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Message:: [QUOTE="eddiespin, post: 3015900, member: 4920"]Mark, teach your son this. What he's looking for is objective evidence of wear. That rim is damaged. It's "PMD" ("Post-Mint Damage"). That's slight, so it's not going to keep the coin from a grade. When it's a lot, it will do that. Supposing you smashed it with a hammer or drilled a hole in it. It's still no wear, still mint state, but probably won't get a grade for the damage. Teach him why he looks for wear. Why do we look for wear when we're collecting comic books? Or stamps? Or sports cards? Or notes? Or pocket watches? Or antique jewelry? It's because we value the state of preservation and want to know how close to that original the state of preservation is. There's the rationale for the grade. He learns just that, and nothing else, and he'll never be tricked. He'll know what he's got, no matter what anyone says. Everything else in this grading game is subjective opinion, influenced by marketing. That's it.[/QUOTE]