OK, I know I've been guilty of it myself...but...are coin collectors generally paranoid about gettin

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 2:20PM

...a real threat, or only self-aggrandizement?

I'm working to get our Coin club a new web site and I got a frantic email today from one of the members worried that some drug crazed thief will per chance see their name in the on-line version of the club's newsletter and thusly making them a target to get robbed because of it.

What are the chances of something like that actually happening? Is it a real concern? Paranoia or just self importance?

I even had one of the advertizers (a dealer) in our newsletter say they didn't want their ad "put 'out there' for just anybody to see". What's the point in advertizing at all then?

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edit ot fic sum speling.

Zoins · August 4, 2007 2:21PM

What do you think of the people that want the RCMR to come in an opaque wrapper?

TwoSides2aCoin · August 4, 2007 2:23PM

I can only imagine his name starts with Q

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 2:24PM

That's a great club index link in your sig line.

Hopefully we can add ours to it one day.

EagleEye · August 4, 2007 2:27PM

It's good to be carefull. Save the paranoia for the Government.

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 2:27PM

<< I can only imagine his name starts with Q

>>

you must be psychic. But i've gotten a few worried emails and phone calls from people nearly breaking out in hives over it.

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 2:29PM

<< It's good to be carefull. Save the paranoia for the Government. >>

"He ain't heavy, He's my 'big brother'."

jobiwan115 · August 4, 2007 2:33PM

I'm physically disabled, and I don't worry about it. Those people should be careful what attitude they walk around with - if they're that nervous and timid, that's likely to attract the wrong kind of attention. Walk around like you're a harda$$ and people leave you alone - even when you're in my condition. 48 years and counting, only one incident, that I solved merely by showing the .380 Walther I was carrying.

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 2:37PM

<< only one incident, that I solved merely by showing the .380 Walther I was carrying. >>

oldcameoproofsguy · August 4, 2007 2:41PM

I don't worry about it too much. I have a safety deposit box. That's the great part of digital imaging. I don't have to have my collection at home to enjoy my coins.

RedTiger · August 4, 2007 4:11PM

I'd say it is a real concern. Especially in a smaller city or town. Edit down to first names only, or nicknames, or even change the names. Publishing full names is foolhardy. If word gets around, every name on that list can become a target. Once something is published on the Internet, it exists virtually forever because of web crawlers and cache-ing programs.

I don't see any positives, other than saving a few moments of editing time. This would be a big negative for me as a potential member. I would not want my information made public in that manner. Get rid of the names. If an incident happens, how will you feel? For what?

Paranoid is better than robbed and beaten or blackmailed, or worse.

Cladiator · August 4, 2007 4:14PM

<< I have a safety deposit box. That's the great part of digital imaging. I don't have to have my collection at home to enjoy my coins. >>

That being said, I don't think I'd like my name to be on that list.

RedTiger · August 4, 2007 4:20PM

<< 

<< I have a safety deposit box. That's the great part of digital imaging. I don't have to have my collection at home to enjoy my coins. >>

That being said, I don't think I'd like my name to be on that list. >>

Blackmail or threats of violence, or similar schemes can overcome safe deposit boxes, if the score is rumored to be big enough to make it worth while. Once the list is made public, it can not be unmade. Again, foolish behavior in my mind. The odds of something bad happening are small, but the downside is enormous. CoinHusker would never forgive himself if something did happen because of names published online.

tresgatos · August 4, 2007 4:31PM

There is no way I would want my name associated with coin collecting on a website. You're not that hard to find using your real name. My belief is that the kind of guy that would rob you or break into your house is going to have the mindset of "he collect old coins and old coins are valuable." Sorry but I'm a cynic about this stuff.
It's the same for a jeweler.
I don't see much upside to publishing your real name in association with coins; this board SEEMS to function pretty well using aliases.
In the armored car business, the paranoid guys working in the more dangerous parts of the city never got hit while the guys who worked the quiet suburbs got the gun pointed at the face (me included).
When it comes to money or valuables I'm paranoid.

Looking at pictures of my coins is not as enjoyable as holding them in
my hands. That's like why get married when I can just look at pictures of beautiful women in magazines?

just the hard old opinion of a big city boy.

howards · August 4, 2007 5:16PM

I'm a webmaster of a coin club, and I always check with people before I list their names on the site. Everyone is entitled to his own level of paranoia.

I used to be more paranoid, but since I've published some articles in Numismatist any hope of anonymity is gone. I don't keep coins at home anyway.

291fifth · August 4, 2007 5:32PM

It is a real concern.

Overdate · August 4, 2007 5:41PM

That's the great part of digital imaging. I don't have to have my collection at home to enjoy my coins.

The great part of digital imaging is that you don't even have to own the coins to enjoy them.

ilikebuffaloes · August 4, 2007 8:56PM

That's like why get married when I can just look at pictures of beautiful women in magazines?

Because the pictures are cheaper in the long run

I try to be careful and not draw attention to the coins. I remove the covers from coin publications that I recycle and shred them. Many of the coins I collect are not real valuable, but why invite trouble.

Paranoid, no. Careful, yes!

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 10:24PM

I see an overnight concensus forming here.

TorinoCobra71 · August 4, 2007 10:41PM

I have been coin collecting over 30 years and have been lucky enough not to get robbed. I keep all that is expensive and important to me in a lock box at my bank. the rest stays home.....

TC71

CoinHusker · August 4, 2007 10:53PM

I guess I'm wondering if someone can look up your address from an email address?

I even had one of the advertizers (a dealer) in our newsletter say they didn't want their ad "put 'out there' for just anybody to see". What's the point in advertizing at all then?

pharmer · August 5, 2007 12:35AM

Since it is a possibility, why borrow trouble?

TwoSides2aCoin · August 5, 2007 12:46AM

I ain' t skeered

Michigan · August 5, 2007 12:50AM

I tear off address labels from coin publications that I recycle and throw them away, you never know who might be taking a look at the publications after they are no longer in your possession.

I have wondered about people writing down license plate numbers of cars parked at coin shows and trying to find out the address
of who they belong to, not sure if that info is available on some website or other source.

Coins are stolen nearly every day in the US but news reports are mostly just local (I google "coin" and "coins" every day to see
what is happening in the world of numismatics. Hard to tell if someone was specifically targeted or if it was just random.

TwoSides2aCoin · August 5, 2007 12:58AM

Paranoia strikes deep.
You know I got widgets if I ain't skeered

ricko · August 5, 2007 1:01AM

I have observed more paranoia here than any place/group/organization I have ever been involved with. That being said, caution and awareness are a prerequisite to NOT being a victim. Caution would say, do not put names on the website. I keep my coins at home, if I had to put them in a bank (SD box), I would sell them all. (Storing your coins in the bank makes as much sense as keeping your firearm at the store or gunclub) It makes no sense to collect coins and not be able to enjoy them at your leisure. Home security, both the training and the hardware, (i.e. systems, storage, etc) is the responsibility of the individual. If I wanted pictures of coins, magazines and this site would be enough. I refuse to live in fear... I am proactive in all things. I would not advertise my collection, but friends know I am a coin collector. Live as you wish.. I prefer to enjoy my life. Cheers, RickO

jobiwan115 · August 5, 2007 1:16AM

<< I have observed more paranoia here than any place/group/organization I have ever been involved with. That being said, caution and awareness are a prerequisite to NOT being a victim. Caution would say, do not put names on the website. I keep my coins at home, if I had to put them in a bank (SD box), I would sell them all. (Storing your coins in the bank makes as much sense as keeping your firearm at the store or gunclub.) It makes no sense to collect coins and not be able to enjoy them at your leisure. Home security, both the training and the hardware, (i.e. systems, storage, etc) is the responsibility of the individual. If I wanted pictures of coins, magazines and this site would be enough. I refuse to live in fear... I am proactive in all things. I would not advertise my collection, but friends know I am a coin collector. Live as you wish.. I prefer to enjoy my life. Cheers, RickO >>

Good morning, All.

Rick, I think you stated things very well. The only phrase I take exception to is, "Storing your coins in the bank makes as much sense as keeping your firearm at the store or gunclub." To me the main purpose of a firearm is to be able to defend yourself or loved ones should something "unfortunate" happen. If it's at the gun club or locked up where you can't get to it in that time of need, it's useless. An SDB a short distance away that you can access 6 days a week is quite sufficient to me.

Beyond that, I agree completely with your observations.

oxy8890 · August 5, 2007 2:17AM

Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean people aren't out to get me!

Mowgli · August 5, 2007 2:35AM

The only person I worry about who knows I collect coins is the postman.

I have never thought about being robbed but once this thread came up I realized that some coin entities will list members names and home towns but I think the info is only available to other members (hopefully all honest).

It seems that any time I hear about coin robberies it is of dealers rather than collectors. Is this bad info?

ricko · August 5, 2007 2:40AM

Joe,
If an SDB works for you, fine, just not my way of enjoying my collection. Thanks for your support.. Cheers, RickO

CoinHusker · August 5, 2007 4:04AM

It appears I took the concerns presented to me a bit too casually.

What kind of contact information is appropriate/safe on a coin club website?

dcamp78 · August 5, 2007 1:23PM

<< I refuse to live in fear... I am proactive in all things. I would not advertise my collection, but friends know I am a coin collector. Live as you wish.. I prefer to enjoy my life. Cheers, RickO >>

I agree with Ricko. I've shared my personal data with several folks on this board and other boards as well.
If someone wants to rob me, they probably could - assuming nobody's at home. If anyone's at home, they
will most likely wish that they had picked another 'Vick'. (victim)

LeeG · August 5, 2007 1:27PM

Wheres the joy in life if you're living it scared? What's meant to be, is meant to be. Yes, be careful, but also have fun.

tr8cer · August 5, 2007 1:47PM

A criminal ring during the 90s went up and down the East coast picking up quarterly magazines of the "who's who of the wealthy in local areas." All they had to do was look up their home address in that town go pick up the goods." I do not recall how many homes were hit, over 80 I believe. Seems like a very easy thing to happen within the coin collecting world.

PrivateCoinCollector · August 5, 2007 1:53PM

I really don't want to talk about it.

pharmer · August 5, 2007 1:53PM

Obviously.

It's just common sense. Unless you lead a very boring life and need the excitement of letting anyone know about your collection, don't take unnecessary chances. As Silent Calvin Coolidge said, "I notice that I have never been harmed by anything I didn't say."

The OP is talking about a guy who doesn't want the OP to out him as a collector. That wish should be respected.

RedTiger · August 5, 2007 2:22PM

<< It appears I took the concerns presented to me a bit too casually.

What kind of contact information is appropriate/safe on a coin club website? >>

Obviously the time and meeting place of the club, and the club's mailing address, hopefully a P. O. Box. If the officer's want to provide a phone number for contact, I see that as fine as well. That is part of running the club. First names are fine, and even photographs might be okay. If some folks are afraid of giving out phone numbers, then do email. The club can set up their own email on one of the free services. This is a good idea in any case, because most published email addresses get inundated with spam.

The odds of anything bad happening are remote. However, even if another club a thousand miles away gets hit because of public information on a website, the worriers are going to hit the panic button. Again, there is no efficient way to unpublish information on the Internet. As I said there are web crawlers and cache-ing programs that store that data for a long time. The bad guys might have harvested the information en masse, waiting for a convenient time to make their hits.

It seems like at least five to ten times a year, someone on this board mentions a coin collector (not a dealer) getting robbed at home. Often times it is a collector that shares too easily about their hobby and word got out on the street about a valuable coin collection. It may not matter how big a collection a person has, or if they keep it at home or at the bank. What matters is that someone heard a rumor about a big score, usually owned by elderly folks (most coin club members are 60 or older). If there is nothing at the house, they may think the person is lying, or might figure out a scheme to get coins stored at the bank, that is more painful and scary for the family of the collector. Money is a powerful motivator, and all it takes is the rumor of big money.

I'd guess that 5% to 10% of collectors at some point in their lives have valuable coins stolen from them. It is a common story. That may seem like good odds, but it means virtually everyone had it happen to them, or knows someone who had that happen to. I don't blame the worriers. I'm sure they each know one or more people that have had coins or entire collections stolen.

Call me paranoid if you like. However, since reading this message board, I have become much less willing to display coins in public, or mention the hobby to casual friends. Now if someone asks the "how much" question, I now always say a few dollars, even if the coin is worth much more. No need to invite trouble.

ALHENDER22 · August 5, 2007 3:24PM

Why not have your members pick PSUEDO names such as here? If your listing real names, I would worry more about identity theft than robbers stealing my coins.

Al

Thenewguy · August 5, 2007 3:42PM

<< That's the great part of digital imaging. I don't have to have my collection at home to enjoy my coins.

The great part of digital imaging is that you don't even have to own the coins to enjoy them.

>>

And as some scammers are proving with digital imaging you don't have to own them to sell them either..

foundinrolls · August 6, 2007 4:23AM

Having been robbed three times in my life, (Two times at gunpoint) It would be a concern. I have no mail coming to my house and use three different Post office boxes. Paranoid, maybe:-) I choose to call it careful:-)

Oh, and some nut sent me an envelope filled with a white powdery substance ...I had to get the State Police Involved in that one. It turned out to be a crushed medication that the guy should have been taking:-)

tahoe98 · August 7, 2007 3:22AM

<< 

<< It's good to be carefull. Save the paranoia for the Government. >>

"He ain't heavy, He's my 'big brother'."

>>

Michigan · August 7, 2007 3:34AM

<< The only person I worry about who knows I collect coins is the postman.

I have never thought about being robbed but once this thread came up I realized that some coin entities will list members names and home towns but I think the info is only available to other members (hopefully all honest).

It seems that any time I hear about coin robberies it is of dealers rather than collectors. Is this bad info? >>

Robberies of collectors are much more common than of dealers, with collectors it is mostly B&E's that are only going
to make local newspapers.

Michigan · August 7, 2007 3:42AM

<< A criminal ring during the 90s went up and down the East coast picking up quarterly magazines of the "who's who of the wealthy in local areas." All they had to do was look up their home address in that town go pick up the goods." I do not recall how many homes were hit, over 80 I believe. Seems like a very easy thing to happen within the coin collecting world. >>

A long time ago the ANA published either the home address or at least the town where new members lived in the "Numismatist".
Someone got a hold of the magazine and was able to figure where someone lived, the collector was murdered and his collection
taken. The ANA changed that policy rather quickly after the incident.

Deadhorse · August 7, 2007 4:01AM

I'd feel better if my issue of Coin World was sent in a plain brown envelope.

Paranoid? Who's paranoid? Not me!

I'd like to see a poll on how many people carry a firearm in their car going to and from shows.

+1 here for the yes column in that poll.

unknowncomic · August 7, 2007 4:03AM

+1

Bruceswar · August 7, 2007 6:24AM

<< It appears I took the concerns presented to me a bit too casually.

What kind of contact information is appropriate/safe on a coin club website? >>

Simple way to do this is make the page protected by a password. Makes it a harder for people to access info. Most of the people trying to get info off sites like this are not hackers as well. A simple password protection should help alot.

coinman420 · August 7, 2007 7:40AM

<< I have observed more paranoia here than any place/group/organization I have ever been involved with. That being said, caution and awareness are a prerequisite to NOT being a victim. Caution would say, do not put names on the website. I keep my coins at home, if I had to put them in a bank (SD box), I would sell them all. (Storing your coins in the bank makes as much sense as keeping your firearm at the store or gunclub) It makes no sense to collect coins and not be able to enjoy them at your leisure. Home security, both the training and the hardware, (i.e. systems, storage, etc) is the responsibility of the individual. If I wanted pictures of coins, magazines and this site would be enough. I refuse to live in fear... I am proactive in all things. I would not advertise my collection, but friends know I am a coin collector. Live as you wish.. I prefer to enjoy my life. Cheers, RickO >>

i have agree with this 100%

CoinHusker · August 7, 2007 7:51AM

thanks, I have appreciated all the various viewpoints and comments.

ricko · August 7, 2007 8:00AM

Deadhorse, I carry all the time.. shows or not. Cheers, RickO

OK, I know I've been guilty of it myself...but...are coin collectors generally paranoid about gettin

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