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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 2350692, member: 24314&quot;]Now let me give you a little friendly advice from a seventy plus old fart who has been over, under, and all around the coins/tokens/medals of most countries, all types, and ages probably from before you were born.&nbsp; Wise men don&#039;t give advice (I&#039;m not wise),and fools don&#039;t follow it but here goes:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I have found that over 75% of the people who buy/sell/trade/collect coins (most are wonderful people) are STUPID, IGNORANT, MISGUIDED, UNINFORMED, and FOOLISH when it comes to coins.&nbsp; They throw their money away on junk (it&#039;s their money and their hobby so that is unimportant) and rely on myths and good sounding opinions from their uninformed peers.&nbsp; They cannot grade, they cannot detect a deceptive counterfeit, they cannot tell you how coins are made or any of the commonly seen characteristics on coins.&nbsp; They cannot tell originality or differentiate PMD from mint imperfections. They don&#039;t understand strike vs wear patterns.&nbsp; They have absolutely no professional training AT ALL.&nbsp; <span style="color: #b30000">Are you beginning to get the picture?</span> This is what we deal with o a daily basis where I work.</p><p>The other 25% are true collectors; numismatists; professionals; and teachers who keep us all on the straight and narrow path to knowledge.&nbsp; IMO many members on CT are 25% &#039;ers.&nbsp; In a very short time the 25% recognize each other and TRY to help the less informed.&nbsp; I feel like I&#039;m wasting much of my life here trying to pass on things I have learned/can demonstrate/and can back up.&nbsp; Ever notice that when I ask a question on CT or ask a poster to back up their opinion I get no answer 97% of the time.&nbsp; There is a reason for this: See the capitalized words above.&nbsp; In a forum such as this, the 30% often appear to be know-it-alls.&nbsp; That&#039;s because this place is free and open to everyone (the 75% who join here to learn).&nbsp; I know what I know and I know what I am ignorant on.&nbsp; Unfortunately, many here don&#039;t have a clue about the state of their <span style="color: #b30000">lack of </span>knowledge! </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>My advice to you:&nbsp; Read it all, ask questions, and THEN GO OUT AND VERIFY the comments for yourself.&nbsp; It is not hard in the information age.&nbsp; Until you can back up your opinion with facts and PERSONAL EXPERIMENTATION it&#039;s best to read and not type/regurgitate the nonsense all around us here.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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