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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 65921, member: 57463&quot;]<b>Everyone online is a liar.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>danr, to me, the &quot;internet&quot; is a subset of &quot;books.&quot;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In the first place, <b>most of what is on the internet in numismatics came from books.</b>&nbsp; We are still not at the point where internet content in numismatics is primary.&nbsp; You do get that in some areas, but not numismatics.&nbsp; History is everything for us and most of history is in books.</p><p><br /></p><p>For those areas where new information does appear online before it comes out in print, then, again, <b>the internet -- like magazines, CDs, videos, etc. -- is just another medium</b> for expert opinion to report new findings.&nbsp; Aaron Feldman&#039;s maxim, &quot;Buy the book before you buy the coin&quot; would certainly apply to renting the ANA video on grading Mint State coins, for instance.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>One problem with the internet is also the primary strength of the internet: the low cost removes the need for independent editing.</b> </p><p><br /></p><p>1.&nbsp; The August 2005 issue of <i>The Celator</i> has an excellent publicity release from the International Association of Professional Numismatists. They operate the International Bureau for the Suppression of Counterfeit Coins.&nbsp; Their article warned against self-defined experts on the internet who condemn coins as fakes.&nbsp; (This became a runaway problem that probably self-destructed, but still echoes out there.)&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>2.&nbsp; Conversely, I believe that there is a post here pointing to a ridiculous eBay auction for a 1944-P Lincoln Cent in circ for $199.&nbsp; If this were offered by an ANA member dealer at an ANA convention bourse floor or Heritage Auction, you would have to find out what makes it so valuable. When it is being sold by Username03 from North America, there is not authority for the claim.</p><p><br /></p><p>3.&nbsp; For a book to be published, even self-published, someone has to come up with the money.&nbsp; It costs very little to put something out in a newsgroup or on a chatboard or to create a website.&nbsp; If I sell a book to Krause, I have to deal with editors.&nbsp; Other numismatists will read the manuscript and pass judgment on it.&nbsp; Even for <i>The Celator</i>, which is an &quot;amateur&quot; publication, if the editor, Kerry Wetterstrom (something of an expert in several areas, actually) has any question about what he is reading, he will hold an article until he can get a better expert to read it.&nbsp; You do not get that online.&nbsp; Online, any self-defined expert can post pages and pictures, and sound authoritative, but who validates that authority?&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>3.a.&nbsp; If an article appears online about Copper Refineries in 19th Century Russia and it is from <a href="http://www.moscow.edu/economics234/assignedreading" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.moscow.edu/economics234/assignedreading" rel="nofollow">www.moscow.edu/economics234/assignedreading</a> then, you can probably rely on it.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>3.b.&nbsp; Websites from PCGS, NGC, the ANA and ANS and many other organizations have been joined by countless private offerings, all of which are reliable and authoritative.&nbsp; Ron Guth&#039;s <a href="http://www.coinfacts.com" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinfacts.com" rel="nofollow">www.coinfacts.com</a> is just one example.</p><p><br /></p><p>4.&nbsp; To write my column for the ANA, I see a lot of websites.&nbsp; I cannot write up all the good ones.&nbsp; Hopefully, I have not recommended any of the bad ones.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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