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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SuperDave, post: 2354684, member: 1892&quot;]Yeah, this is where semantics is getting in the way. The trouble is, our hobby is by definition one of precision. The sole difference between a face-value coin and a six-figure error/rarity could be a feature only measurable under high magnification, for instance, like 0.2mm differences in date digit locations.</p><p><br /></p><p>So we have to balance precision in language against peoples&#039; natural unwillingness (apparently) to employ such precision. If we were talking chemistry instead of coins such precision would be a universally-accepted standard. And I don&#039;t get that; we&#039;ll argue the difference between MS67 and MS68 all day with everyone on the same page, but the moment we start trying to effect a common definition for a given term, nobody wants to conform. Heck, we argue the definition of &quot;cud&quot; incessantly even though that&#039;s a term no less precise than a chemical formula.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Luster,&quot; to me, is solely and purely a function of the surface irregularities of a newly-struck coin. Once it&#039;s circulated enough to wear down those irregularities, the shine is no longer something I would use the term &quot;luster&quot; to describe. A sufficiently-worn die doesn&#039;t strike &quot;lustrous&quot; coins at all, even though what they *do* strike isn&#039;t exactly dull in finish. The whole point of me trying to be so precise is to forestall ultimately time-wasting (although educational) discussions like this one.</p><p><br /></p><p>This kind of argument really didn&#039;t exist in numismatics before the Internet. It&#039;s only happening because newer collectors are uninterested in learning the true precision of the hobby, and society as a whole is so much more individualistic these days that people just_don&#039;t_grok the efficacy of holding to that precision. How many electrons - and how much time - have we wasted on this one thread?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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