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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;omahaorange, post: 1451035, member: 28199&quot;]How about some constructive criticism.&nbsp; Writing guides is not as easy as it sounds.&nbsp; So lets break down what you have here:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So which is it?&nbsp; Buy a price guide, one of the best being &quot;The Red Book&quot;, but don&#039;t use it to price coins, because the prices are not accurate.&nbsp; I highly recommend the Red Book to new collectors, with the caveat to not use the prices listed.&nbsp; The Red Book is chock full of good information regarding coins, mintage, etc.&nbsp; Your make some valid points, but then you contradict yourself (on the Price Guide).&nbsp; So the newbie relying on this &quot;guide&quot; (yours) just got lost.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Why?&nbsp; A cleaned and polished car will fetch more money than a dirty, beat-up one.&nbsp; How can I tell the difference between cleaned or not?&nbsp; What&#039;s the difference between &quot;cleaned&quot; and &quot;conserved&quot;?&nbsp; As a newbie reading this guide, I have no idea what you&#039;re talking about.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As a newbie, this is probably the last thing I&#039;m thinking about.&nbsp; But, if I don&#039;t want to educate myself, I should only buy slabbed coins?&nbsp; So, is this guide geared to the collector (for whom education is part of the fun of the hobby) or for the investor (where flipping for profit is the motivation)?&nbsp; Why does a slabbed coin cost more?&nbsp; What&#039;s not to like if they&#039;re so much better?&nbsp; See where I&#039;m going with this.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So, some places and venues are good, and some are bad?&nbsp; How do I tell the difference?&nbsp; Should I just not buy from someone with low feedback?&nbsp; Or should&nbsp; I do a little more research?&nbsp; And if I buy slabbed coins from these vendors, I don&#039;t really have to worry about it, right?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Take your own advice.&nbsp; While you bring up some valid points, you also contradict yourself, and provide little to no explanation about some of these points.&nbsp; Understand that writing a guide for a person just entering a field (any field), requires things be explained in the simplest terms possible.&nbsp; Assume the person you&#039;re writing for knows absolutely nothing about the subject.&nbsp; Somebody earlier, in another thread, suggested <b>Coin Collecting for Dummies</b>.&nbsp; This was one of the first books I bought when I started collecting.&nbsp; This series of books (<b>...for Dummies</b>) breaks down the subject matter in basic, easy-to-understand terms, perfect for the newbies. You then use this information to build upon the basics by reading more advanced or specialized material.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the record, even the most experienced of us can&#039;t just sit down and write a how-to guide in ten minutes of banging on the keyboard.&nbsp; While I understand and appreciate your desire to help other new collectors, verify your statements with research, even if you think you know what you&#039;re saying.&nbsp; Organize your thoughts.&nbsp; Type away. Then proof read it for both content, and clarity and accuracy of the information.&nbsp; Then click the &quot;Submit Reply&quot; button.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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