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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ycon, post: 4648045, member: 91771&quot;][USER=78244]@TypeCoin971793[/USER] beat me to it, but I agree with him. </p><p><br /></p><p>My speciality is Italian Renaissance coins and the Italian dealers I buy from are truly experts--almost every one of them has written a book on some aspect of Italian coinage.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Beyond that, I research every coin I buy extensively, reading as much about it as I can, and also finding all comparable auction records for the type. I&#039;m not an expert, but I know how to learn, and I have a good eye. </p><p><br /></p><p>There is a strong collector community for ancients, especially, with a huge amount of collective knowledge. When I got scammed on a rare (but not terribly expensive) coin a few years ago they helped me see why it was fake, after I got suspicious on my own. I got most of my money back from the (iffy) dealer, who has since been publicly shamed for pedalling fakes. </p><p><br /></p><p>As I said, the norms are different. And if you don&#039;t have the crutch of the TPG&#039;s you a) learn how to do it yourself and b) you learn who to trust. And sometimes you make a mistake... but you learn from those too. </p><p><br /></p><p>Without the TPG&#039;s there&#039;s not the same hyperfocus on grading. The grading scale is much simpler. Coins with less circulation wear are generally more valuable, but it&#039;s just one of many factors to take into account.</p><p><br /></p><p>The last thing I&#039;ll say (looking for trouble, perhaps) is that &quot;problem coins&quot; are only a problem if they are a problem for you-- especially if you&#039;re not concerned about resale. Two of my Renaissance coins are holed and plugged. I find that aesthetically the plugs do little to detract from the beauty of the coins (for me). Having the plugs there also made it so that I could afford them. I knew what I was getting and I knew that I was paying&nbsp; a fair price for them. </p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, the TPG&#039;s aren&#039;t stopping anyone from collecting what they like, how they like, but from my perspective it seems they skew the collecting culture in one direction, and it can be hard to resist that pull.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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