Things don’t always work

In your life does everything work exactly as it should, all the time?

It certainly does not in my life.

But modern expectations are high.

This includes expectations of coins that are properly conserved, which is another way of saying they are cleaned by professionals.

I had an email from a reader who had submitted some coins to be restored after having been subjected to the ravages of Hurricane Sandy.

Apparently after the work was performed, the reader was not pleased with the results.

He was disappointed. This is understandable.

The first disappointment is the damage. The second is not having coins restored to their original state.

Years ago we collectors could understand this possibility better, but after more than a decade of looking at sea-salvaged gold coins that look like they just came off the Mint’s presses, we have been trained to have higher expectations.

Disappointment no longer seems to be an acceptable option, yet in any venture, nothing succeeds all the time.

In numismatics, disappointment comes in many forms. That is what makes us stronger.

The lack of a miracle for storm-damaged coins is one of many things that can get us down.

But we collectors learn from this. I can’t say we thrive on it, but if it were not for the disappointments, the triumphs would not be nearly as sweet.

Am I getting to philosophical?

Perhaps.

But numismatics and life just are not robotically perfect all the time.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2014 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."