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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Drusus, post: 253728, member: 6370&quot;]I read a forum that is much like the one mentioned above and after a few years there I have found that one must, like has been said here, be wary of &#039;experts&#039; and know who they are and the nature of the forum.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The one I go to is run by a coin dealer and many of those who are held forth as experts, the credentials they have are merely that they are also dealers...While it is a great place if you are looking to simply identify a coin...cointalk and most coin forums will have people who have enough experience and books to ID a coin for you...when it comes to discussion...there are severe limitations as it is the forum of a dealer and as such certain things cannot be discussed, a few of these things that cannot be discussed are major omissions in my opinion.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>For example..one cannot make suggestions or referrals to sellers other than the seller who runs the forum...a few other referrals are begrudgingly allowed by the other sellers who are considered experts...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Most people given the title of expert are also fellow dealers and often the expertise is lacking I have found (but in the case of a handful, they are HIGHLY knowledgable)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Discussion in some vital areas is censored...a vital area of discussion on a forum concerning ancients is forgeries. only select people (who are mostly dealers and make their money off selling ancient coins) are allowed to comment on fakes. While I would always defer to a few of these guys I truly think are experienced enough to make such judgments (I very seldom feel confident enough to comment on the authenticity of a coins, a search of my posts here and elsewhere will show that...only the most obvious ones I will comment on)...the problem is, discussion between all members regarding the general problem of forgeries is stifled...the reason given is a dishonest one in my opinion...it is that they dont want to scare people away from buying ancient coins by letting it be know how common forgeries are on the market and how easy it is to not only make a fake coin but make a good one that will cause the experts to question.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If anyone has read this forum they will see that many so called experts will be shown a coin and 3 will say its fake, 3 will say it is without doubt perfectly fine. and if anyone has seen the massive amounts of fakes...and high quality ones, ones that end up fooling half your experts, you will know this is a huge problem in collecting ancients...I know what they look for to judge a fake, and many fakers do as well...and this needs to be known...So any discussions of fakes and how prevalent they are, and how experts are often fooled by them is stifled as there is a conflict of interest between the experts (who are dealers on the whole) and the truth.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I in fact saw several experts deliberately giving out false information regarding fakes...when I questioned this I was told not question the experts...the false information was</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1. That is is very difficult and expensive and requires expensive machines to create a good fake coin (this was said in an attempt to belittle the threat of fakes on the market)....</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Fakes fool experts...and if a few guys in Bulgaria can make a set of fakes that fool experts...imagine what a good fakemiester in a more wealthy country with more resources can chug out and how many are out there that have fooled the experts...It a huge problem and there should be no censorship of honest discussion about the topic...just my opinion...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So in essence...my point is, know thy forums and experts. Know if there are conflicts of interest...</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Dont get me wrong though, when it comes to identification of tough ancients you are having a problem with, the forum I mention is top of the line, it is good for indentification and it DOES list fakes...and that is what most coin forums are good for...help in identifying and general coin discussion...I love the forum, dont get me wrong...know the nature of the experts and the forum.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://www.cachecoins.org/coins/4a.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.cachecoins.org/coins/4.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.cachecoins.org/coins/4.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.cachecoins.org/coins/4.jpg</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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