Not a pleasant surprise

Are collectors crooks at heart?

That’s not my view, but it is a question that comes to mind regarding a situation arising in Florida.

Donn Pearlman forwarded me a link yesterday to a story on the Ocala.com website.

The story tells of a situation with the Greater Ocala Coin Club where an officer alleges that up to 40 percent of members were engaging in selling cleaned coins to other inexperienced members that were fraudulently misrepresented.

He wants the state to shut the club down.

Wow. Read it and see what you think. Here is the link.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20100525/ARTICLES/100529824/1402/NEWS

Over the years coin clubs have been disbanded because of personality clashes, aging membership and subsequent loss of initiative and simply loss of interest by members.

I don’t recall ever seeing an allegation of problems created by a large part of the membership. That’s a new one and if it is true, it will be a blow to the standard advice I give that some of the best places to learn about coins is at a local coin club.

I feel like the kid who exclaimed disbelief to Shoeless Joe Jackson after the 1919 Black Sox baseball game fixing scandal.

“Say it isn’t so.”