Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BooksB4Coins, post: 2368201, member: 36230&quot;]5) Yes and no. An absolute yes the first part, but imo, just because one sells a coin, this doesn&#039;t make them a &quot;dealer&quot;. Others will certainly disagree and is certainly their right, but in my eyes there are, or at least can be, vast differences between what I would call a &quot;dealer&quot; and a &quot;seller&quot;. Without getting terribly long-winded here, a dealer offers something of value to their customers/clients beyond the coin itself, most often in the form of knowledge and experience, while a seller simply sells (if this makes sense). Your advice, as written, could easily be misconstrued into a warning against dealers when the fact is that a good one can be the new collector&#039;s most valuable asset. I cannot even begin to tell you how many &quot;collections&quot; I&#039;ve seen, full of every level of dreck imaginable, where a good dealer would have made all the difference in the world. As I said before though, the problem for a new collector can be how to separate the good from the bad.</p><p><br /></p><p>8) No... this absolutely is not true when made as a blanket statement. While I would agree that a brand new collector probably shouldn&#039;t be buying raw supposdly MS high dollar classic coins, there are plenty of types where there is little reason to buy anything but.</p><p><br /></p><p>8 (the second one) This too, when made as a blanket statement, is at the very least questionable. It is not that the advice itself is bad, but just that it needs to be reasonable. The fact is that there are plenty of people out there who think they&#039;re the center of the universe, and will not think twice about wasting a dealer&#039;s time, often searching for that one great score and perfectly willing to walk away without spending a cent unless they find it. This isn&#039;t to say that there are no short dealers with less than acceptable bedside manners, but it must be understood that (most of the time) this isn&#039;t his hobby for them. Time wasted with a less than serious &quot;buyer&quot; could be better spent helping someone who is serious. There are many threads here in which someone expresses frustration over what they believe to be a dealer not taking them seriously, but rarely do such people show even a hint of being able to see the other side. No one would expect to walk into the Porsche dealership in their bumming around the house clothes and be handed the keys to a new 911; right or wrong people judge each other on appearances and usually based upon experiences. If, say, you are a 14 year old kid and want to look at a thousand dollar coin, even if he indeed has the ability to purchase, is the dealer unreasonably at fault for being hesitant? Perhaps not the best example, but I&#039;m sure you get the point. Perhaps the best advice here would be to follow the golden rule. To place yourself in his shoes and to simply be respectful. Just because the guy isn&#039;t willing to let you ogle and palm every other coin in his case doesn&#039;t mean he&#039;s being rude or disrespectful.</p><p><br /></p><p>11) I would reword this (if I indeed understood you correctly) to be aware of the fact that sometimes coins are offered generically, usually by type, grade, TPG, etc. Although not unheard of, the switching of coins is fairly uncommon and often by accident, so there&#039;s little reason to possibly make new collector&#039;s paranoid.</p><p><br /></p><p>12) That&#039;s not your decision to make; it&#039;s the individual collector&#039;s. We all see things differently and enjoy different things, so who are you to tell someone, no matter how noble your intentions are, what not to collect? With that said though, there&#039;s certainly nothing wrong with letting someone know that high grade is the norm, but let them choose. Again, just give them the tools.</p><p><br /></p><p>13) $30?? What sense does it make for someone to pay near/close to/over a coin&#039;s value just to have it &quot;certified&quot;? Slabbing must add something of value (not value, but of value... be it liquidity, for authentication, etc) to the coin for it to be a worthwhile consideration, and can you honestly think of a common situation where a&nbsp; $30 would benefit enough to make it worthwhile? I can honestly tell you that I&#039;ve never personally known a knowledgeable individual who set their consideration threshold so low. If you buy a coin for $20 that may be worth $30, yet pay $30 to have it slabbed, what are you left with? God forbid you pay $30 for it ($30 + $30 = $60 for a still $30 coin).. does this make sense? New collectors shouldn&#039;t be submitting anyway unless they have someone truly experienced and knowledgeable to screen for them. I&#039;ve said this many times before, but not all coins need to or should be certified; with new collectors especially, setting such a low threshold for submitting is a recipe for disaster.</p><p><br /></p><p>14) No... this too, when made as a blanket statement, is not true. While mintage can play a part, what really matters and matters more is survival and popularity. To help make the point, look up the story behind the 1903-O Morgan prior to the bag discoveries. On the other end of the spectrum, perhaps familiarize yourself with what happened with the 1950-D nickel. Two rather extreme cases, yes, but both should help you see why mintage does not automatically equal value.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I said earlier though, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to put something together that helps everyone, so don&#039;t even try to. Since you insist on giving this a shot, simply provide the basic tools and allow anyone who reads it to do with as they choose. Also, be very mindful of proper wording and spelling if you indeed follow through with this little project; after all, you&#039;re presenting yourself as a knowledgeable professional in a very detailed oriented area, and want to be taken seriously.&nbsp; As always, I wish you luck.[/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