Let's see if this works. One of the strengths of this Web site is how it easily lets you include images along with your messages -- click IMG, copy in the URL of where you have the image stored (making sure the image width is less than 640 pixels), click IMG again. This makes Coin Talk ideal for, well, talking about coins. How about showing off the centerpiece of your collection? What single coin do you most enjoy looking at? And, more important, why? It's fun to see what excites others. And you can learn things. Here's my favorite U.S. coin: It's a 1799 Bust dollar in a PCGS AU-53 holder. I find Bust coinage fascinating because of its history -- among the earliest U.S. coins -- and its beauty -- the most beautiful portrait on a U.S. coin, in my view (OK, I'm partial to cleavage too). I like the look of this particular coin also because of its toning. Up close, you see subtle shades of blue and pink. I suspect the reverse toned the way it did because the coin was stored for a long time inside a folded-up envelope, and that glue or rubber bands from outside the envelope darkened the periphery of the reverse this way. Just a theory though.
