Debatable Quote which is timely . . .

DMWJR

In reading through Travers' "How to Make Money in Coins Right Now," I ran across the following quote by John J. Ford, Jr, whose collection is now up for sale.

It reads:

"I'm against the holders. I'm against the guys that run the business of the holders. I'm against the people who buy the stuff in the holders. I'm against the dealers who deal in the stuff in the holders. I'm against Bullet Auctions and all the other [baloney]. I'm against the morons who buy the stuff to get rich quick. I'm against everything -- the whole concept. The crack-out game is a form of low-level larceny. The convention circuit boys who deal in slabs aren't interested in collectors or numismatics; these guys are parasites.

Anybody who pays an extra $10,000 for a coin that grades one point higher is a nut. That one point might be smoke. You're paying ten grand extra for something that might be ephemeral."

John J. Ford, Jr.


Now this should provoke some debate!!!!! Wonder how many of the coins in his estate auction have been slabbed???

originalisbest

The kinds of things Ford collected tended to be off the beaten path - often unique or nearly so - and would be slabbed for sale probably mainly as a guarantee/opinion as to authenticity. Which is quite a bit different than playing the crackout/upgrade/registry game.

Conder101

Should be interesting, but much of what Ford collected probably is not slabbed, (most of it was purchased before slabbing) plus Stacks is auctioning his coins and they also are more of the anti-slab sentiment so there so there is a good chance that they will NOT have Ford's coins slabbed.

wingedliberty

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure not to take seriously anything John.J.Ford Jr. ever says again.
Very valuable info. Thanks.

dorkkarl

it's too bad that the collectors w/ common sense were old-time collectors, & they are all passing away. collectors today are, for the most part, stupid. blunt, but true (& i don't exclude myself from that group).

K S

cladking

<< <i>Thanks for the info. I'll be sure not to take seriously anything John.J.Ford Jr. ever says again.
Very valuable info. Thanks. >>




While the statements do lead one to wonder about his motives, it must be pointed out
that these statements were made before there were any modern coins which had substan-
tial value. Some moderns are quite common in the undergrades and rare in the pop tops
so a wide spread might be more understandable to him in this situation. It seems unlikely
there are such examples in the classics, though some buffalos and Lincolns might come close.


While some of these statements are more understandable in perspective, I can not fathom
why he is against the people who buy the coins or the people who run the grading companies.

Though we've all said things which we wish we could take back.

barberlover

Ford is wrong, I still remember the con game many dealers were running in the 70's & early 80's. While I am troubled by some of the more recent events involving third party grading an d the registries, overall pcgs has helped the hobby and buisness of coins far more then hurt it. For all the slab bashers out there, don't you remember what it was like 20 years ago ?

Les

mgoodm3

If I am going to have a good old-fashioned tirade, I'm going to do it correctly. If you come out negative you've got to bash any and all associated. It wouldn't sound good to say. "I hate a slab and all seller of slabs, but the buyers well they're OK by me." That just takes the wind out of it. All in all he has some good points.

nwcs

Who said old time collectors had common sense? They also whizzed, polished, tooled, cleaned, and AT'd coins. They also undergraded on buying, overgraded on selling. "The good old days" aren't some golden age. The problems of today aren't much different from yesteryear. Just different.

dorkkarl

<< <i><< Thanks for the info. I'll be sure not to take seriously anything John.J.Ford Jr. ever says again.
Very valuable info. Thanks. >> While the statements do lead one to wonder about his motives, it must be pointed out that these statements were made before there were any modern coins which had substan-
tial value. >>

waddya mean? modern coins STILL don't have substantial value. SLABS do. this is proven by your next statement "Some moderns are quite common in the undergrades and rare in the pop tops". i hope you realize that "pop top" is a plastic term, not a coin-collecting term. the "substantial value" you speak of is because of the SLAB, NOT because of the coin. THAT'S what ford is referring to.



<< <i>While some of these statements are more understandable in perspective, I can not fathom why he is against the people who buy the coins or the people who run the grading companies. >>

i can, very easily, look at this next statement someone made:



<< <i>I still remember the con game many dealers were running in the 70's & early 80's.... For all the slab bashers out there, don't you remember what it was like 20 years ago ? >>

danged right, i do. & i remember that coin-stupid collectors weren't dumping out cash to the tune of FIVE DIGITS for franklin halves, lincoln cents & washington quarters. nor do i remember blatantly artificially-toned coins bringing 10x mkt-value.

you bet, plastic sure has made the con-game different. now it's much easier to dupe someone out of their hard-earned $ - IF you know how to play the "game". 20 years ago, you'd get ripped off for 50 bucks here, 100 bucks there. now, the stakes are higher, you get ripped off only half as often, but for 10 or 100 times as much.

K S