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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3031567, member: 19463&quot;]When I started this thread, I was considering dropping an invitation like&nbsp; Nathan did but he beat me to it.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We are getting what I consider way too many people with Clay&#039;s idea of ancients that have been formed from his experiences with moderns.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Slabs do not protect you from counterfeits nearly as well as applying common sense will.&nbsp;&nbsp; Beginners making the move to ancients from buying slabbed 1909S VDB in MS too often think they have to buy only the finest and most rare, popular coins right at the start when they might be better off forgetting about impressing the neighbors with their bank accounts and select some coins that can be educational and interesting while not costing as much as the fee to have a 2018 cent slabbed.&nbsp; Most transfers from modern to ancients seem to bring over that attitude that a coin is not worth considering unless it is MS.&nbsp; Their prejudice caused the only worthwhile ancient slabbers (NGC) to have to label MS on coins other ancient folks call EF.&nbsp; I collected ancients for several decades before I ever saw a perfect coin.&nbsp; Then we called them FDC (fleur du coin).&nbsp; I have no problem with the two excellent numismatists that grade for NGC but there are a million ancients out there that need love, too, and don&#039;t cost so much that you really need to pay someone for an opinion.&nbsp; Selecting honest dealers will suffice. </p><p><br /></p><p>The first line in the quote below really bothers me but that might be because it has become true and I just don&#039;t like it.&nbsp; I did not start collecting as an investor.&nbsp; I was about eight years old and thought it was neat to find Indian Head cents and very occasionally a Seated dime in my parent&#039;s change.&nbsp; I still have many of those coins but discovered ancients and started dumping duplicates to finance my ancient obsession a bit over 50 years ago. </p><p><br /></p><p>longnine009 goes on to say what I can agree with completely.&nbsp; In fact I have no use for investors except when they give up and dump their coins to the benefit of those of us who think they are fun and are not afraid of work.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t know or care about moderns but in ancients you buy from dealers who specialize in ancients and who buy and disperse collections from estates not to mention coins that collectors have &#039;outgrown&#039; or upgraded in their collections.&nbsp; You also buy/trade with other collectors when you can.&nbsp; Sometimes you make money on such dealings and sometimes you lose.&nbsp; If you are in it for the fun and education using money of the same type you spend on movies and theme park admissions, you don&#039;t measure you success by what you made on a &#039;deal&#039;.&nbsp; Sure you can join those new converts that insist of paying $100 for a $20 coin in a $40 slab figuring there will be someone willing to buy it for $200 someday.&nbsp; If not and you get bored, the fun bunch will be there to buy them for the $20.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I propose a &#039;test&#039; that will tell you if you might be happy with the move to ancients.&nbsp; If you really believe that a coin identical in most respects save an extra S under the date is &#039;worth&#039; 100 times as much because the &#039;Red&#039; book says so, you may not like ancients.&nbsp; There is a difference between price and value.&nbsp; When I stopped collecting moderns (roughly 1964) I was interested in a type set with full realization I would never have a Chain cent and several others.&nbsp; When I moved to ancients and realized a &#039;set&#039; was impossible (no museum has even half of what exists) I was freed from being ashamed of not having all those holes in my folder filled.&nbsp; I this seems appealing, you might be happy over on the darkside with the ancient people.&nbsp; If you do come over, try to leave behind the &#039;facts&#039; you worship in modern collecting.&nbsp; For example, don&#039;t tell us never to clean a coin.&nbsp; When a coin spent 2000 years buried in the earth, it might get a little &#039;dusty&#039; and need a gentle bath.&nbsp; Don&#039;t tell us coins have to be MS to be worth anything.&nbsp; There are thousands of coins that are the best surviving example of their type that are way down there below fine.&nbsp; Don&#039;t tell us your coin is worth $1000 just because that is what you paid some guy for it or you saw one a bit similar that sold for that much.&nbsp; Ancients do not have a Redbook and the variables that need to be considered will take a while to appreciate.&nbsp; Most of all, don&#039;t make your first post a request for us to appraise your collection.&nbsp;&nbsp; If all you care about is what you can get, pay a dealer to handle the stuff.&nbsp; We don&#039;t call it the &#039;Darkside&#039; for nothing.&nbsp; We <u>are</u> a friendly bunch.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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