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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;mac266, post: 2960955, member: 26371&quot;]This thread and others have me very upset about how we are treating people new to the hobby.&nbsp; Everyone complains that values are dropping because of decreasing interest in numismatics, yet some people on this forum seem like they are doing everything they can to drive away people who are just becoming interested.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, every 9 year-old who finds a cent made around the time I was born thinks they&#039;ve stumbled upon a piece of ancient history (I&#039;m in my early 40s!). </p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, everyone who looks at a 1982 cent thinks they&#039;ve found one of the rare varieties.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, anything unfamiliar to the newbie is undoubtedly a million dollar rarity.</p><p><br /></p><p>BUT WEREN&#039;T WE LIKE THIS, TOO, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED?!??!??</p><p><br /></p><p>As with *ANY* hobby, profession, vocation, or activity, it takes knowledge, gained through study and practice to become good at it.&nbsp; But something has to spark the interest, which drives the person to pursue that study and knowledge, and to practice.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pick an athlete, for example.&nbsp; A World Series winning baseball pitcher started out as a six year-old little leaguer who didn&#039;t even know which direction to run around the bases, let alone how to throw a curveball on the inside corner.&nbsp; If his coach had started out that boy&#039;s baseball career with, &quot;Oh my goodness, Jimmy, you&#039;re an idiot.&nbsp; YOU DON&#039;T EVEN KNOW WHICH WAY TO RUN,&quot; little Jimmy never would have made it.&nbsp; He would have walked off the field in tears and hated baseball for the rest of his life.</p><p><br /></p><p>But that&#039;s exactly what some of you are doing to young / new numismatists.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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