I wish this place could get back on track.

[ldhair]

What would it take to bring folks back here and start posting again?

[BillJones]

Yes, it would be good. This used to be my favorite numismatic site.

 

I'll respond to collector questions but won't lift a finger for the management. The management has done what they could to take the fun out of the hobby.

[wvucoinman]

Bill, My sentiments are with you 100%! They have taken the incentive, enjoyment and fun out of the hobby.

[MarkFeld]

Bill, My sentiments are with you 100%! They have taken the incentive, enjoyment and fun out of the hobby.

 

If you really feel that way, why not focus on the "incentive, enjoyment and fun" that existed in the hobby, long (as in decades) before set registries came into being? I can sympathize with set registry participants, but there is a great deal more to the hobby than set registries.

[toneddollars]

Bill, My sentiments are with you 100%! They have taken the incentive, enjoyment and fun out of the hobby.

Really,....you need NGC to furfill all those things for your coin collecting enjoyment???

Bill, all your work on education with your registry set remains. It is only future purchases after the first of the year. I feel there is a lot of over reaction to this decision by the host. If these are the biggest problems in your lives, most of you are VERY lucky indeed.

[BillJones]

Bill, My sentiments are with you 100%! They have taken the incentive, enjoyment and fun out of the hobby.

 

If you really feel that way, why not focus on the "incentive, enjoyment and fun" that existed in the hobby, long (as in decades) before set registries came into being? I can sympathize with set registry participants, but there is a great deal more to the hobby than set registries.

 

You are absolutely right Mark. I'm going pursue completing the Classic Head gold sets that I have collecting for the past couple of years. Finishing sets of coins like that is always a source of satisfaction for a collector.

 

I would like to display the $2.50 coins when I am done. To that I will have to finish it with PCGS coins and post the set on their registry. Previously I would have finished it with whatever NGC or PCGS coins that worked for me. Now the new policy has pushed me into the PCGS market.

 

Policy changes do have consequences, and sometimes the results are not what the powers in charge think they will be.

[Afterword]

When there is an immovable obstacle in your way, it is always best to go around it, rather than bang your head against it.

[mark]

Idhair:

 

To tackle your op, I think that some people have left due to the presence of a few trolls who post an innumerable number of nonsensical words in many posts on many threads. In addition, there is one particular topic that virtually always leads to hundreds of posts that shed no additional light on a well worn topic. I know that I grow tired of these posters and threads and when one is roaring, I don't glance over here for a few days to let it settle down. Given the very lightly moderated nature of these boards, I don't know what can be done about what I see as these two problems.

 

It seems to me that these boards get more new collectors asking basic questions about their coins than do the boards ATS. But these new collectors 1) hardly seem to stick around, and 2) aren't going to provide much motivation for more experienced collectors to continue their posting.

 

Mark

[coinman_23885]

Idhair:

 

To tackle your op, I think that some people have left due to the presence of a few trolls who post an innumerable number of nonsensical words in many posts on many threads. In addition, there is one particular topic that virtually always leads to hundreds of posts that shed no additional light on a well worn topic. I know that I grow tired of these posters and threads and when one is roaring, I don't glance over here for a few days to let it settle down. Given the very lightly moderated nature of these boards, I don't know what can be done about what I see as these two problems.

 

It seems to me that these boards get more new collectors asking basic questions about their coins than do the boards ATS. But these new collectors 1) hardly seem to stick around, and 2) aren't going to provide much motivation for more experienced collectors to continue their posting.

 

Mark

 

If the concern is about a certain topic, then it is easy to ignore the thread(s) that discuss that particular topic and focus on the rest of the boards. Your theory, which has been promoted by a few posters in the past, doesn't make sense to me. For instance, I hate statehood quarters. As such, I simply won't open threads about statehood quarters, but that wouldn't stop me from reading and participating in other threads.

 

This place has been known as sleepy hollow for several years (and long before the discussion of certain controversial topics). I think a lot of people have stopped posting because the traffic has dropped significantly, and there are fewer threads. Activity on the PCGS boards is also a mere fraction of what it was a few years ago. It could also be that several people are taking a break during the poor market.

[SkyMan]

 

...I think a lot of people have stopped posting because the traffic has dropped significantly, and there are fewer threads...

 

I think one thing that has KILLED the CS Boards is how many people post all their Newps to the "Post Your Most Recent Acquisition" thread.

 

When I first started on the boards here, roughly 10 years ago, people would start a new thread about what they had recently purchased. Those that wanted to, would then post congratulations to that thread. Everybody could see that Collector X had just bought a coin Y. Most of us LIKE to show off our Newps, we are proud of them.

 

For some reason, around 6ish years ago many posters ON CS BOARDS only began to post their Newps to the "Post your most recent acquisition" (PYMRA) thread, and the sense of excitement died down. Not only that, look at how many people actually get congratulated for buying a sweet looking coin and posting it to the PYMRA thread.

 

Yes, there are certainly "Post your most recent acquisition" threads both at Coin Talk and CU, but for the most part on the CT boards people post their most exciting Newps as stand alone threads, and on the CU boards, the PYMRA thread never got any traction, so people pretty much always start a new thread for a Newp.

 

IMO if you buy a coin you should be proud enough of it to start a new thread. Yes, I will post some of my more common and/or lower grade Newps to PYMRA threads or to threads devoted to a specific Type, but I LIKE having individual threads for individual coins.

[physics-fan3.14]

Besides the aforementioned problems, which I agree with, I think one of the big problems over the past year or so have been the increasing number of extremely toxic threads, and a troll who was (is) allowed to run rampant on the site. That drove a lot of people away.

 

If you look back at the posts over the last year, there is much less educational or informative posting than there used to be 5 or 6 years ago - and a really high percentage of posts about one or two topics. There really just isn't much compelling reason to be on these forums. The only reason I stay is because there are a few people here that don't post elsewhere, and I really enjoy the posts from those people.

[mark]

coinman_23885:

 

We could test my "theory" that trolls and hard feelings lead to people leaving by getting into a real nasty disagreement in this thread to see if we drive anyone off. More seriously, I certainly agree with you that fewer threads leads to less interest. The problem, of course, is that in turn less interest leads to fewer threads. I like SkyMan's suggestion for people to post photographs of their NEWPS to unique threads. Unfortunately I have zero skill in taking photographs so unless the coin comes with pictures, I won't be posting much. But I sure enjoy looking at other collectors' purchases.

 

Mark

[Prethen]

Sorry...I must be late to the party. What exactly was meant by the reference to a problem with the management?

[messydesk]

...

 

I would like to display the $2.50 coins when I am done. To that I will have to finish it with PCGS coins and post the set on their registry. Previously I would have finished it with whatever NGC or PCGS coins that worked for me. Now the new policy has pushed me into the PCGS market.

 

Policy changes do have consequences, and sometimes the results are not what the powers in charge think they will be.

 

One of the places that TPGs are overstepping their purpose is defining rules for collecting through their registries. This was a big complaint we had in my corner of the world (VAM collecting) several years ago. The result was that one of our members developed our own registry where SSDC members can build all sorts of sets, from the sublime to the ridiculous, all because it's... wait for it... fun for them.

 

If TPGs restrict what's in their sets to coins blessed with their product and there's demand by collectors to not have this restriction, then there's opportunity for other parties, including auction companies with competent IT, to cater to collectors who feel TPG registry restrictions are impinging on their enjoyment of the hobby.

[tejas1836]

Sorry...I must be late to the party. What exactly was meant by the reference to a problem with the management?

 

The management of NGC recently announced that they will no longer accept coins from other grading companies into their registries.

 

The full statement by Mark Salsberg is on the NGC website.

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

...

 

I would like to display the $2.50 coins when I am done. To that I will have to finish it with PCGS coins and post the set on their registry. Previously I would have finished it with whatever NGC or PCGS coins that worked for me. Now the new policy has pushed me into the PCGS market.

 

Policy changes do have consequences, and sometimes the results are not what the powers in charge think they will be.

 

One of the places that TPGs are overstepping their purpose is defining rules for collecting through their registries. This was a big complaint we had in my corner of the world (VAM collecting) several years ago. The result was that one of our members developed our own registry where SSDC members can build all sorts of sets, from the sublime to the ridiculous, all because it's... wait for it... fun for them.

 

If TPGs restrict what's in their sets to coins blessed with their product and there's demand by collectors to not have this restriction, then there's opportunity for other parties, including auction companies with competent IT, to cater to collectors who feel TPG registry restrictions are impinging on their enjoyment of the hobby.

 

There is a difference though, don't you think, in that NGC and PCGS are for profit business models. If the business model decides it is in the interest of the stockholders to change, that is their privilege. If PCGS has only allowed their own brand in their Registry, and NGC has been generous in allowing their entry up to now but has decided to re-evaluate, it isn't, in my opinion, spitting in the face of those that have used the Registry and gained (hopefully) some type of value from it up to now. I am sure the concerns of members were anticipated by the business entity.. If it generates new competition via a new Registry being formed or an existing Registry being expanded, that is Capitalism, in which there are always happy and unhappy customers.

[RWB]

There are cycles here as everywhere, and determining cause-effect relationships are not always obvious.

[messydesk]

...

 

I would like to display the $2.50 coins when I am done. To that I will have to finish it with PCGS coins and post the set on their registry. Previously I would have finished it with whatever NGC or PCGS coins that worked for me. Now the new policy has pushed me into the PCGS market.

 

Policy changes do have consequences, and sometimes the results are not what the powers in charge think they will be.

 

One of the places that TPGs are overstepping their purpose is defining rules for collecting through their registries. This was a big complaint we had in my corner of the world (VAM collecting) several years ago. The result was that one of our members developed our own registry where SSDC members can build all sorts of sets, from the sublime to the ridiculous, all because it's... wait for it... fun for them.

 

If TPGs restrict what's in their sets to coins blessed with their product and there's demand by collectors to not have this restriction, then there's opportunity for other parties, including auction companies with competent IT, to cater to collectors who feel TPG registry restrictions are impinging on their enjoyment of the hobby.

 

There is a difference though, don't you think, in that NGC and PCGS are for profit business models. If the business model decides it is in the interest of the stockholders to change, that is their privilege. If PCGS has only allowed their own brand in their Registry, and NGC has been generous in allowing their entry up to now but has decided to re-evaluate, it isn't, in my opinion, spitting in the face of those that have used the Registry and gained (hopefully) some type of value from it up to now. I am sure the concerns of members were anticipated by the business entity.. If it generates new competition via a new Registry being formed or an existing Registry being expanded, that is Capitalism, in which there are always happy and unhappy customers.

Yes. Since NGC and PCGS are for-profit companies, it may not be entirely compatible with their business plan to have a fully open registry that promotes a competitor's brand. Restricting their registries isn't really spitting in the face of their users as much as it is protecting their brand. An independent registry that is better able to allow collectors to "have fun with their coins" (advice from David Hall, himself) and share sets with others may end up being the future of registries, whether these registries are formed by for-profit organizations such as Heritage, or specialty clubs such as the SSDC.

[USAuPzlBxBob]

I don't know why, but it seems that a couple of posts got pulled on this thread. They had to do with what would make CS U.S. Coins better, and specifically being able to upload pics of coins you have, directly from your computer, that this would be a great capability.

 

 

Right now, it can be done but it is incredibly cumbersome.

 

 

If memory serves correct, the way it goes is you need to have an NGC Collectors Society account (separate from these Message Boards, where your log in name is your email address, and you have a different password from the Message Boards password)

 

Then you begin a Journal. In each Journal entry, you are allowed to upload one (1) image, and it can come directly from your home computer. (I forget how to do it, because I've only done it once, and over a year ago.)

 

But let's say you have a collection of 50 coins. Then if you made 100 Journal entries, and each entry had a separate image attached, so that both faces of each coin would be uploaded over 100 Journal entries, then those pics would each have addresses.

 

You could then just copy the addresses from the obscurely located Numismatic General/NGC Journals Message Board threads into the U.S. Coins posts here, however you wanted.

 

And there you go!

 

 

[SkyMan]

I don't know why, but it seems that a couple of posts got pulled on this thread. They had to do with what would make CS U.S. Coins better, and specifically being able to upload pics of coins you have, directly from your computer, that this would be a great capability.

 

 

Right now, it can be done but it is incredibly cumbersome.

 

 

If memory serves correct, the way it goes is you need to have an NGC Collectors Society account (separate from these Message Boards, where your log in name is your email address, and you have a different password from the Message Boards password)

 

Then you begin a Journal. In each Journal entry, you are allowed to upload one (1) image, and it can come directly from your home computer. (I forget how to do it, because I've only done it once, and over a year ago.)

 

But let's say you have a collection of 50 coins. Then if you made 100 Journal entries, and each entry had a separate image attached, so that both faces of each coin would be uploaded over 100 Journal entries, then those pics would each have addresses.

 

You could then just copy the addresses from the obscurely located Numismatic General/NGC Journals Message Board threads into the U.S. Coins posts here, however you wanted.

 

And there you go!

 

 

After your first sentence comment I noticed that my original post to this thread had been pulled. I do NOT understand why that occurred, as I wasn't saying bad things about these Boards, I was simply stating that it would be nice to have drag and drop capability for images going from the poster's computer to these boards. I LIKE the CS Boards, and I thought, given the question posed in the opening post to this thread, that we were SUPPOSED to mention obvious things that would help these Boards to get more traffic. C'est la vie...

[MarkFeld]

I don't know why, but it seems that a couple of posts got pulled on this thread. They had to do with what would make CS U.S. Coins better, and specifically being able to upload pics of coins you have, directly from your computer, that this would be a great capability.

 

 

Right now, it can be done but it is incredibly cumbersome.

 

 

If memory serves correct, the way it goes is you need to have an NGC Collectors Society account (separate from these Message Boards, where your log in name is your email address, and you have a different password from the Message Boards password)

 

Then you begin a Journal. In each Journal entry, you are allowed to upload one (1) image, and it can come directly from your home computer. (I forget how to do it, because I've only done it once, and over a year ago.)

 

But let's say you have a collection of 50 coins. Then if you made 100 Journal entries, and each entry had a separate image attached, so that both faces of each coin would be uploaded over 100 Journal entries, then those pics would each have addresses.

 

You could then just copy the addresses from the obscurely located Numismatic General/NGC Journals Message Board threads into the U.S. Coins posts here, however you wanted.

 

And there you go!

 

 

After your first sentence comment I noticed that my original post to this thread had been pulled. I do NOT understand why that occurred, as I wasn't saying bad things about these Boards, I was simply stating that it would be nice to have drag and drop capability for images going from the poster's computer to these boards. I LIKE the CS Boards, and I thought, given the question posed in the opening post to this thread, that we were SUPPOSED to mention obvious things that would help these Boards to get more traffic. C'est la vie...

 

I find it odd and disturbing that your post was removed. And if that is going to be done, it seems that you should receive a notification and explanation.

[nk1nk]

The one redeeming quality I find in these boards is the lack of management interference, whether that's good or bad can be debated. The fact that sky mans post was proofed is indeed disturbing, maybe the registries aren't the only thing changing around here. Very disappointing!

 

Nick

[BillJones]

One of my posts was removed also.

 

In it I suggested that dialog could be helpful. I guess I got my answer on that. As Harry Truman once said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

 

I guess the management is getting out of kitchen with "poofs," which is truly sad.

[AcesKings]

I agree with Sky, there used to be a lot more picture posts here where everyone could share parts of their collection. Seems the "post your....." threads died out and were replaced by toxic subjects that just seemed to go on and on over the same things time after time. It's fine to have opinions about different subjects, but to rant at each other for 20+ pages just kills any will to participate anymore.

[mark]

I'd rather mangement poof the post than the poster because it would be a royal pain in the rear to track down some of you that I really like to follow!

 

Mark

[Afterword]

I don't know why, but it seems that a couple of posts got pulled on this thread. They had to do with what would make CS U.S. Coins better, and specifically being able to upload pics of coins you have, directly from your computer, that this would be a great capability.

 

 

Right now, it can be done but it is incredibly cumbersome.

 

 

If memory serves correct, the way it goes is you need to have an NGC Collectors Society account (separate from these Message Boards, where your log in name is your email address, and you have a different password from the Message Boards password)

 

Then you begin a Journal. In each Journal entry, you are allowed to upload one (1) image, and it can come directly from your home computer. (I forget how to do it, because I've only done it once, and over a year ago.)

 

But let's say you have a collection of 50 coins. Then if you made 100 Journal entries, and each entry had a separate image attached, so that both faces of each coin would be uploaded over 100 Journal entries, then those pics would each have addresses.

 

You could then just copy the addresses from the obscurely located Numismatic General/NGC Journals Message Board threads into the U.S. Coins posts here, however you wanted.

 

And there you go!

 

 

After your first sentence comment I noticed that my original post to this thread had been pulled. I do NOT understand why that occurred, as I wasn't saying bad things about these Boards, I was simply stating that it would be nice to have drag and drop capability for images going from the poster's computer to these boards. I LIKE the CS Boards, and I thought, given the question posed in the opening post to this thread, that we were SUPPOSED to mention obvious things that would help these Boards to get more traffic. C'est la vie...

 

I find it odd and disturbing that your post was removed. And if that is going to be done, it seems that you should receive a notification and explanation.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps if SkyMan asked them NGC might give an explanation. They do not offer an explanation for removing a thread either.

[physics-fan3.14]

I find it hard to believe that NGC would remove those innocuous posts, especially in light of my far more anatgonistic and negative comments both in this thread and elsewhere. If they kept my posts, I can see no reason why they would have removed yours.

 

It is more likely due to ancient and glitchy software - ironically, the very thing that you were talking about in your posts! Many months ago, arch had some new software that they were trying out, and we were told the migration would occur a couple of months after that. I wonder what ever happened to that? Some new software won't fix the low membership and toxic culture, but it'll help the boards run smoother.

[Afterword]

I will take toxic over sterile any day, although somewhere in-between would be preferable. For the most part, I think these message boards stay around that in-between zone.

[MarkFeld]

I find it hard to believe that NGC would remove those innocuous posts, especially in light of my far more anatgonistic and negative comments both in this thread and elsewhere. If they kept my posts, I can see no reason why they would have removed yours.

 

It is more likely due to ancient and glitchy software - ironically, the very thing that you were talking about in your posts! Many months ago, arch had some new software that they were trying out, and we were told the migration would occur a couple of months after that. I wonder what ever happened to that? Some new software won't fixtures the low membership and toxic culture, but it'll help the boards run smoother.

 

I hope you're right about the disappearing posts - that would make a lot more sense.

[comicdonna]

I didn't see the missing posts but, I do know that if one post in a thread is removed, it takes all of the reply's too. It's highly possible that the moderator's intent was to remove just one post.