Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 642025, member: 112&quot;]Tom - </p><p><br /></p><p>Had you been a member here for more than a few months you would have probably read the countless discussions on this very subject. And they were quite extensive.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, more than few have voiced the very same comments that you do about my comments, and/or the way I word them. Sure, I could write page after page about the subject listing all the pros and cons every time the subject came up. And every single time that elicits a myriad of questions like - well what about this, what about that, and so on and so on. But after you write the same thing a hundred times or more, it kind of gets old. </p><p><br /></p><p>So I guess you could say that I just prefer to cut to the bottom line. The bottom line is this - a problem coin will forever and always be a problem coin. There are no exceptions - ever. </p><p><br /></p><p>You can do anything and everything that you can dream of to a problem coin trying to improve it - but there have already been a thousand others who done it before you. None of them were successful, and none ever will be.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now that is not just my opinion, that is the same thing that you will find in any book ever written about the subject by the most experienced, well respected names there are in the business. You name them - and they will agree. There have even been somewhat famous quotes that came about as a result of discussing the subject of problem coins like one that has been used in this very thread - &quot;no price is ever too cheap for a problem coin&quot;. Now I can&#039;t tell you off the top of my head who even coined that phrase, or if the wording is exactly correct. But the gist of the wording is accurate and that&#039;s what counts.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now you say that my comments like - &quot;more experienced&quot;, &quot;those less versed&quot; and &quot;playing around&quot; are a &quot;(a reference to acting childish I guess)&quot; and that they sound condescending. Nothing could be further from the truth. What my comments like that are trying point out is that trying to improve a problem coin is an effort in futility - it&#039;s a waste of time, effort and money. Again, that is not an opinion - it is a cold hard fact.</p><p><br /></p><p>You also say that people should be able to decide for themselves if a coin can be improved or not. And for that reason that we should do our best to explain all of the possible things they could try to do to improve the problem coin. But the point reamins - it can&#039;t be done. Just like the novice who inherits a collection, sees that some of the coins are all dirty or some darkly toned thinks that he is going to improve their value and make them easier to sell if he polishes them all up and makes them nice and shiny - and gets rid of all that ugly dirt and toning - is wrong. So too is the person who thinks he can improve a problem coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yeah, the coins may look better to them, but let any experienced eye look at the coins and they will turn away - not even wanting to make an offer. And if they make one it will be so cheap as to be insulting to the owner. The point is, what those people think of as being improved isn&#039;t improved at all. It is even thought of as damage to those with experience in the hobby. And this is true in every single case. You see, the people who think that coin has been improved just don&#039;t have the knowledge or experience to even be able to judge if a coin has been improved or not. And if that sounds condescending - well, I&#039;m sorry, but the truth is the truth and nothing can ever change it. And I really don&#039;t know any other way to say it.</p><p><br /></p><p>There really is only one thing to do when a collector discovers that he has made a mistake and purchased a problem coin. I&#039;ll take that back, there are two things. The first is to recognize that he has made a mistake and learn from that mistake. The second, assuming he is unhappy with the coin, is to sell the coin or trade it off for whatever he can get for it and get one that he is happy with. That&#039;s it - end of story. Anything else is futile. For regardless of what you do to that coin, you are not going to improve the value. It will sell for the same reduced amount, often even less because the additonal work done to the coin typically only causes even more damage, than if he had just left it alone and sold the thing. You take your losses, chalk them up to tuition and move on. It is really all you can do.</p><p><br /></p><p>No, I&#039;ll take that back too. There is one other thing you can do - you can sell the coin for full value to another inexperienced collector causing him to make the same mistake you did by purchasing the thing to begin with.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now which way would you rather go ? Possibly spend months, maybe even years, and more than a little money working on a coin trying to improve it - and failing in the end. Or just sell it as is, disclosing the problems you are aware of, and buy a problem free coin for your collection ?</p><p><br /></p><p>You tell me - then you&#039;ll know why I say what I say and why I say it the way I do.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in