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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,464 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
In a past life, I was a "collector" member of American Numismatic Association ( ANA), American Numismatic Society (ANS), Early American Coppers (EAC), local coin clubs, and probably a few other that slip my mind. I read the associated periodicals/newsletters and really learned lots from these associations. At various times, I subscribed to and devoured CoinWorld, CoinAge, Numismatic News, Greysheet (whatever its "official" name is), and probably a couple of others escaping my present recall. Sometimes the powder from recently-chiseled issues that was left on those stone tablets stained my clothes, but that was the price one paid (and we *liked* it, we did!). In light of the availability of online information, ads, shops, auctions, the decline of bricks and mortar facilities, the de-emphasis on coin shows, etc., what now is the value of joining these (and other) numismatic-related associations and subscribing to numismatic-related periodicals? I did re-subscribe to CoinWorld.  I no longer subscribe to the various non-numismatic newspapers and magazines that used to be a primary source for news and info, why should I subscribe to the numismatic-related stuff? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I rather agree with you. I don't subscribe to any of those either. However, I have other reasons. For one and the main reason is such items end up sticking out of my mail box and I rather not have anyone or everyone knowing what I have or may have. Then too, as you mentioned, so much is now on line, why bother. Many daily newspapers too are going out of business due to so many people can and so get the latest info on line.
Articles published by individuals in coin mags too, are usually only opinions so may or may not be real.
But I find one of the most important things is usually what you find on line is the latest and almost anything published is just not up to date.
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Valued Member
United States
156 Posts |
For me, I just enjoy reading the artciles, looking at ads, and the coin prices even though they tend to run lower than market value. I subscribe to Coins and I just Subscribed to Coin World to save off the newstand price. |
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Moderator
 Australia
16809 Posts |
One problem with relying on online information is that it is, well, online. No power and/or no internet reception, no information. The internet is convenient but it depends on the high-tech widgetry at both ends working properly.
Another problem is the impermanence of the Internet. I prefer to print out really good articles I find online that I want to keep, rather than simply assume they'll always be online... because websites close when their owners die, or lose interest, or decide to delete that information. Books and magazines are "hard copy" - harder to access, but harder to lose.
Finally of course, as JustCarl alluded to, there is less quality control for online material. Anyone can babble on about anything on the Internet and there's not much anyone can do about it if the information is wrong. Books and magazines have, at least in theory, a couple of layers of editors and fact-checkers between you and the information sources.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4409 Posts |
I have been a subscriber to Numismatic News for almost a decade now. I enjoy the articles and reading what other collectors write in about. There have been several great articles which I've saved...it isn't practical for me to keep the whole magazines.
I have only joined 1 club since I've been collecting: The Barber Coin Collectors' Society which I joined this year.
I did subscribe to Banknote Reporter for a year but dropped it as I wasn't actively pursuing currency.
-MV
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CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives
United States
12258 Posts |
Quote:
Articles published by individuals in coin mags too, are usually only opinions so may or may not be real. Have to disagree rather strongly on this point. Most of the articles printed in reputable numismatic periodicals are well-researched by their authors and fact-checked before publication. As mentioned by Sap, it is the internet that is more the home of poorly-researched and often "dead-wrong" information because of the lack of QC on what is "published." Of course, quality on-line numismatic sites such as CoinWeek.com and CoinWorld.com, to name just two, make their reputations by e-publishing accurate, informative content that can be trusted. Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
513 Posts |
Thanks for the perspectives/thoughts. I still am re-calibrating my numismatic paradigm for the current environment. I did find one advantage to subscribing to CoinWorld (or other Amos Publishing periodical). Apparently, subscribers to an Amos Publishing periodical get discounts on supplies via the Amos Advantage program. Now whether that is a "real" benefit/advantage or not, I am not sure. It may be that *everybody* gets those same discounts on supplies, not just subscribers. Regardless, I re-subscribed to CoinWorld and will give it a go. Recommended organizations? ANA (certification submissions? library? I don't live near Colorado), ANS (still overly scholarly?) EAC (liked the articles, attribution guides, and "for sale" lists--all available online?)? Books are a whole different topic. I've got books, gonna get more books, and will keep reading books. Edited by Garoyn
06/05/2015 07:51 am
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Moderator
United States
187836 Posts |
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Another problem is the impermanence of the Internet. I prefer to print out really good articles I find online that I want to keep, rather than simply assume they'll always be online... because websites close when their owners die, or lose interest, or decide to delete that information. Books and magazines are "hard copy" - harder to access, but harder to lose. I go one step further. Print to PDF. Digital copies are better for me because they can be duplicated (backed-up) at will and they are accessible across multiple devices (especially when syncing documents to a cloud service). Print-outs are bulky, yadda yadda.  Quote:Most of the articles printed in reputable numismatic periodicals are well-researched by their authors and fact-checked before publication. As mentioned by Sap, it is the internet that is more the home of poorly-researched and often "dead-wrong" information because of the lack of QC on what is "published." Of course, quality on-line numismatic sites such as CoinWeek.com and CoinWorld.com, to name just two, make their reputations by e-publishing accurate, informative content that can be trusted.  |
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,464 |
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Posted 06/04/2015 10:04 am
