I've been hunting for this Korean 1898 1 yang variety coin for years. In most catalog, they would describe it as narrow and wide variety in the character "yang". These are the examples: Wide variety: Narrow variety: The unfortunate story is, this coin has edge damage because it was an ex-jewellery. When I bought it from the seller, he was not aware of this damage. I don't have a problem with scratched or cleaned coins as long as the price is right. But edge damage? I'm not sure. I've just bought another coin to replace the damaged coin. I was almost about to send it off to the seller but decided to hold fire just in case it's worse. It's definitely beautiful with the exception of a scratch. However to my dismay - I never knew that there was a variety with this narrow variety type. If you look carefully at the character "2", the font size is definitely different. Honestly I'm at a loss of words. While I could have paid a bit too much for these coins compared to catalog price, on the other hand, if you look at what's available in the market, they aren't that common. What would you do???
I myself would keep them. You have to make the choice as it will be in your collection. People should not tell anyone what to collect as we all have different wants. Add the coins you like its all about what you like and others cannot make the choice for you. Later you may find a better one then you could replace the one that you like less.
Speaking of Korean coins, I'm travelling to Korea at the end of October. Is there anything in particular I should be looking for or anything I could look & pick up for you foreign collectors?
