Kirk, I'm curious. Have you ever read or commented on any thread other than those you start? I didn't see anything upon quick perusal of your profile, but I see that you've started 44 new threads since joining 2 months ago, and all of those threads are for identification help. I don't see any comments from you on other people's threads and I don't see any "likes" you've given other than on replies to your own threads. Some of the coins you post happen to have current or very recent threads active at the time of a given new post, so if you were reading other threads you'd probably see your coin's ID. All of this makes me feel disinclined to help further.
I read them or like them..but I don't seem to be knowledgable enough to add anything more..I'd probably look inexperienced compared to everyone else..I started 3 months ago..Do you think it would be enough to join converstations?
Of course it is enough to join conversations! You don't have to know everything (or even much at all) to comment or ask questions. You've bought (a hundred? hundreds?) of coins and surely have accumulated a fair amount of attribution experience by now. It's not all about attribution either. Sometimes we like to talk about a coin simply because of its beauty or artistry. Sometimes the history is interesting. Sometimes the discussions are esoteric. Sometime's they're moronic (and fun ). Commenting on other people's coins now and then would show that you're interested in CoinTalk as more than just a free attribution service for flipping your group lot coins.
We've ALL been inexperienced collectors... most of us still are! It's all relative. I started four years ago, which means I'm still a relative newbie (I think it takes much much longer to become truly experienced). Sometimes I know a fair amount about a given coin, then the next day I ask a bonehead question. It's okay . The more you learn the more you will find that there is to learn.
One acceptable/recommended 'comment' would be asking a question to clarify some point someone made that shows that you actually did read what was posted and needed us to be more clear when we assumed all readers had a background in the subject. Years ago I discovered a fact at a large coin show that bothered me. In addition to rows of tables of dealers selling coins there was a small area dedicated to exhibits of coins not for sale but intended to serve an educational purpose. Usually there was no crowd of people looking at, let alone studying, these exhibits. The fact is most people seem only to be interested in coins they can own (those for sale) or those they can never own (some shows will display an EID MAR denarius, for example, to attract a crowd). Displays of 'nice' groups of 'nice' coins bore people. Another way to get on the bad side of the 'old' users here is to keep asking the same question or making the same mistake in repeated posts. Those who take the time to answer questions might just expect you to read those answers and learn. There is nothing wrong with being an inexperienced collector unless you make a career out of it.
I've been wrong quite a few times not just ancients but moderns to, just search my posts. I'm not new to coins but ancients, very much so, only about a year and a half maybe. My meager 120 or so ancient coins pales to my around 3,000 or maybe a few hundred more moderns, I've not counted them in several years and have only added a handful in the last year. I'm here to learn and share what I've learned. It doesn't hurt to make a few friends along the way either.
