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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 21330600, member: 105571&quot;]I would urge you, [USER=102022]@masterswimmer[/USER], to not be discouraged.&nbsp; Dismayed at the low morality of many of our fellow humans perhaps.&nbsp; But it was always thus.</p><p><br /></p><p>As to your qualifications to judge, I would wager that you are better at that than you know and better than a significant proportion of your fellow collectors.&nbsp; I suspect you just feel daunted by the increasing sophistication of the crooks and the degree and sophistication needed of yourself to protect your interests.&nbsp; But you are not alone; there are many resources to help you.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now to your second point, the &quot;preponderance&quot; of counterfeit coins and slabs.&nbsp; I would suggest that what you see is not a preponderance of these items but rather an increasing degree of reporting on their existence.&nbsp; That&#039;s a good thing.&nbsp; The increased reporting may mean there are more of them than in the past and that&#039;s probably true to a degree since the internet platforms allow them to ply their trade with some relative anonymity and protection.&nbsp; But the other side of an increased reporting is that more of these items are being discovered and that&#039;s a good thing.&nbsp; To make an analogy:&nbsp; Turn on your kitchen light in the middle of the night and see a cockroach or two.&nbsp; Now you know they are there and can take countermeasures.&nbsp; But if you never turn on the kitchen light and never know the bugs are there then that false sense of security is not supported by the facts and they can eat your cupcakes with impunity.</p><p><br /></p><p>Plus, the internet and the 24/7 news cycle makes everything seem as though it&#039;s rampant when most things are not. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now, I understand I may be leaving the impression that I think counterfeits are not a problem when nothing could be further from the truth.&nbsp; They are a problem and I fully support exposing them and bringing criminals to a harsh justice.&nbsp; I just don&#039;t see that the problem justifies giving up on our beloved hobby.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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