Collectors Sharing Information

Collectors are the mother-lode of specialized information and most collectors are eager to share the information which they have spent a life time accumulating for the good of the hobby, and they do it for free! Just look at the history of Krause Publications which has spent the last 50 years collecting all this free information from collectors of coins, cars etc. and then repackaging all that information into a concentrated, convenient and portable format which they then sell back into the collecting market. Collectors of military medals are the same. All one needs do is to look at the many forums on the internet. Even on eBay where it is least expected this generous collector sharing occurs. Last week for example I listed the US Maritime Commission Merit Award illustrated below on eBay as silver in one of my not so brilliant moments. Within a few days a fellow eBayer specializing in these awards emailed me a correction. This good Samaritan collector also has a web-site which is so fantastic that I just have to share it with you all http://www.geocities.com/ssgtedusmc/ this site is a keeper! If this is what just one dedicated collector can do the future sure looks promising.