Coin Collecting for Dummies

coin collection

According to news reports, one interesting effect of the self-imposed semi-quarantine in which so many find themselves these days is a rediscovery of stamp and coin collecting as people find themselves tired of staring at screens all the time. Not that collecting either one via the internet doesn't mean hours of staring at screens... but we digress. Both new coin collectors and those who've resurrected a childhood collection of pennies soon learn that other people know a heckuva lot more about the hobby than a newbie. That does not, however, include the likes of Bryce Hammons, who attempted to explain to people "How much is a coin worth" for Catalogs.com (Bryce's byline disappeared not long ago, but the content remains unchanged).

Antique Repair, the Dummies Approach

spinning wheel

Let's say you are cleaning out Great-Grandma's shed and you come across an antique spinning wheel. Heaven only knows what she was doing with it, since the only time she ever did any needle work was removing splinters... but we digress. It might be worth something to "Antiques Road Show," but first you want to get it spiffed up a bit. You go straight to your favorite search engine and type in, "How to Restore Antique Spinning Wheels." With any luck, you'll know better than to head to the article by that title Krista Raye barfed out on eHow.com, which Leaf Group subsequently moved to HomeSteady.com.

Baseball Pins for Dummy Collectors

1980 Winter Olympics pin

Our research team members come up with really weirdest crap at times, but perhaps the best of the best (or is it worst of the worst?) are the content-farm posts freelancing non-English speakers have cobbled together in a desperate attempt to pick up a few US dollars. We've already featured one of them, an EzineArticles.com contributor using the pseudonym Mary Riverstone (perhaps really someone named Greeshma Justin) – and she's back for her third appearance with "Baseball Trading Pins - The Color of Enthusiasm and Spirit!"

Postage Stamps for Dummy Philatelists

Stamp collecting

We admit that sometimes our DotD nominees are chosen because we strenuously disagree with the way they interpret a topic. Most of the time, that means that the original appeared at the late, unlamented eHow.com¹. That's definitely the case today: we took a look at the pablum eHowian Sienna Condy coughed up in attempting to describe "Types of Postage Stamps"² for OurPastimes.com, and we thought to ourselves, "Has this woman never heard of stamp collecting?" Apparently not...

Steel Pennies For Dummies

1943-S Steel Penny

Here at the Antisocial Network, we have a simple rule: if someone asks you how to do something stupid, right up front you tell them, "That's stupid!" After that, it's up to you: if you think they've been properly informed, you can go ahead and tell them – but you gotta tell 'em that it's not a good idea (and preferably why). Of course, that presupposes that you, yourself, know it's stupid, a supposition that clearly didn't fit foodie Tucker Cummings when she attempted to branch into numismatics with "How to Clean Steel Pennies" at OurPastimes.com.

Carbon Fiber Arrow Fabrication for Dummies

carbon-fiber arrow shafts

If there's one thing our staffers have learned over the years of researching DotD candidates for the Antisocial Network, it's that some people will pretend to know anything for a buck.¹ Of course, in the good old days of eHow, there were no checks on abject stupidity – just on format – which allowed some people to get away with posting pretty awful content... like the time romance novelist Laura Hageman tried to convince people that she knew "How to Make Carbon Arrows" for GoneOutdoors.com. She didn't, of course, and it shows...

Coin Collecting for the Dummy Numismatist

1943 S Lincoln Cent Obverse

As Leaf Group spreads more and more of the eHow.com canon around to niche sites, the Antisocial Network research team keeps coming across familiar names in "new" settings. The sad fact, however, is that the content doesn't change (except, sometimes, to get even worse) – it's still the same drivel written by the same unthinking crew of "contributors." Today's DotD candidate is one of those familiar names, ten-time winner of the award Larry Parr, whom we found expounding on "How to Buy Coins Wholesale"¹ for some silly place Leaf calls PocketSense.com.