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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 2148766, member: 112&quot;]Well, I guess I should have known better. It seems at times that no matter what the subject matter might be, if I dare to voice my opinion, let alone ask a question, somebody is going to have a problem with my doing that <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The question was just that, and honest, pertinent, and rather straightforward question - nothing more. And the opinion, merely my opinion, nothing more. But instead of having a problem with my opinion, why not ask why my opinion is what it is ?</p><p><br /></p><p>Well, that&#039;s a somewhat complicated answer, but not at all a difficult question. In regard to how I define rare, I base my opinion on the opinions and definitions put forward by knowledgeable people. People who have written the books on coins and stated their definitions of what is rare and what is not. That said, there are many different rarity scales and they can vary greatly depending on the subject coins at hand. I am aware of and have copies of quite a few of those rarity scales, and have even posted many of them here on this forum numerous times in order to share that information with others.</p><p><br /></p><p>And rarity scales are not something new. Just like coin collecting goes back a long ways, so do established and published rarity scales. And it is these rarity scales that help establish and define what rare actually is, what it means, its very definition. But as so often happens with things, the passage of time and the interjection of people&#039;s personal definitions for words as opposed to those already established definitions, well the &quot;perception&quot; of definitions change. Especially if and when the changing of established definitions is desirable for personal reasons.</p><p><br /></p><p>So what might some examples be of how &quot;rare&quot; is defined ? Here&#039;s one that goes back a ways.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]411988[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As you can see, that one was established in 1649. And it does a pretty good job of defining just what rare is. Here is another, from more modern times, but still well over 50 years old. And also one that should be more recognizable to most.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Sheldon Scale</p><p>R-1 Common</p><p>R-2 Not So Common</p><p>R-3 Scarce</p><p>R-4 Very Scarce (population est at 76-200)&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p>R-5 Rare (31-75)</p><p>R-6 Very Rare (13-30)</p><p>R-7 Extremely rare (4-12)</p><p>R-8 Unique or Nearly So (1,2 or 3)</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, as you can see, the word rare is pretty well defined by number. And it is from sources like these, and there are many others, upon which I base my opinion of how &quot;rare&quot; is defined.</p><p><br /></p><p>And that&#039;s pretty much how the world defined rare too. At least until things like coin forums and ebay came along. Then rare came to mean just about anything anybody wanted it to mean. Rare became an overused, and abused, term that ceased to have any real meaning, possibly excepting those who actually know what it means and has always meant, for hundreds of years. I stand in that group, thus my opinion.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now modern, that&#039;s a different story. And as evidenced by the responses in this thread a widely varied story. And I suppose that is to be expected because modern is one of those words whose definition largely depends upon the context of its use. So do I define modern in regard to coins ? I kind of do it the same way PCGS does. They define modern as anything minted &#039;65 or later, the end of silver in our coins. And I kind of do it that way too. But since the rest of the world stopped using silver in their coins at different points in time with some starting as early as the 1930&#039;s and others even after that US did it, I pick a spot kind of close to the middle, I define it as post WW II when it comes to world coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now given those two explanations as to how and why my opinion is what it is, my original comments and question stand. Of course, any and all are welcome to disagree <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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