And the Sun rises on another day at the forum!!
Maywood
Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
Another day at the forum which has gotten a little "vanilla" over the years. I think the party really started to end when PCGS eliminated the Open Forum which caused us to lose some of our most colorful and prolific posters. The slide continued for awhile as everyone had to learn the free-for-all at the OF wasn't to be tolerated at the US Coin Forum and culminated around 2015 with new management and other changes. So we find ourselves where we are, with GTG, CAC, parking lot finds and other topics at the Pinnacle of forum posting.
Maybe some of the old timers can regale us with a remembrance or two about an old incident at the forum(s) or a member who was especially entertaining. The only addition that might help induce members to participate could be an image of a coin or interesting Numismatic item. This place really used to have a buzz about it and I miss that. Times were when I'd have to drag myself away from the keyboard to get something constructive done. Now I need something to hold me here.
So I'll start and hope things don't fizzle out quickly. A thread title and a long forgotten member.
--- The Moon Landing Conspiracy Thread!! I think it must have had 5,000+ replies and just kept going.
---@littlewicher, a teenager who just wanted to fit in and thought post count really was important. He spent a day or two responding to every thread in the obscure forums to run his post count to 10k almost overnight. Man, did he get roasted alive!!
Maywood.
Comments
I remember when @keets was in forum jail, got out, posted a thread asking how not to get banned (https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1065836/out-of-gaol-but-probably-on-probation) and then got banned anyway a short 2 months later.
I wonder what happened to that guy.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
love items in op
i think something started in a sports forum and got worse in pm. off went keets
Didn't keets pass away?
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
Way back when one day was three pages of fresh topics vs. today where it's one page of a weeks worth of stale topics.
Forums, regardless of subject matter, will never be the same with the increasing popularity of social media. It’s easier to post on FB, Instagram, etc. and a smartphone works fine.
Many forum members who posted back in the day were great, including Keets. Some really good topics were discussed.
The forum is much more sedate today, though I do like posts such as this. Kudos to you Maywood.
I'm not sure, but I think Keets is still alive n kicking. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Is the sun rising or setting? Sometimes in depictions it's hard to tell. Is it "red sky at night, sailor's delight or red sky in the morning, sailors take warning"?
In the walking Liberty coin is the sun a rising sun?
I'm a relative new guy here, only been here 15 years or so, I still find interesting things to read and thought provoking topics occasionally appear here. Maybe you're just feeling nostalgic. I may be a relative newbie here, but I have enough time on this glorious orb to know that those feelings, like everything must pass.
Keets was an OG poster and great contributor who just got caught up in some nonsense. Now, I’m glad that Maywood is here.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
The forum was more exciting 20 years ago, I remember how I often couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next on lots of post threads almost every day. I still think it’s fun, but yeah a lot of threads are more boring these days.
Mr_Spud
I agree the forums were much more exciting even five years ago when I was a frequent lurker. Today, there's little worth reading.
Coin Photographer.
@FlyingAl, tell us about one of the first things that happened here for you that really sucked you in.
Keets was a good guy. I miss him.
To mention a few long-ago posters, I miss Russ (RIP) and Shylock. At a time when coin photography was in its infancy, Shylock was one of the best. Plus, @Dog97 . His posts were always fun.
The loss of the Open Forum was for the better. It often got very negative in tone.
The forum as it is today has has lost its vitality. It just seems very flat and uninteresting.
Keets and Fratlaw and Russ along with Cameron always kept this forum humming with a variety of opinions that, may of have been at times disagreeable, yet never boring.
There was a vulnerability that was enduring at that time, missing today.
I blame it more on our culture in these current times- what with TikTok doom scrolling and whatnot, and less attention to the finer points of putting together a thread that is well written and presentable.
Thank goodness for TomB and others who take the time to write thoughtful and well put together threads that delight as well as entertain.
His writing on aquiring a grouping of GEM toned Washington quarters comes to mind.
peacockcoins
Just the sheer quality of discussion was higher. The standard of knowledge was around that of TPG graders from what I remember and the average thread was highly enlightening. The archives really reflect my view of the forums when I originally started reading them.
Coin Photographer.
This place has changed. All the "liveliness" has been siphoned off due to the purges that took place.
Don't get me wrong. Things reached a crescendo around here and PCGS figured that they had to move in to stop it.
It's really too bad that it happened to some of the most knowledgeable (and controversial) people.
Pete
Yes, it stinks to lose many extremely knowledgeable posters. At the same time, many of them can be found on other forums.
Those other forums, in my opinion, are extremely unpleasant specifically because of the posting styles and habits of those exact posters. Personally, it's not worth wading through 20 posts of utter BS to reach 1 interesting numismatist nugget. YMMV.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
@FlyingAl said: Just the sheer quality of discussion was higher.
That's well put, similar to what I have noticed as a slow creep. There isn't as much rousing discussion on topics without argument. I have always enjoyed the style employed by @BillJones when he posts about what always seems to be something interesting I don't know a lot about. Also, the "study" type of threads like that '64 SMS thread you embarked upon seemed to be much more common in the past.
@Braddick mentioned a few colorful characters. I remember Cameron Kiefer? as a young guy cutting his teeth in the Hobby, sort of naive at first but willing to learn. Anyone else remember when when he bought his new girlfriend a present --- a bed!! I think the forum almost lost it. Then he met a very tragic end at a young age and we all mourned. That was tough.
@Russ could be as course as 60 grit sandpaper, but he taught me and lots of other members a lot about coin photography. It seems he was ahead of the curve on that, doing it before anyone else really thought about it. He helped me with my set-up and I used the same camera, a Nikon 950. I remember when he PM'd me his formula and process for dipping. I still use it today and have passed it on to any member who's asked. I remember when he started with his eBay sales, he lived in Kent, Washington and somehow it got started here that his name was Russ Kent!! That was a hoot.
A final memory of @Russ: He made an AH Kennedy PR69DCAM at PCGS and blew the forum outa the water!! He said it was going to be buried with him, that it was in his will. He left us maybe 10 years later, another forum gut-punch.
Enjoy the day, fellas, it's fleeting. RIP to everyone we've lost.
The Sun rises on the golf course I work at.. thankfully only 10 days till my seasonal layoff is over and I can get away from my Wife and this house
Free speech trumps no matter what
Wonderful post, and summarizes my thoughts well.
I have read a lot of Russ's posts, it's a shame I wasn't around when he was. A true forum legend.
Maybe with time, I think, we will begin to see some YNs and middle aged start to fill shoes. There are some bright YNs over at MyCollect, and we have all seen how much @PeakRarities has done in the hobby.
Coin Photographer.
Yes, what not to do
May be Keets would be found in the CU Witness Protection Program.
Open Forum which caused us to lose some of our most colorful and prolific posters
Angst for the memories...
I forgot to mention there’s a good bit of irony here.
Coin Photographer.
Curious how you know these posters when your start date was in 2022? Just seems strange…………...
The archives do exist, and I lurked for several years before joining.
Coin Photographer.
I think we need to see the keets as the caped wonder dog again!
I joined in 2007 and have enjoyed the forum immensely. It has been a key source of entertainment and learning while also providing an opportunity to share our numismatic wonders.
I miss bear and his jelly donuts. I miss MFH and his enthusiasm for Barbers and Seated coins. I ruefully miss the BNB idiocy. I wish @roadrunner would post more since I learn from him. I miss the positivity of @Broadstruck and his knowledge of SLQs among other type. I appreciate @RYK for selling me his ex-Feld A&R half that ultimately launched a journey to collect the series. I wish @CoinJunkie would return to the forum and I try to keep his OGH thread alive. And who could forget @ColonelJessup who unfortunately got so cranky he ended up banning himself. And most here remember @ricko fondly who was the consummate gentleman. There are others, but need to stop!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
@Catbert said: I think we need to see the keets as the caped wonder dog again.
You remember that picture?? I still have the cape but the image is on a long crashed hard-drive at the bottom of a landfill.
“I remember everything.” Just learned it on the guitar, but no JP.
@oldabeintx said: "I remember everything.” Just learned it on the guitar, but no JP.
I remember everything
Things I can't forget
Swimming pools of butterflies
That slipped right through the net
And I remember every night
Your ocean eyes of blue
How I miss you in the morning light
Like roses miss the dew.
A great talent. Sorely missed.
All that happened … it couldn’t have happened any other way. Carry on.
Who was it that lived in a van in the desert doing ac repairs? Twodogs? Oh yeah and the hidden cheat threads that really got the thread counts up. Good times.
I too really enjoyed the early forum days with @Russ.
His posts were truly valued by most of the forum members.
He was funny, smart, and wonderfully opinionated.
I talked with Russ a few times a month back in 2008 and on, as he was my eBay consignor for selling my coins.
His images were topnotch and always seemed to bring in those extra dollars when eBay was a more enjoyable marketplace.
We had so many great conversations about coins, politics, weather, history and more.
I will never forget when Russ's personal representative called me on that dark day in 2013 and said that Russ had passed away.
She mentioned that Russ left her full instructions to make his clients whole if he passed away.
She said she didn't know much about eBay fees but would learn quickly.
She said Russ kept good records and she was able to get me paid in a reasonable amount of time less his expenses and commission.
He was a forum legend in life and still his legend lives on.
I miss the man to this day and will always cherish our friendship.
Thanks for posting this thread @Maywood.
Yes and out come the quote donkeys, the know it all chimps, and Tarzan.
The posting quality was so much better years ago. So many heavy hitting collectors and dealers that shared both there knowledge and coins for us to see. Trade dollar, Cardinal, Scherer, Bear, Roadrunner, Legend, The Shoe guy with his old Gold, The collector of the best Type set, Even Curran has not posted on the Hansen collection in forever. I enjoyed following the building of that collection. We seem to have lost some of the better quality newer posters also like Deplorable Dan.
Luckily we have TomB and Bill Jones left.
Deplorable Dan just became Peak Rarities. As for the level of conversation, it is what it is. There's an occasional nugget. Legend can never not step on her own tongue. And I admit, I don't know who you mean by the Shoe guy with his old gold?
I think Mark justacommeman was in the shoe business I could be wrong though.
That’s correct, Mark is a shoe designer.
Some of the old battles here between her and @MFeld are hilarious.
For both expert insight, experience, and knowledge AND super cringey rants, she is still at it over on the CAC forum. Really the ultimate in peaks and valleys of a top notch & problematic poster. (Although Burdette's anti- @dcarr rants are pretty astounding also.)
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Insider, Insider2, and Insider3
Latin American Collection