The coin fogeys over on Moneta-L are excited that the Chicago Times has run a story: "Benefit of collecting coins adds up". It's the same old claptrap about the benefits of this hobby, one it would be "wise to embrace as you head into your golden years". It is, according to the spiel "a hobby that enhances your appreciation of art, expands your knowledge of history, geography and politics, helps you gain and strengthen organizational skills and provides opportunities for socializing". "Coin collectors experience both pride of ownership and personal accomplishment". There are quotes from one Gilles Bransbourg (assistant curator of Roman coins at The American Numismatic Society in New York), David L. Ganz (New York City attorney), Mike Fuljenz (Beaumont, Texas coin dealer), and "long-time Chicago broadcaster Donn Pearlman, now a spokesman for the Professional Numismatists Guild". Again the usual trite stuff about what you can: "learn from coins" ("arrows (on coins) indicated war, while olive branches were a sign of a desire for peace"). Funnily enough nothing here about contributing to science through the study of the heaped numismatic material and publication of the results. What is stressed however is that for "older adults": hobbies such as coin collecting can contribute to healthy aging, says Julie Bach, assistant professor of social work and chair of the gerontology certificate program at Dominican University in River Forest. Bach says those who age successfully maintain high cognitive functioning that is enhanced by collecting, studying and organizing, she says. "The other model of successful aging is continuing engagement with life. If they're going to places where coin collectors gather, that's getting older people out and sharing ideas".That's a laugh, as can be observed time and time again, the US coin collectors and the trade lobbyists who make their voices heard in the international media cannot by any measure be classified as the sharpest knives in the drawer.
Anyway Pearlman urges his older readers
"if you don't know coins well, it's important to know your dealer [...] ask how long the dealer has been in business, and whether he or she is a member of the Professional Numismatists Guild, who must adhere to a code of ethics in buying and selling numismatic merchandise".[my hyperlink]PNG? PNG, now let me think, isn't that the one that is joining the ACCG in the attempt to stop the US gubn'mint trying keep illicitly exported coins from source countries off the US market through opposing the application of the CCPIA?
Vignette: The Morgan, arrows of a war-mongerer?
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