Ohio Coingate

Well as a coin dealer I have been offended by the total lack of "other" side of the coin in this story. It appears that the only concern coming from this story is the political attacks that have very little to do with coins. As the Toledo blade reporters told me is that they assume that everyone will know that this is an isolated event, and not the norm. Well common sense is far from common, and it is irresponsible for reporters to limit their view.
I have found that all the newspapers are only concerned with how Mr. Noe is involved with the Republican party. I fully understand that "bad" news sells newspapers, but piling in all of us dealers is hurting the hobby. Of course I have not found any reporter who cares about anything more than linking the political connections.

So, if you want a killer story, look into ebay protecting sellers who sell counterfeit coins.

Politics, power, and corruption equals media drama (over done in all instances), profit and a chance for 15 minutes of fame for a reporter who, for the most part, don't care who they hurt, how they hurt them or if their story is 100% accurate. Retractions are always a little late and in the middle of the paper! Actually I am amazed they even reported the 15 million dollars of profit Noe had made them on coins the past few years. It has and will be nothing more than a political scandle and as long as someone, preferably the party in power, takes a fall then it is a job well done? You want to do a real story? Try finding out how much money the Federal government and state government takes in each week and then ask them to account for it! Government is a monster of control at all levels and I dare you to tackle that one.
Do you have any idea how much taxpayer money (Federal and State) is wasted every year just debating new laws, that will not work, to replace older laws that have never worked? Billions and billions and we just keep paying the tab!

I got thinking about your request and have realized that Ohio must be the perfect state. Obviously there are no citizens of Ohio that have concerns over high gas prices, high medical costs, high realestate prices, taxes, traffic, unemployment, crime, homelessness, welfare, social security, terrorism, economic concerns, or anything else that plaques the American people of the other 49 states.
So let me suggest that you get off of the democratic party soapbox and take a look at the real issues facing America. There should be more pressing issues that concern Ohio residents more than ousting the Republican party.
At first I was thinking that this witchunt was just plain sad, but have come to the realization that this is just a plain pathetic attempt at playing politics. If you will take a few minutes to look around you will find that there are real issues that Americans would like to learn more about. Not every person is concerned with which celebrity is sleeping with the other, or who deep throat was, or that some coin dealer may or may not have lost state money.
There are more important things than getting national attention. Take a look at our education system, social security, the simple fact that the American government gives away billions upon billions of dollars to foriegn aid, when they DO NOT take care of their own system.
We live in a society that praises the stupidity of others, and we teach our children that they should strive for mediocrity. Those are the real issues, and the press should be writing about them.

Very well stated, ND. As you and others here know, this is exactly my stand. This forum was created to provide education and information for the purpose of enhancing the numismatic hobby, not to downgrade it. There are ramifications to this story that the media has not considered. What about the large coin dealers who are not involved in any of these practices whose businesses will suffer? What about the collectors who read this story and now don't even trust their local dealers any longer because of the black eye that this story is causing.

Maybe, in addition to uncovering the dishonest acts of one dealer, the media should also be reporting on the honesty of the others. The "guilt-by-association" mentality will cause far reaching ripples that are not at all political, though the political aspect of this story is causing it to get national coverage. This is completely unfair to the honest dealers trying to make a living.

As long as you are looking for connections and information here based on the political ramifications of this story, you will find no help here. Take an angle on this that boosts education and the positive aspects of this hobby and you will get more help and input than you could handle. It's all about perspective.

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Originally posted by national dealer

I got thinking about your request and have realized that Ohio must be the perfect state. Obviously there are no citizens of Ohio that have concerns over high gas prices, high medical costs, high realestate prices, taxes, traffic, unemployment, crime, homelessness, welfare, social security, terrorism, economic concerns, or anything else that plaques the American people of the other 49 states.
So let me suggest that you get off of the democratic party soapbox and take a look at the real issues facing America. There should be more pressing issues that concern Ohio residents more than ousting the Republican party.
At first I was thinking that this witchunt was just plain sad, but have come to the realization that this is just a plain pathetic attempt at playing politics. If you will take a few minutes to look around you will find that there are real issues that Americans would like to learn more about. Not every person is concerned with which celebrity is sleeping with the other, or who deep throat was, or that some coin dealer may or may not have lost state money.
There are more important things than getting national attention. Take a look at our education system, social security, the simple fact that the American government gives away billions upon billions of dollars to foriegn aid, when they DO NOT take care of their own system.
We live in a society that praises the stupidity of others, and we teach our children that they should strive for mediocrity. Those are the real issues, and the press should be writing about them.

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As an Australian facing the same problems in my country I have to say I fully agree with your sentiments and that the problems are global and sadly the majority are more content to believe the media than do something about the problems personally. Tell me, we had watergate,enron,WMD lies, CIA drug involvement but none of the culprits are behind bars and nothing has changed..
A start would be to find out about the 7 natural laws we are all born with and start to live by them all..