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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 2761683, member: 112&quot;]Coins weren&#039;t marked with chopmarks by governments, they were marked by merchants, traders, and moneychangers, often right on the docks when a ship sailed into port.</p><p><br /></p><p>The sole purpose of chopmarks was to indicate that the purity of the silver had been tested and verified by the private individual marking the coin with his chopmark. And, that the weight of the coin was correct. Chopmarks were in that sense a signature.</p><p><br /></p><p>When a government marked a coin it was called a countermark. And the purpose of a countermark was not to verify the purity of the silver, but rather to establish the value of that specific coin in that specific country. And those are two very different things.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s it in a nutshell.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s determined by each individual based on their personal feelings about it. Not by anything else. So you&#039;re the only one who can decide what they are worth to you.</p><p><br /></p><p>To me personally, chopmarks are absolutely damage. They were made by a merchant taking a punch, putting it against the face of a coin and striking it with a hammer. And this no different than if you or I were to take a punch with an English letter on it and marking a coin with that. Now is there any doubt that if you did that, that it would be considered damage ? What I&#039;m trying to point out is that the only difference is the language and the letter characters. So if one is damage, all are damage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, as I mentioned, the value of coins like this is determined by personal feelings. And this is in effect no different many other aspects of numismatics. Think about it, toning, errors, and even some varieties - the value of all these things is based on personal feelings. Some people see toning as damage, while others love it. And there is absolutely no question that things like die cracks, being struck off center, spelling errors, missing letters, etc are flaws, every single one of them are flaws, mistakes, screw-ups. And yet some love them and will pay premiums for them. While others will turn up their noses. </p><p><br /></p><p>I guess what I&#039;m trying to point out is that it&#039;s not a question of right or wrong, but merely a question of personal preference - taste.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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