• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Should hobby organizations encourage the "buddy system?"

12 posts in this topic

"Buddy system" as in scuba diving, caving, rock climbing or any other activity where you can quickly find yourself in over your head or grabbing for thin air.

 

I ask because on all the major hobby message boards there are lots of posts from people enamored with getting pocket change put in plastic slabs for $25 and up, each. There are others ready to spend thousands on coins of questionable authenticity or "optimistic grading." The examples are nearly endless.

 

Maybe an ANA slogan: "Don't Go Alone" or "Take a Friend to the Coin Show" .... Clubs could offer "Escort Services" to the public and show promoters could put "Docents for Dummies" at the entrance.....

 

This might sound a little silly at first thought - but could you have avoided waste, deception and disappointment if a knowledgeable collector accompanied you to a coin show when you were new to the hobby (or returning from a long vacation)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has been my experience that you can lead to horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Some collectors welcome help, but more of them seem to want to go their own way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Yeah -- OK....Change the Clubs could offer "Escort Services" to something numismatic.

 

Don't you think you are being a little judgmental, Roger?

 

Chris :foryou:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Yeah -- OK....Change the Clubs could offer "Escort Services" to something numismatic.

 

Or keep "escort services".. I'll gather the types you are talking about and broker the deals to those who need their services. .. MAKING ME A NUMISMATIC PIMP!

 

When can we start, this sounds awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I kind of have a "buddy" system in place. My son collects too, so when we go to shows or the local dealers together and see coins we're interested in, we'll hand it off to the other and get the others opinion on them. Sometimes one will notice something the other missed and point it out. It does help in eliminating some potential bad buys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that every coin collector who wants to increase his store of knowledge tries to "buddy up" with more knowledgeable collectors.

 

The problem is usually with collectors who think they already know everything and never listen to advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Yeah -- OK....Change the Clubs could offer "Escort Services" to something numismatic.

 

Or keep "escort services".. I'll gather the types you are talking about and broker the deals to those who need their services. .. MAKING ME A NUMISMATIC PIMP!

 

When can we start, this sounds awesome.

 

:signfunny:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great idea. One should always have someone else ready to assist, when partaking in a potentially dangerous situation.

 

I look to my buddies here and ATS for this type of 'second opinion'. I usually know when I like a coin but it is fun and educational to hear others' opinions. That is one of the many things that I like about the boards. The only time that this doesn't work is when buying at shows, which I rarely do.

 

I am going to go against common doctrine here, now, but please bear with me. Many think that buying from photos is a bad idea, or dicey at best, but contrarily, buying from just an 'in hand' view is almost worse TO ME. A photograph can pick up A LOT of strike and surface issues that are often missed in hand (even with a loupe) and give you a more exacting view of the piece. Ideally BOTH in hand and photos are useful IMHO. That is why it is nice to buy online from sellers with a solid return privilege. I rarely return coins but have a time or two and it was nice to have that parachute.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perception tests have shown that people examine photos of an item, and the real item differently - different parts of the brain are used and the visual cortex processes differently. There are theories, but no consensus on why and how this happens. (Curiously, attempts to make a coin photo 'look like the coin in-hand' may actually reduce the usable information content.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites