We need moderators and some quality control

Just lately I and many other members have noticed a lot of very low quality threads like

"Phillipine 25 Centavo coin" by Rexkate

Everything by SUMARKIND and that person sent me a private message asking an opinion on a 1609 Play money USA Gold $10 coin

Plus if you look, you will see the Coin Identification and Free Discussion parts of our Forum are littered with junk threads mostly by newbies, dreamers and time wasters just wanting to be told their mostly junk coins are worth millions of dollars.

Some of the coins they show are just play money junk and Chinese fakes, that all but the most profoundly intellectually disabled could pick out as fantasies, fakes and blatant counterfeits. I think some of these people are just taking the piss.

Sadly most are from the usual offender countries like China, India, Philippines but some are aslo from Europe, America and Australia/NZ.

I am hardly a spellatron myself, but all caps and no spaces, along with "Text spelling" like "How mch 4 my 1990 Quarta, help me 4 u 2 c it".

I suggest we have some moderators who can vet these threads and lock them up and delete repeat offenders. I will volunteer for the English language part and I will insist on rules like

1. Request must show a clear and easy to see picture of the coin
2. Title should state Country, Date, Denomination or if any unknown a best guess
3. Ban on anyone using Textspeak or all Capitals/Lowercase. Some spelling and grammar mistakes are fine (Mine is apalling on account of my Dyslexia and computer key skills) and I can understand many are non English speaking - but they should at least try.
4. Anyone blatantly misleading people with clearly obvious junk.
5. A ban on anyone asking for free coins etc (Freebie vaccuum cleaners as described on stampboards and always Indian, Sri Lankan and types of ex USSR)

This would make our boards look nicer and more professional.

What would you all think?

"saucy", I like it!

We all started somewhere, but I do agree that having some standards should help things!

I think some of the obviously flawed posts might be better pruned (those with no actual text spring to mind), but otherwise I don't see the harm in the posts you're describing. If Numista was intended for experts, I think it would be much more intentionally structured that way. Sure, being open to every level of amateur also opens the forums up to weirdos and time-wasters, but that strikes me as a fair price for being a resource open to collectors at all levels.

There are certainly plenty of posts with poor spelling/grammar and plenty more looking for treasure in garbage. But you're not under any obligation to read them or reply to them. Plus, some people like helping with weird questions. Some people like educating early collectors (even when it's frustratingly simple stuff). Some of us even like seeing the hilariously worthless garbage that sometimes washes up in the Identification section. If you don't like these things, you shouldn't do them. How you interact with the site is as much up to you as it is to everyone else's choices.

Quote: "Moneytane"​Just lately I and many other members have noticed a lot of very low quality threads

​Just lately I and many other members have noticed some very intolerant members.

If you encounter such post simply ignore them, if they are against forum policies report them.

Quote: "Moneytane"​3. Some spelling and grammar mistakes are fine (Mine is apalling on account of my Dyslexia and computer key skills)

5. A ban on anyone asking for free coins etc and always Indian, Sri Lankan and types of ex USSR

​3. So basically you're saying no problem at all when you have dyslexia, because that suits you perfectly but alas when somebody had the unfortunate bad luck to be born stupid, it's not allowed to be a coin collector, or at least not allowed to ask questions about his favorite hobby?

5. You're not only insulting some individual members in your posts but even entire peoples (Indians, Sri Lankans, ex USSR, Chinese). That's much much worse than some uninteresting threads. Shame on you!

What about JosepiInTheHouseTonight or whatever his name is? And this madness?

I think Josepi is a good example of someone for whom Idolenz's recommendations are an excellent fit. Ignore the nonsense, report the violations. You don't need to build a whole new enforcement infrastructure to deal with occasional bothersome incidents that the existing team can easily handle.

Quote: "seltsamesammler"​I think Josepi is a good example of someone for whom Idolenz's recommendations are an excellent fit. Ignore the nonsense, report the violations. You don't need to build a whole new enforcement infrastructure to deal with occasional bothersome incidents that the existing team can easily handle.

​You’re completely right and I don’t want this site to become a dictatorship run by the mods, but I think after enough low-quality or troll posts (without any direct violation of the rules) the account should get a warning. Josepi definitely falls into this category.

Exactly what I am saying, but with 6 upvotes and 11 downvotes and snowflakes like EssorProf attacking me wherever I go, I think the trolls will win.

I have no problem with over moderation. CCF has a lot of it and they are very strict banning ignorance, colourful language, trolling, spamming and any form of Political or racial discussion and it works incredibly well.

Reasons why I spend more time there than here now. Sumarkind and Josephi would last 5 seconds there.

Quote: "Moneytane"​​I have no problem with over moderation.

​Have you ever been to reddit? They use auto-moderators to prevent ‘spamming’, but if you make too many spelling/grammar mistakes because English isn’t your first language? Good luck ever posting something ever again. And on some subs the mods are selectively silencing and reporting people who criticise their power. I do believe that once someone spams or trolls too much they should be banned (even if they weren’t breaking the rules), but over moderation can destroy entire communities. I don’t want this one to be next.

Oh and speaking of banning people for political discussions, weren’t you the one that went on a little anti-Trump crusade in another thread? I’m not going to comment on my opinions of him, but a little hypocritical if you ask me. Xavier has apparently deleted it, but the thread was at the top for a while in the ‘free discussion’ boards, so I’m sure many people saw it.

Good evening
So I don't speak English, every writing is a huge amount of work for me-translate and double check, oh how much easier it would be for me to write straight from the soul.
I don't know where it comes from why there is so much unrest in you and malice ,,Moneytane,, -You lack empathy, understanding , and also to see cultural and social differences.
Maybe a few centuries back in the Inquisition .No, I will not continue .
I also mind the post and the question, What does it cost ?however, more attempts at fraud.
,,Don't read what you don't like and don't answer what's stupid,, The rules are set.
I have once defended the 2.5 billion East Europeans you have offended and now I'm defending one young man who would like to be rich and maybe buy his own cell phone.
Life is nicer from understanding others. Please do not ask for authorization to comment on the forum - it would be a disaster.
Ivan

Yes but your English is excellent Mimael and if all posts were like yours, we would not need moderators.

I am not asking for a Police state or reddit (I found Quora a real horrible site too, they have spelling and grammar stasi there).

As for being racist (Which is what a lot of your posts are using code for), I am of colour myself (Malayo Polynesian) and also speak a foreign language (Maori) and even this morning was harassment by white Police for looking suspicious (I was picking up my paperwork from my bosses letterbox) the Police saw that as "Casing the joint" and I was breath tested and everything and the cock started quoting legal code to me. He had to let me go as I was sober as a judge on a Saturday, my car was entirely legal and safe and my licence was as clean as a whistle. No apology - just keep your nose clean.

But you know what, I don't blame people for my stupidity, I was annoyed about this, but then I realised to a stranger - my behaviour was real suspicious looking (How do they know I deliver papers between 3 and 6am on dark winter nights).

All I am asking is

1. We can deal out the trolls and time wasters fast, 1 or even 2 naive threads showing counterfeits or play money we let slide. But the 3rd one or if they show attitude, they are gone. This would not include 8 year old Timmy with a 100 year old penny, but these trolls are not 8 year old Timmy.

2. We insist on no Caps only posts and no text spelling, but are flexible with typos and bad grammar.

Yet 6 for and 14 against, you guys must love the trolls.

Morning Gentlemen,

As a site member, I enjoy reading and posting on Numista. I enjoy as well reading free discussions. Some threads are nevertheless boring, insane, useless or just expression opinions different of mines. I skip them.
As a moderator, I am asked tens of times a day to moderate, censor, ban or whatever. Frankly speaking, it is rather boring too.
Could not we all self police ourselves ? Does my opinion matter ? Does it contribue to the topic ? Is it true ? Is it interesting for other members ?

I thank you all in advance,

Enjoy all a bright day

Update: apparently SKUMARIND has left Numista.

Edit: old info, but SKUMARIND’s new account is called HSJ.

The forum everywhere has buttons to report inappropriate messages, and individual member pages always have buttons to report problematic users. So there is some quality control, and I don't think something more is needed.

When there are problems with certain users, it is better to focus on the problems themselves, and not on their nationality, race, location, etc. This approach has many advantages, for example, it allows to allocate resources more efficiently.
Then again, if one can't prevent oneself from thinking about someone's nationality, race, location, etc., IMHO it would be better for the forum as a whole when these individual thoughts were not made public, or at least be subjected to scrutiny before that.
Peace!
May everyone be happy.

Quote: "numinis"​The forum everywhere has buttons to report inappropriate messages, and individual member pages always have buttons to report problematic users. So there is some quality control, and I don't think something more is needed.
​
​When there are problems with certain users, it is better to focus on the problems themselves, and not on their nationality, race, location, etc. This approach has many advantages, for example, it allows to allocate resources more efficiently.
​Then again, if one can't prevent oneself from thinking about someone's nationality, race, location, etc., IMHO it would be better for the forum as a whole when these individual thoughts were not made public, or at least be subjected to scrutiny before that.
​Peace!
​May everyone be happy.

​Something more is certainly needed in my opinion, but something as drastic as moneytane is proposing isn’t. More moderators on the forums will undermine the community’s ability to teach new and inexperienced collectors.

What would something more be?

Ensuring that the young, inexperienced and those who generally want to become numismatists are embraced and protected, and then also expelling or curbing the trolls and the grown up people with play money and Chinese fake coins who post a new thread for every piece.

No one has a crystal ball to tell who is who.

Maybe an informatio thread on how to spot Chinese fakes and ways to test fake coins - magnet tests, analysis threads and of course a blanket ban on Ali Baba or Chinese sellers from ebay (Not racism, it has proven 99% of them are selling fakes).

As for moderation, you can not say Bloody, Ali Baba or even Etsy on CCF.

An information thread is a good idea. A post explaining the ins and outs of appraising and selling genuinely rare coins as well as how to spot counterfeits and replicas could be pinned to the top of the coin identifications and valuations board.

Just to send a first time member the Forum Policy automatically,

Quote: "Sjoelund"​Just to send a first time member the Forum Policy automatically,

​That's a really good idea! Makes you feel dumb for not thinking of that.

Quote: "CoinCollector1243"​

Quote: "Sjoelund"​Just to send a first time member the Forum Policy automatically,

​​That's a really good idea! Makes you feel dumb for not thinking of that.

​Agreed. More people will read it that way. Someone get to work!

More may read it, and not all especially the ones that can't speak English or French very well and the ones with low attention spans and intelligence who have dollar signs going "ca-ching" in their eyes.



Idealistic, yes but it don't fly.

To satisfy Monetane in latest development, I would also add that at the end of legal notice a button for "I am not truly gullible and I understand perfectly well what I just read". Only after clicking on it, can user participate in forum.

LP

Reviving this after another rash of junky play money type coins from a member called Khai
Also junk from some one called Tweetybird.

I suggest, we vet all new members to assess their sincerity, ask them some coin questions and ask if them if they are joining as they are serious or just want to know how much their blatant Chinese fake coin from a Flea market is worth.

Bring in an IQ test for all members, if their IQ is under 90 they are not allowed in, or to ask questions

Also new members outside of Europe/USA and Canada and Australia/NZ to be moved to a separate Numista page where they can ask all the daft questions they want and if they prove they are serious - get moved to the main Numista page.

And how about banning posts from Mobile phones and test message type posts. Coins are an academic pursuit not like drinking beer, watching rugby or dancing to rap meme songs on tiktok.

2 pages - Numista International - for everyone.
Numista premium - for serious and approved collectors.

Quote: "Moneytane"​Reviving this after another rash of junky play money type coins from a member called Khai
​Also junk from some one called Tweetybird.
​
​I suggest, we vet all new members to assess their sincerity, ask them some coin questions and ask if them if they are joining as they are serious or just want to know how much their blatant Chinese fake coin from a Flea market is worth.
​
​Bring in an IQ test for all members, if their IQ is under 90 they are not allowed in, or to ask questions
​
​Also new members outside of Europe/USA and Canada and Australia/NZ to be moved to a separate Numista page where they can ask all the daft questions they want and if they prove they are serious - get moved to the main Numista page.
​
​And how about banning posts from Mobile phones and test message type posts. Coins are an academic pursuit not like drinking beer, watching rugby or dancing to rap meme songs on tiktok.
​
​2 pages - Numista International - for everyone.
​Numista premium - for serious and approved collectors.

​I am truly and deeply sorry for not being serious enough, by not yet joining the elite club of serious premium users, I was busy in the mean time with creating well over 2500 new pages...

Hi Moneytane,

If I am as borred as you are by some cretins, I do not follow you for the rest.

All morons are not just morons; they are as we have been at our beginnings, rookies. They just need to gain the experience they can get here.
Regarding the real idiots, I just skip their posts. I think this is the wisier thing to do.
Pertaining to scammers, it is trickier, but thanks God, members report them so that we can quickly ban them.

And last but not least, we could not, worldwide, gather enough volunteers to face the issue ;-)

Coin collecting is not a question of intellectual elite. Just the point of loving coins and gathering them.....

Have a good day,

vp

in truth, there are reddit trolls here trolling y'all.
please ignore the trolls, or admire their art for what it is, and no harm can be done.

I think we can encourage better quality posts by engineering the forum experience in that direction.

Is it possible to add mandatory fields to the "post a thread" page?

On the page for creating a forum post, is there a link to the forum guidelines? (I checked the page where I started typing this, but did not see it.)

Before clicking Submit, the user should be notified somehow of what the forum rules are.

Before posting a coin ID thread, they should be told "Please include the weight and diameter. Please include a photo."

(We've done it before, and it worked. When Xavier tweaked the membership signup form in 2013 to remind the new user to include their nation, the number of new users who listed their nation went up from 30% to 90%.)

Some questions could seem like nonesense questions for the skilled and knowledable collector, but for a new collector who for the first time sees a coin older than 100 years old, and/or from Another country than his/her own, it's not easy to know what they have. A quick search might lead them to scammers' auctions and they get a weird picture of the hobby. They take it as a fact, and after a few years own basic searching they all of a sudden realise they have a coins worth ten of thousands of dollars, and they ask here to comfirm it. Most of us just laugh right up his face, since it's so obvious a fake, but since this is the first time the guy sees this coin, and only had scammers as sources, he is completely clueless. Then we should help them to provide real sources, with real facts. Our knowledge isn't something we were born with, we have learned by asking, searching, and reading. A lot!

Yes, some are obvious scams, and these should obviously be deleted in the matter to not mislead new collectors.

I do believe the forum needs to be cleansed. We don't really need all these threads pre-2015, unless they are really informative. Threads like "Hi, I'm new here!" from 2011 isn't that much to save, is it?
Numismatics questions that has been answered should be deleted. I beliveve No one is browsing all the 4,827 topics in the Numismatic questions forum. At most they just glance over the first page.

So a cleaning day of the forum would be much needed. It would save a lot of space, and make it much easier to get an overview of the forum.

I agree about removing loads of older threads. Always annoying when someone necros a thread from 2014.

yes we do, on a voluntary basis, a fixed amount of contributions per week, say 10.

Use the report button; we will always take a look. Remember the moderators may not agree with your course of action. We tend to take a light touch.

We're also not going to lock every old thread just because somebody might have a 0.001% chance of necroing it.

Simple:

Ignore posts you dont like.

Report posts that break the rules/posting policy.

Accept the fact that this forum is intended for literally anyone, not just experts.

Yes people will have dollar signs for eyes if a coin is old, it's up to us to politely tell them its real value.

Be nice to everyone.