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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ken Dorney, post: 3203296, member: 76086&quot;]I&#039;d like to know where this quote comes from.&nbsp; Obviously they know little and I assume its just a generic website which is just copying bad information.&nbsp; The first line illustrates how bad it is.&nbsp; Test cuts and countermarks are just....test cuts and countermarks?&nbsp; Sublime.&nbsp; The position of such marks mean absolutely nothing, as anyone who has looked at more than just one or two examples.&nbsp; They appear in all variations and locations, as do nearly all such markings.&nbsp; There is nothing behind them other than simplistic randomness.&nbsp; The idea of barbarians is fanciful and imaginative, but in the end, well, just fantasy (well, maybe not, the Greeks were some of the most original ethnocentrists, and considered all but themselves barbarians).&nbsp; In the end test cuts are simply indicative of the issues of their time (and ours) of counterfeiting.&nbsp; Any merchant who suspected (or did not trust) a coin simply used a punch to see if there was base metal under the obvious silver.</p><p><br /></p><p>Test cut coins do not show more wear that non-test cut coins.&nbsp; This is completely at random and depends entirely on surviving coins, many of which are completely worn down and many of which are close to mint state.&nbsp; The coin below is from my collection, and is roughly EF or better but exhibits a severe test cut:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]829550[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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