Mission statement.

[willbrooks]

Before we begin any discussion about terms and acronyms, I feel it is critical to first discuss what the mission is with this project and why are we considering doing it in the first place. LCR currently has no glossary of its own and the existing acronym list, while a good base, needs some revision, additions, and possibly eliminations. I feel strongly that we should have our own glossary. We still have the option to link to our sister sites when something more is needed. Yes, there are many other glossary lists out there, on many other sites. However, those sites may have a different focus than we do here at LCR. For example, it should NOT be our mission to re-create the list on error-ref. First of all, trying to re-create or improve on definitions written by the leading people in our field like Mike D, Chuck, Jason, BJ, etc., would be an exercise in futility. Error-ref is an incredibly in-depth resource, focusing mostly on errors, addressing all denominations of coinage, and is geared toward a MORE SEASONED collector. Here, at LCR, while we are a place where experts can go for a second opinion or an advanced question, I feel we are also (or at least trying to be) a more beginner-friendly forum for those learning the ropes of our wonderful hobby.
My personal thoughts about the direction of this project is that we create a glossary and acronym list, with the content focused on Lincoln cents and related terms, which can be understood and utilized by both the beginner as well as the seasoned numismatist. Instead of just saying to someone, “Hey that’s master die doubling coupled with die deterioration doubling, not a doubled die,” we can directly link the phrase in the post and a beginner can access an explanation and possibly an example photo of those terms right here on the site. I believe this would decrease the rash of newbs we have coming on the site and IGNORING what people are telling them because they simply don’t understand what a term or acronym actually means or are confusing it with something else! On a related note, I feel we should ALL make a concerted effort to do as Chuck suggested and AVOID using acronyms of these terms when addressing beginners’ questions. An acronym can be provided AFTER a term is spelled out in full.


Mission Statement:
Our goal is to create our very own beginner-friendly glossary of terms and accompanying acronym list concerning Lincoln cents, their production, and resulting mint errors, die varieties, and issue varieties. It will be a glossary of the forum, by the forum, and for the forum.

(Gotta throw a little Abe in there! )



edit: no additional discussion needed on this.