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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cloudsweeper99, post: 92241, member: 3011&quot;]I appreciate posts like this coming from collectors, or former collectors, with a great deal more knowledge than I have.&nbsp; If an expert can feel this way, what chance does a casual collector like me have?&nbsp; I concluded quite some time ago that the answer is - virtually none.&nbsp; I love coins but can&#039;t devote the time to rise to the level of expertise needed to combat those in the hobby who make a living preying on people like me.</p><p><br /></p><p>My personal solution is to limit my participation to buying bargain priced gold and silver coins when I can find them [to satisfy the investor and bargain hunter in me], picking interesting pieces or building partial sets out of pocket change and some rolls [to relax and unwind], and buying a few old US and Canadian tokens [because they are interesting, historical, and relatively cheap since few people collect exonumia].</p><p><br /></p><p>Most coins seem overpriced when I want to buy them, and worthless when I want to sell them.&nbsp; Buying a coins is sometimes like buying a car -- it loses 20% of it&#039;s value when you walk out the door with it.&nbsp; It seems sometimes that actually putting together a set of just about anything requires the mindset that you are going to have to cheerfully submit to getting ripped off and convince yourself that creating something of lasting value isn&#039;t important to the &quot;enjoyment&quot; of the hobby.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, my opinions don&#039;t carry the weight that Mike&#039;s do, but that&#039;s the way things look from down here at the bottom.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks Mike for stirring the pot. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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