Canadian Coin News (CCN) Mistakes

Cut & Paste is SOOOOoooo convenient!

Hey grandpa,

I'm a reporter for CCN — the only reporter, in fact. I wanted to thank you for your continued readership and apologize for the "egregious errors". I know this horrible mistake has had you grumbling for days; I'll be better in the future and try to ensure these abominable misprints don't make it through to your eyes again.

Please keep in mind this information was provided by the Mint - yes, that's how news works, and if you don't like it, well... After poring over nearly 30 press releases in order to provide our readers with this news in a timely fashion, I must have missed where the Mint said "2014" rather than "2015". I hope you can forgive me!

Also keep in mind that not all of our news is Mint-oriented, and a lot of what I do requires going out, talking to collectors and telling their stories. There's simply no way to "copy and paste" that, although that function is convenient when relaying information about coin specifications for the Mint's new releases.

That being said, we've had a great response in regards to all of our content in the past six months, and I hope it has been meeting your standards, too. If not, you can email any comments, criticism, concerns, questions, advice, etc. to me at jesse@trajan.ca, and I'll get back to you very quickly; or you can keep poking fun on the forums, and perhaps that will make the errors go away.

Thanks again for reading,

Jesse

Sonny, the tone of your response here serves to demonstrate why your publication has become second-rate. Like SPP and others I let my subscription lapse about a year ago, there is very little there that's worth the price of admission.

Thanks for the reply, John. If you'd like to talk more about this, feel free to contact me. I understand the frustration - it's something I've heard from many collectors over the past six months - so if you or any other CCF members would like to go on the record and voice your opinion, please email me at jesse@trajan.ca. As a reporter, I can't just relay this message to the Mint (as if they'd listen to me!), but I can print a story voicing your concerns. All things considered, that would get a lot more attention than a lowly journalist telling the Mint's media reps that they don't focus on enough Canadian content.

Perhaps DBM and Bobby misunderstood my "tone." Would you like to go over anything I've said, or are you just going to continue with these fallacious attacks (maybe that will make the errors go away)? Keep in mind you are the ones equating me with counterfeit coin dealers. So really, what about my post upset you fine gentlemen? Maybe I can explain again... I'm just here to apologize for the error and hopefully move forward with some discussion as to how we can ensure readers get "the price of admission."

Thanks again,

Jesse

Hi okiecoiner: Thanks for the comment. I can't speak to any past correspondence with past editors, but I can assure you if you have something you'd like to say to the current boss, I'll get it to him and make sure he responds. I know it's likely too little too late, but let me know if you're interested.

And again, if there's something anyone would like to see covered in CCN, let me know. If there's a story we're missing, let me know.

There's nothing worse than misinformation in the pages of a newspaper, and it bothers me as much as any of you, so I'm telling you it'll improve. I believe it has since I started earlier this year, although not entirely (thanks, grandpa, for pointing that out).

Lastly, we're not in cahoots with the Mint. The Mint produces Canadian coins, and because we're in the business of publishing things like that, we see fit to announce their new releases, just like we do for other countries around the world (as well as privately struck medals for local shows, conventions, etc.). That being said, I'm looking into ways of making these Mint releases more readable (things like explaining the relevance to Canada and analyzing the sales, marketing, etc.), although this does take time, and I'm only one man. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Thanks again!

Hi chequer: I'm sorry if I've offended your sensibilities. I'll be sure to bow down when we meet in person! And also, I'm the only reporter, not the only representative.

Again, I'm sorry about the lack of quality in past issues of CCN, but we've been actively improving over the past six months. Any additional comments are more than welcome.

Thanks to everyone who has offered constructive criticism rather than personal attacks with little to no explanation. I really thought you'd think more highly of a numismatic journalist than a fake coin dealer, but then again, I have a serious attitude problem, so what do I know.

This.

You know, Ken Potter might be able to get away with using that last sentence, but I doubt you can. Maybe I should email this thread link to Mike Walsh, for his opinion - but then again, Mike has already broken his spoken word with me (which is why I lapsed my subscription - another story)...

When it comes to "numismatic journalism", respect is earned through the content of the writing, and not in a title. Writing about numismatics has two avenues: 1) reviewing, summarizing and reporting on press release (like what you do) and, 2) studying coins and writing about them (like Mike Diamond's error articles in Coin World), or Chris Faulkner's research in holy dollars.

Frankly, this website hosts a majority of collectors who are very much passionate about this hobby, and they can be quite critical, which is usually well deserved. You need to accept this, and understand the nature of the people you are writing for...

PS - I too, am a numismatist, and a writer of numismatics. But hey, what do I know?

A couple questions to sonny, they do not concern the horrible typos though.

#1. Why do the trends NEVER change? I have been getting the paper for years now and they never seem to change which is very unrealistic. Because of the trends never changing almost every dealer I meet is living in a dream world as far as their prices are concerned.

#2. Why are early PL prices rarely ever included into the price guide section? I find it very frustrating going through 2 dozen papers just to find the price of the coin.

#3. This question relates to the first, how do you get the 'trend' value of these Coins? I would ask you if you used things such as auction results and ebay sold values but you obviously don't since your prices do not change. Also, do you mind me asking WHO does the pricing in trends? I have heard that it is written by dealers which would explain the trends not changing(they don't want to lose money).