Thanks for digging up the thread, Jislizard
You have a point, of course that pseudo coins are made because there's a demand. However, you should ask yourself just why there is a demand. As you say "I can't imagine why anybody who is interested in coins would want them and I can't imagine anyone that isn't interested in coins wanting them either". I think demand comes mainly from these sources:
- Pack-rats fall for stuff that appeals to them. In that sense we are all pack-rats, but a real pack-rat is someone having trouble finding space to live in the same house as the collection. Extreme pack-rats get shown on television surrounded by their collection of teddy bears or toy cars. My favorite pack-rat collection is the Wade collection, housed in
Snowshill manor. Pack-rats will buy anything, including pseudo-coins and that's their privilege.
- Retail "investors" are people who believe they are buying something of value that they can hold on to while it increases in value, so that they can sell it on to a collector. These people are foolish, but the world of retail investors is packed with fools. They will become somewhat wiser after their first deal, but their ranks seem to be replenished endlessly. "Caveat Emptor" applies to this group.
- Newbie collectors who are taken in by the advertising. Newbies all seem to make the same mistake: expensive = scarce = important = interesting. They can't see how a cheap Roman copper or a contemporary forgery can be interesting and a coloured pseudo coin can be boring. This group is what I worry about.
The first rule of collecting is never to tell someone else what (not) to collect. Therefore, those who spend money on them, know what pseudo coins are and still want to buy them for their own reasons (e.g. theme collectors, who collect pictures in metal, rather than coins, collectors who include borderline cases and pseudo coins found in circulation) are fine in my mind. However, I think it behooves them to know the status of what they collect and to help confused newbies make the distinction between coins that are money and pseudo coins.
It is different for newbie collectors who really believe the propaganda of the pseudo coin sellers. If they are not educated quickly, they will continue buying future disappointments. Here's where pseudo coins do real damage, turning away potential collectors. I think collectors who care about the future of coin collectors as well as dealers, who have an obvious stake in the future of coin collecting, have an obligation to educate newbies about the non-circulating status of pseudo coins.
A problem with all this is that the line between pseudo coins and circulating coins is fine and vague. There is a class of coins that confounds the issue. Consider euro issues. The values up to 1 euro and the circulation 2 euro coins are clearly coins. The silver and gold pieces sold (way) above face value, proof only issues and the like are clearly pseudo coins. In between are 2 euro pieces and some silver pieces that can be had at face value but are rarely found in circulation. Different collectors will define them differently and that's fine too. What's important is that their status is clear: they hardly ever / sometimes / often circulate and are never / seldom / often accepted as payment.
I am proud that this information is discussed and available on this site. This site also contains wildly enthusiastic endorsements of what are clearly pseudo coins. In all of these threads, someone is pointing out that the pieces in question do not circulate, are not money, or are not even coins. That does not mean that those who collect them are banned from this site or told not to collect them. It does mean that we take the obligation to inform newbies seriously, even if it means we have to repeat the arguments tediously every time someone believes they have to advertise a pseudo issue as if it is a real coin.
Peter
