How much does a hole detract?

Here is a holed Otacilia Severa I have been trying to sell. The hole is not in a bad place. It has scratches, but the portrait is excellent. It has not sold after pricing it at half or less than it would sell for rapidly otherwise. So, I infer that holes make a big difference.

 

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Here's a coin in which the hole does not take away from the coin, rather it gives the coin a special meaning:



Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that is well known to history. While it is greatly in decline in modern times, it's still out there, and it is estimated that about a third of the world's population has been exposed to the bacteria that causes pulmonary tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is one of those rare infections that can affect nearly every organ in the body, but it usually involves the lungs.

Tuberculosis, the "consumption," is a prominent character in 19th century romantic literature. The list of famous people in history who died from tuberculosis could fill volumes of books. While TB is uncommonly communicated person to person in the United States, it is very common in many countries in the world. It still causes severe disease in people who travel to endemic areas, people who have AIDS, and people who are started on immune system-lowering medications (like for cancer or rheumatoid arthritis).

Now, the coin tie-in:

Besides the lungs, TB can affect the lymph nodes, especially those in the neck. This condition, known today as scrofula, is less dangerous than TB of the lungs, but causes considerable distress as it appears as large nodular masses in the neck, which sometimes drain pus and are fairly disfiguring. It is most common in children. In medieval England, it was called "The King's evil." The superstitious people of the time believed that the touch of the king could actually cure this disease, and the Stuart notion of regal divinity only supported this idea. This led to the creation of a "touching ceremony." People who had scrofula would line up on certain days, and the king would touch them and give them a medal. The medal was a gold "angel" coin, worth 10 shillings, which was holed for wearing on a ribbon. This ceremony was extremely popular during the times of James I, Charles I, and Charles II. It continued through the reign of Queen Anne, after which it fell out of favor. The belief that there was merit to this was reinforced by the fact that it is not uncommon for scrofula to go into remission on its own, and people would get better.

The most famous person to be given the "Royal Touch" was the writer Samuel Johnson, whose coin was kept by his descendants and is now a highlight in the British Museum.

The obverse of the coin depicts St. Michael spearing a dragon. The intentional hole is through the head of the dragon, which may have been intentional. The reverse depicts a ship.

 

Great history Nap which makes the coin more collectible in my mind.

 

Fabulous coin, fabulous post!!

 

I kind of like fixed holes and sometimes some coins you can't really find or afford in better condition.
On this Grosz of Gabor Bathory the hole at 1 o'clock was filled with silver so that the coin would still be accepted as legal tender.

 

I accepted a hole in this one because I have been looking for an Alexandrian Commodus for many years and would likely have accepted one in any condition. The hole doesn't detract from the numismatic interest in the coin but probably put enough people off so that I could afford it. A similar example, without the hole but in lower grade sold for five times the price I paid for this one three weeks later.

Commodus denarius
Obv:– M COMM ANTO - N AVG PIVS BRIT, Laureate head right
Rev:- LIR AVG R M TR P - XVII COS VII P P, Libertas standing left folding pileus and sceptre
Minted in Alexandria. A.D. 192
Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC -. RSC -.

 

Dings and wear on ancient coins reduce valve, but rare and / or desirable coins (relative terms) still bring a good price. The same gold EID MAR with a hole brought $92M in 2004 and $227M in 2008, see pic.

 

My favorite holed coin taught me a new word in Italian, forato = perforated or hole, and place, Mt. Forato. See the mountain and coin pics below. For a change, I think my pics are better (second set).

http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/site/en/itineraries/The-ring-of-Monte-Forato/

 

If I were to fault Martin's coin, I'd mention the loss of the right side legends as more serious but still expect that 4/5's off discount as seems to be the recurring number. That is the problem with 'grading' ancients. Mine is more worn but has no hole and a few more letters. If Martin's coin had no hole, which would be the 'better' item? Opinions are what makes horseraces. I suppose there are ten or so of these out there now. When I got mine, I knew of two others and was not in the mood to be picky.

 

I *STRONGLY* dislike holed coins. Holed coins are worse than polished, cleaned, scraped, or bruised coins, or almost any other problem you can think of.

I will not ever buy a holed coin.

 

No problem. That leaves the nice holed coins for me. A coin like the one @Valentinian posted above seems fine to me. The hole does not detract from the coin in my estimation.