Government Regulation Of Our Hobby....

Let me add this thought.

It isn't the honest sellers that effect the coin business so much. The reason that dealers need to be licensed is to provide some form of regulation. Anyone can offer coins for sale on the internet auctions with the claim, "I know nothing about coins" yet sell many day in and day out.
If someone is doing business, they should be licensed. You can't start a store without a business license, and at a cost of around $35 a year, this is not a major expense.
My company is effected by very few dealers, and not a single collector selling coins. However, each fake and scam coin effects me. This is where I get involved. If a licensed company is offering bad material there are rememdies that can be made.

I hope that clears up my intentions.

"...If someone is doing business, they should be licensed. You can't start a store without a business license, and at a cost of around $35 a year, this is not a major expense...." And how many business's are dishonest, go bankrupt with other peoples money, etc...Plenty. A licence does not prevent the criminal from his crime. It only adds an air of being above board. "I'm a licenced dealer" does not equal "I'm an Honest Dealer"

I enjoy "friendly" debates, and I am not closed minded enough to not learn something new. I look forward to hearing from each person so that I may better direct my efforts.

I would never claim that licenses would make anybody ethical or honest. I know better than that.
Also, a collector selling off a collection is far different than online sellers making a living buying and selling coins. I am not trying to stop anyone from having a place to sell their coins, or even make it so that only "real" dealers have the opportunity to buy and sell. There has to be some accountability though. We all know that the ANA and PNG do next to nothing to protect us. The secret service only investigates large crimes, and the online auction companies do less than anyone.
We all remember the scammer from Atlanta. This person was not a collector, but pretending to be a dealer with no recourse. Garbage and fakes being offered time and time again with only ebay to protect us.
I have no illusions of saving the hobby, only trying to do my little part to help in the way that I can. There has to be something. I cannot sit on my butt and watch what I believe to be the greatest hobby get railroaded into a place where the majority are left out.

As far as grading goes, well I am not a fan at all. I believe that authentication is far more important, followed closely by preservation. Grading needs to be standardized without a doubt.

In response to Terry, I personally like the 70-point grading system. If used properly, it allows a way to describe coins more accurately. I think that the values assigned to these grades need to be thrown out the window, however.

Grading needs to be done on a technical level. Eye-appeal is something that can be considered by the collector who is considering purchasing the coin. "Market grading", in my opinion, is what has hurt the hobby most. A grading company has no business considering the scarcity, demand, or desireability of a coin when grading. Either the details are there or they're not. The fact that coins can be resubmitted and get different grades is completely unacceptable. PCGS' "presidential review" policy falls into this category.

So far, the only company I know that grades fairly and consistently is ANACS. It is unfortunate that ANACS-graded coins are being purchased in order to cross them over to PCGS or NGC slabs because the grading is more lenient. You'll find this very often in the old copper and gold coins.

Unfortunately, in order to have a standardized grading system that would be used by all grading companies, there will probably only be room for 1 grading company. Depending on which 1 sets the standard, the hobby could be hurt considerably.

The essence of the 70-point system is excellent, in my opinion. It's just how it is being used that is the problem.

Perhaps a limit of fifty years old on coins that can be graded would be a good starting point!!

would a standardized grading system be a good thing ?

What would happen to the free market competition?

I ask these questions because our free market system where monopolies are Illegal is intended to to promote honesty !!

it allows for a customer to check and balance a business, service based upon quality, service and reliability.

a standardized system would by its very existence do away with any real significant differences in the market place .

Just a thought .

Rick

We should be grateful we don't get as much government as we pay for.

The future is not set in stone, but we are certianly on a slippery slope. Of course, my crystal ball doesn't seem to be working correctly, so I cannot accurately state what the millions of new collectors will do once our coinage becomes stagnant again. In the late 60's after the silver was removed, collecting as a whole dropped. Through the 1980's no one was reaching into their pockets and pulling out anything of interest. It is still very easy to find Jefferson nickels dated in the 50's and 60's in pocket change as the design had very little change over the years. Simply it is boring.
The wave that the State Quarters and Westward Nickels brought will be dying out very soon.
Congressional leaders are working overtime to kill any future design efforts. Each leader that I have spoken with has ANY DESIRE to be linked to taking a President off of the coins. Even the push for Reagan got killed. That just goes to show you how petty and political this business is. (I for one am glad that it did not happen).
Anyways, many new collectors have NO clue that our coins will once again become stagnant. They think that change will continue to happen every few weeks for the rest of their lives. Face it, American's demand change in every aspect of our lives. We need it as much as the air that we breathe.
For whatever stupid reason, the men and women on Capital Hill seem to be living their lives with rose colored glasses on. They proudly proclaim the fact that 1 in 3 Americans are collecting coins, but fail to realize that it is simply based on new designs. DUH!
If past performance is any dictator, our leaders will follow the same stupid logic. In 1965 they removed mintmarks to keep collectors from hoarding coins. The fact that people were hoarding silver escaped these mental midgets.
Ask anyone that started collecting after 1999 what they think will happen to our coins in five years. Ask the average person if they know that the Nickel will return to Jefferson and Monticello. Ask if they know that the 2006 Nickel will be a permanent design that their own great grandchildren in 2065 will be forced to look at each day.
Today we as dealers and collectors have to search for the most insignificant detail to create a stir. Even with multiple changes in designs every few weeks, it still takes a die crack or filled die to create interest.
Look back to the early part of the last century and people collected coins because they were beautiful and artistic. Today they are mediocre at best.
Today the headlines read Butchered Bison, Doubled Die this that or the other, Extra Leaf, and so on. Where is the staying power?
How many 19th century coins suffer from die gouges or scratches? Are they making headlines? Do they command outragous money? Anyone who collects Shield nickels knows that it is harder to find one that doesn't have die cracks than those with them. Yet today, it is all the rage.
Where will these coins be tomorrow? Even today the extra leaf quarter has lost its luster. The prices fall and the novelty wears off.
Ultra graded modern coins will have the same effect. While a MS or PR 70 State Quarter is all fine and dandy, it will not hold that effect for a long period of time. It will not hold the same fascination as the 3 legged Buffalo, the 1955 DDO Lincoln, the 1922 Plain Lincoln. These coins have stood the test of time. True error coins that all seek.
I look at today's coin market like I do with TV sitcoms. When a show nears the end of its life, they start adding characters to help the show along. 99.9% of the time, it simply marks the beginning of the end.
I do not think that this will mark the end of collecting as a whole. Classics will always be classics. Morgan dollars, Saints, Buffalos, Winged Liberty Dimes will always be collected. They will always have a market.
They do not require lofty grades, marketing hype, television shows, or even headlines. They are simply the bread and butter of coin collecting. When someone looks at the beauty of these coins, they will want them in their collection.

ND

I agree I see no long term attraction to the New coins, the Buffalo nickel although today it is a novelty being hoarded by the millions IMHO this will render it forever available in whatever the best grades will be !!

the new satin mint set ? I'm watching this set, I'm not sure where its going to go, my Gut feeling is that it will stagnate also,, what is your opinion?

The SQ program does not bother me as much except for some of the ridiculously high prices that are being paid for slabbed examples,, I believe that the price cannot hold and many people will be stuck with a dog in the end.

This type of thing really,, do you think that it will over the next decade have an adverse affect on coin collecting in general?

I know the classics will always be sought after, but as this new coins program dies down and all of the effects are known ,, who will pay the price ? the TPG's for their promotion? or the average collector ? Dealers? someone will end up at the bottom of the food chain .

Rick