Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="chascat, post: 2405704, member: 76792"]I,ve been collecting for about 53years now.  In the first years, the hobby kept me off the streets and was a fun way to spend idle time.  Back then, if you were really lucky to find an honest Dealer, you felt successful.  I kept collecting to a degree,but soon became very skeptical of many dealer,s tact, and I finally quit collecting. When coin grading came to be, I felt less at risk of buying nice coins, and began collecting again.  It took me years of experience to finally build trust in my own decisions and those of the graders.  Although Graders often miss the grade, I,ve learned to use their mistakes to my advantage,  I collect both raw and graded coins and there is a place for each in my collection.  In these times, most collectors rely on graded coins for their own peace of mind, and that,s good for the hobby. I think a LOT of  worthless stuff is in slabs and only worth the plastic tombs they are in, but on the other hand, I want my nice coins to be graded by the pros.  Education is my best insurance against fraud and manipulation of the industry.  If I buy a graded coin, I study its trends from several diff. sources, I give it my own grade, and then make my decision.  If I,m being cheated by a dealer or a grader, I don,t buy it![/QUOTE]