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<p>[QUOTE="messydesk, post: 3079393, member: 1765"]My thoughts on your thoughts, by requirement:</p><p><br /></p><p>General: Start with the Merit Badge Pamphlet, which will have a lot of information in it.</p><p><br /></p><p>1. There's a really <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daJNC51Dsbk" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daJNC51Dsbk" rel="nofollow">good movie shot in by the RCM in 1920</a> that will supplement the minting process that is outlined in the pamphlet. As it is a silent film, someone later added some nice piano playing as a soundtrack. There are more modern ones (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeGXYYoSO1U" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeGXYYoSO1U" rel="nofollow">like this one</a> showing refining gold and making Maple Leaves), of course, but this shows how little has changed in 100 years.</p><p><br /></p><p>2. They're supposed to explain to you. The information will be in the pamphlet. The giant coins might be amusing, but the real thing and a loupe would be better.</p><p><br /></p><p>3 - 4. Have your sets handy to show the scout. PCGS Photograde (browser or mobile app) is a good resource for grading.</p><p><br /></p><p>5a. Have a Red Book and a Krause book and a couple test coins the scout hasn't seen so that he can demonstrate this competence.</p><p><br /></p><p>5b. I agree that you should have a magazine or paper on hand in case the scout doesn't know where to get one.</p><p><br /></p><p>6 - 7. In addition to roll hunting, make sure you go into selecting coins for quality. Collecting a half and a dollar from actual circulation will be difficult, if not impossible, so they'll have to go to a bank for these.</p><p><br /></p><p>9 - 10. These are supposed to be the tougher ones that take a little time and work to finish. For requirement 9, have a few sets that are larger than the requirements to show how any of these collections can grow, and that finishing a requirement is merely the start of building a collection. If you have a birth year set, add in some coins from 100 years earlier or from other countries. My birth year set is quite boring -- no mint marks that year. If I go back 100 years, it gets interesting (and expensive) fast.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 10b "view a web site of a dealer" bit I would really discourage, since they're generally not meant to teach you anything. That seems like an out-of-place requirement, although if the scout comes to you with it fulfilled, you'll probably have to count it, unless there was little learned from doing so. They should have also encouraged visiting a local shop if one was available and you know they're not scoundrels. You might want to contact Heritage in Dallas to see if they let scouts visit them to see what they do, although I don't see how that fits with any one of the requirements unless you also visit their website.</p><p><br /></p><p>Be ready to show your coins and how they relate to the work the scout has done to illustrate a path forward for him if he is genuinely interested in the hobby, and not just adding a badge to his sash.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="messydesk, post: 3079393, member: 1765"]My thoughts on your thoughts, by requirement: General: Start with the Merit Badge Pamphlet, which will have a lot of information in it. 1. There's a really [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daJNC51Dsbk']good movie shot in by the RCM in 1920[/URL] that will supplement the minting process that is outlined in the pamphlet. As it is a silent film, someone later added some nice piano playing as a soundtrack. There are more modern ones ([URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeGXYYoSO1U']like this one[/URL] showing refining gold and making Maple Leaves), of course, but this shows how little has changed in 100 years. 2. They're supposed to explain to you. The information will be in the pamphlet. The giant coins might be amusing, but the real thing and a loupe would be better. 3 - 4. Have your sets handy to show the scout. PCGS Photograde (browser or mobile app) is a good resource for grading. 5a. Have a Red Book and a Krause book and a couple test coins the scout hasn't seen so that he can demonstrate this competence. 5b. I agree that you should have a magazine or paper on hand in case the scout doesn't know where to get one. 6 - 7. In addition to roll hunting, make sure you go into selecting coins for quality. Collecting a half and a dollar from actual circulation will be difficult, if not impossible, so they'll have to go to a bank for these. 9 - 10. These are supposed to be the tougher ones that take a little time and work to finish. For requirement 9, have a few sets that are larger than the requirements to show how any of these collections can grow, and that finishing a requirement is merely the start of building a collection. If you have a birth year set, add in some coins from 100 years earlier or from other countries. My birth year set is quite boring -- no mint marks that year. If I go back 100 years, it gets interesting (and expensive) fast. The 10b "view a web site of a dealer" bit I would really discourage, since they're generally not meant to teach you anything. That seems like an out-of-place requirement, although if the scout comes to you with it fulfilled, you'll probably have to count it, unless there was little learned from doing so. They should have also encouraged visiting a local shop if one was available and you know they're not scoundrels. You might want to contact Heritage in Dallas to see if they let scouts visit them to see what they do, although I don't see how that fits with any one of the requirements unless you also visit their website. Be ready to show your coins and how they relate to the work the scout has done to illustrate a path forward for him if he is genuinely interested in the hobby, and not just adding a badge to his sash.[/QUOTE]
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