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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1948273, member: 19463&quot;]The extremely popular tetradrachms of Athens with Athena and her owl are a great example of a problem we face when collecting.&nbsp; There are thousands of these coins on the market at any given moment but 99.9% of them have some fault that will bother some of us more than others.&nbsp; The only &#039;really perfect&#039; owls I have seen have also been really fake.&nbsp; It is possible to find owls ranging in price from under $100 to over $10,000 but not all of us would agree on which faults can be overlooked and which are deal breakers when it comes to selecting a coin we can welcome in our collection.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]339595[/ATTACH] </p><p>Years ago, I had a friend who specialized in owls.&nbsp; He had a hundred of them from different periods but every single coin had Athena&#039;s nose on the flan.&nbsp; He would not look twice at&nbsp; a coin that even touched the tip of the nose.&nbsp; Many people like coins that show the crest on Athena&#039;s helmet and examples with (even nearly) full crest are not common.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I saw this coin, I decided I needed it because it has more space beyond nose and crest than I have seen on one coin.&nbsp; Certainly it has several other faults including less than perfect surfaces and either wear of flat striking losing detail on the body of the owl and Athena&#039;s hair.&nbsp; I wanted it because of the flan size and I know I&#039;ll never afford a mint state 5/5 surfaced coin with similar details.&nbsp; One might also prefer a rounder coin with more of the top of the head and neck space.&nbsp;&nbsp; Each below has something going for it and faults that would make the coin unwanted by many collectors. In my price bracket, you can&#039;t have everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>Three too many test cuts and wear but pretty nice centering:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]339586[/ATTACH]</p><p>This fourree has an unusual amount of space at the bottom of Athena.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]339587[/ATTACH]</p><p>Few test cut coins are damaged as little as this Pi type intermediate.&nbsp; It also has a great Pi:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]339589[/ATTACH]</p><p>This one has no test cuts but plenty of die and coin wear.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]339588[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your faulty owls.&nbsp;&nbsp; If you have one perfect in all ways, I&#039;d like to see it, too.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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