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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1794724, member: 19463&quot;]Yes, I&#039;m just a nasty old man trying to get you to spend money on coins that deserve their price rather than randomly.&nbsp; This issue is terribly hard to find in perfect shape so we have to decide which of the many flaws we want to overlook.&nbsp; I find the halves most interesting since the mint did not use a consistent die axis alignment.&nbsp; I do not have the most rare and least interesting one where the reverse consists of the top of the tree and no crocodile.&nbsp; Note that both of Martin&#039;s coins have the same end of the croc but opposite rulers.&nbsp; I liked these coins enough to give them a page of their own but rather than making it mostly about the several sub-types available (all but one of the coins shown above in this thread are the last type with PP on the obverse) I aimed the page at pointing out the impossibility of grading the things with a couple letters.&nbsp;&nbsp; A paragraph sometimes has trouble being fair to these coins.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Cucumbor&#039;s example is a beauty but some people would not have it because it shows the pre-striking flan adjustment scratches common on the coins of the last couple sub-types.&nbsp; In particular it has a really nice chain which is the croc equivalent of full steps on Jefferson nickels, full horns on Buffalos or full heads on Standing Liberty quarters (sorry, Canadians, I do not know examples in your series).&nbsp; &nbsp; The croc is slightly smaller in the earlier sub-types so it is easier to get one with full snout but the later coins had more die detail in the croc skin so coins like Cucumbor&#039;s tend to look better even though the snout is right up to the edge of the flan.&nbsp; What coin is best for the collector who wants just one?&nbsp; I don&#039;t know, I don&#039;t believe in &#039;just one&#039; collecting so I&#039;m not the one to ask.&nbsp; </p><p>My page (bet no one has read that one) and my family portrait are below.&nbsp; There are still a couple sub types I lack.&nbsp; I recently returned a beautiful coin (that is still for sale) that I decided was tooled and repatinated so be a little careful if spending good money on these.&nbsp; </p><p><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/impossible.html</a></p><p>[ATTACH=full]290214[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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