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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 8028764, member: 105571&quot;]There is no question that I have a few raw coins I purchased from a &quot;trusted&quot; dealer when I was starting to collect - a mere 4 years ago.&nbsp; Needless to say, with the information and skills I have developed in that time I now know I have about 7 less than desirable coins.&nbsp;&nbsp; Fortunately I don&#039;t have much money tied up in them so my education to follow your advice has not been too expensive.</p><p><br /></p><p>So now the only time I buy a raw coin is if it&#039;s a rare die marriage (cherrypick if possible) and only in series that I have spent considerable effort to learn.&nbsp; But I never spend any amount approaching big money unless it&#039;s slabbed.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have found the various tests we give ourselves on this forum mightily useful, such as GTG and &quot;Did this CAC&quot;.&nbsp; I am a long way from being what I would judge competent, but much better than a few years ago.&nbsp; I thank all the Forum members for their willingness to share their knowledge and opinions.</p><p><br /></p><p>So do what every auto-didact does:&nbsp; Read, Look, Listen, Test.</p><p><br /></p><p>BTW, I followed the same self-directed course of knowledge and skill acquisition when I took up machining as a hobby about 40 years ago.&nbsp; I bought many books, was an assiduous follower of the various machinist discussion sites on the old Yahoo Groups, and learned by doing.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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