I agree with you 100% John. It is always preferable to buy things like coins when you can carefully examine them and I spent most of my life doing that and still do, sort of. I live near the Niles Coin Shop in Niles, IL. which has probably the best known bid board in the country and I love to walk in there as often as possible and browse.
The internet is the only place that you can find certain things. I collect civil war tokens and elongated coins from the two Chicago Worlds Fairs and I cannot find those things, even at coin shows and Worlds Fair shows. The numismatic community is very fortunate to have some reliable on-line dealers, particularly on eBay. I have never had a problem buying any coin or currency on eBay. It is not too difficult to find reliable dealers there. For example, there is one dealer that sells only NGC graded civil war tokens. I buy things from him.
Occasionally you will get burned. Pictures can hide imperfections. Toning may turn out to be artificial, corrosion may be present. If you stick to certified coins from a reliable dealer on eBay, it is unlikely that you will have a problem. Harlan Berk and Eagle Eye, for example, have their own websites and also trade on eBay.
Brick and mortar dealers also have websites. I have not had an opportunity to buy anything from our mentor, Southgate, but I have never heard anything but glowing remarks here and elsewhere. I work near Harlan Berk in Chicago. If I see something on their website, I can buy it outright or walk in and look at it. I was in Boston last week and visited J J Teaparty. So just to recap, we are blessed to have dealers on the internet that we can rely on.
