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Message:: [QUOTE="cpm9ball, post: 2313451, member: 24633"]I'll let you in on a little secret. I didn't know squat about the Pittman Act until I started collecting coins. There are many numismatic books that have taught me a lot about our history like Robert Van Ryzin's The Crime of 1873: The Comstock Connection or Roger Burdette's From Mine to Mint. More than a decade ago, I joined my first coin forum, and they had a very strict policy about offensive language. They even had a built-in censor to block (BLEEP!) such words and phrases. I remember the first time I used the word "idiot" to describe a buyer who paid too much on FleaBay. Naturally, it was blocked. But, like Spell Check on most computers, there are always ways to get around the problem. And so, I came up with the word "bidiot". The computer doesn't know that this is an offensive word. Yes, there probably are some white-gloved, high-end dealers who turn their noses up at low-end dreck, but the vast majority almost always have junk bins for the beginners and lower-income collectors to search. It's just good business because some of those low-end collectors will one day collect higher-end coins and they'll remember the "little shop around the corner" that helped them get started. Just don't ask them to buy those assumed treasures that someone told you were worth money. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie105" alt=":yuck:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Chris[/QUOTE]