. No one new cares about the hobby, the artistry, the history. It’s about “me, me, me” grabbing what they can, waiting for the economy to collapse. Not healthy. That’s what “my attitude problem” is all about. The intellectuals, the sharers, the talk givers, the “givers” are dying. A hollow shell of newb “takers” will ruin the club. It’s emblematic of our times, unfotunately.

Today, my attitudinal “home club” is the Chicago Coin Club, some 800 miles away. Nearly every attending member participates FULLY, and “takers” are not encouraged.

The logo of the ANA shows the Lamp of Knowledge and it’s motto is “De Profundis”, not “Hey, look what I scammed off of the widow down the street.”

 

C'mon Kurt, if you don't like the thread, or the questions asked, move on to another one.
There's no need for you to act this way.
You're better than this, aren't you???

 

No, not lately, I guess I'm not. I'm under an awful lot of stress, with losing my dad and numero uno mentor, and having to move, again, at my age and chronically deeply painful ill health all the while getting the "bum's rush" from a sibling who is the executrix of the estate who understands NOTHING ON HER BEST DAY; I lately have a VERY short fuse. I'm seethingly blood-spitting spit-flinging angry at "takers" who have an overinflated sense of entitlement. (In case you hadn't noticed.) (Sis is one too, the head witch of the coven.) I sit in genuine horror at what we are collectively becoming because we have been browbeaten to death by careless mediocrity.

Look, "J.D.2K$", I have committed myself to "giving back" to this hobby, almost entirely through American Numismatic Association activities and volunteerism, as well as financially, since my 2009 stroke. THERE AT LEAST, I encounter truly grateful "knowledge sponges" among the YN's. I don't EVER see, in that venue, 'treasure hunters' in this field because "theres money to be made and lots of it" like I find here on CoinTalk among the newbs. They stinking disgust me. At least at the ANA the money grubbers are mostly the guys who have metaphorically "paid their dues" and are on the way out, with a few exceptions, one of whom was granted a Money Talks slot at Denver. A REAL creep among creeps. Buuut he buys big ads, so there's that. I'll ID him if you care.

I'm about a nanometer from letting this place rot in its own little Dante Aligheriesque digital hell and concentrate on the ANA COMPLETELY. Problem is - what's going on at CoinTalk sure isn't "Divine" and it's nobody's "Comedy". Its a stinking Tragedy.

What amazes me is there are otherwise smart and wise people here at CoinTalk, including a moderator or two, who feel they're "better" than to associate with the ANA and who "don't need it". As if, John, as if....

I wish their attitude were sensible, really I do, but it simply is not.

 

I truly am sorry for your loss Kurt, as I too have lost someone very close earlier this year, and am still having a hard time handling it.

 

The only saving grace is the 99%+ reduction in commute time, distance, and stress might end up saving my life at some point. Lucky you, right?

Look, I know I come across as a curmudgeon, I'm not without perceptive skills. I have always actually LIKED curmudgeons. I've instinctively known they got that way for a reason. I don't respect that new meme, snowflakes, even a tiny little bit. I feel they're the reason for our society's decline, the ACTUAL FACTUAL reason, proximate cause, et al. They need to grow both "up" and "a pair". This is no world for the uncertain and the questioning. It's hardball season. The rest of the world are full blown adult wolves (ask ErolGarip), and it's no time to be a bleating sheep.

 

I'm sorry for your loss Kurt. I guess you can never really know just how much stress someone is under until they tell you. I also want to say please don't leave the forum. You are one of the few members on this forum that I appreciate.

 

Are you capable of anything other than whining? Again and again and again you've torn into different knowledgeable and contributing members all while you, as a fellow member, contribute absolutely nothing of value or substance to the forum. Can we say "hypocrite"?

Perhaps you would be wise to follow your own advice.