Coins of four empires

Comments welcome WRITING this “Editorial Comment” isn’t always easy. Firstly there’s the issue of finding a decent story upon which to comment—it can’t just be a piece of news, we have a place for that, it has to be something worthy of talking about further. Once that topic has been found there is also the matter of being impartial, of walking the middle ground. It’s all very well voicing my own opinions about things but I have to be cognisant of the fact that others may not share those opinions and me pontificating too much about one thing may well anger or upset readers, and why would I want that? I try not to be too political, try not to share my own views too much, instead I try to see both sides and like to think I comment fairly—but that can sometimes leave me thinking I haven’t really said much at all; if you ever find yourself thinking the same of me then I can only apologise! To be fair the real challenge isn’t so much that balancing act but rather finding something to comment on in the first place, or at least finding something different to comment on anyway. I could, every month, fill this page with talk about the market, what’s happening in the wider coin economy and the hobby at large but ultimately that’s not going to be of much interest after the second or third month—it’s also not relevant to everyone, after all what’s happening in the new issue market may not be what’s happening in the Celtic market. I could also talk about the fairs all the time (you know I’m a great champion of coin shows and think everyone should visit them as often as possible, lest we lose them for good) but again that’s not going to appeal to all—despite my best attempts there are some of you who will never visit a coin fair, ever, and thus a monthly rant about attendance at such events will not interest you one bit! I could also talk about the new products we have coming up as other magazines so often do, but if I do that every month then this page starts to look like it should be entitled “From the Marketing Director’s desk” and that’s no good. Once in a while is fine (this month it’s the new Spend it? Save it? Then comes the Coin Yearbook in September, just saying) but not every month. So it is that I’m throwing the floor open to you, assuming you like this Editorial (and most of you seem to) what would you like me to comment on in the future? Is there something I have missed? Something we never discuss here at COIN NEWS? Of course, we aren’t a forum, can’t have open debate like you can at a club meeting or on-line, but I am sure there are things you’d like to see us cover but we simply never have—well now is your chance. Write to me, or email me (info@tokenpublishing.com) and let me know what you’d like me to include in this column and I’ll see what I can do. I’m making no promises but I’d far rather discuss things that you’re interested in than rabbit on endlessly only to have you ignore me! On a related note do let me know about the format of this “Comment” too—we try to keep it the width of the page (rather than split it into two columns like the articles) like a standard page of text in a book, simply to differentiate it from the rest of the magazine (much like the News is laid out in a different format). Such a differential is fairly standard practice in magazine publishing, but a reader recently complained that he found the “Comment” difficult to read and would rather see it formatted like the articles, so I’d like to know your thoughts. Do you agree with him? Would you find it easier to read if it was split into two columns? Or are you happy to see it stay as it is, a separate entity in its own right with its own style? After all we want you to enjoy your magazine and if something is stopping you from doing that, we need to know. I look forward to hearing from you.