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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 1017570, member: 57463&quot;]<b>How do you know an expert?</b>&nbsp; Most of the posters have usernames.&nbsp; I don&#039;t.&nbsp; Did you bother to go to the ANS Library page and look for &quot;Marotta, Michael&quot;?&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Did you listen to the recent COIN RADIO program where &quot;Doug Prather&quot; talked about ducats?&nbsp; He posts here often, but under a different name. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Expert at what?</b></p><p>Numismatics encompasses a broad array of materials.&nbsp; I learn from being here, too.&nbsp; If you want me to answer, you have to ask me something I know.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><b>How do you measure responses?</b>&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>It happens that people ask questions for which others have no answers. Random chance says that there will be bursts and runs with unanswered queries.&nbsp; It is not always wilfull refusal. </p><p><br /></p><p>The growth of CoinTalk is another factor, positive in many ways, but the fact is that many more people are here in chat mode and they respond to posts off the top of their heads just to say something.&nbsp; It is not pernicious; it&#039;s just being sociable. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Why do I owe you anything?</b>&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I drew the line years ago at people who asked to identify foreign coins for which they made no efforts.&nbsp; Rzeczpospolita Polska and Československo and all the rest, every alphabet in the world is online.&nbsp; You look at the pictures, you fill in the blanks, and you learn.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>If you cannot make an effort, I refuse to make it for you.&nbsp; If I find the challenge interesting, I will do the work <b>for myself</b> -- I benefit first -- and then share the answer to thank the questioner for helping me learn more.&nbsp;&nbsp; But not everyone says &quot;Thank you&quot; for the answer and that is the only payment we get here.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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