Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2306027, member: 19463&quot;]Just an opinion but if you are to have just one Decius, this is the one.&nbsp; It was used throughout his reign and for the reasons JA described above, defines his place in history. </p><p><br /></p><p>As far as smoothing vs. tooling goes, this coin certainly had a thick patina which was scraped down more in the fields than in the legends and there are a couple places where the &#039;artist&#039; slipped up and cut too deep.&nbsp; It possibly could have taken more trimming around the letters and been a higher end item but I suspect the person who did this one was not yet a master of his art.&nbsp; I bought the coin in the belief that the detail shown was uncovered rather than added and only have problems with a couple regions making the coin better than many I see sold by name brand auctions.&nbsp; The coin will next be subjected to close up photography to see if I can record what I think I see.&nbsp; Changing the light on a coin really can make a world of difference on what area looks right and what looks wrong.&nbsp; Thanks for looking.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I would have a lot more respect for the industry if they could acknowledge what has been done to a coin than figuring that they have to slip one past the ignorant but wealthy among their buyers.&nbsp; Coins are unusual in that many purists expect original condition while pots and statues are expected to be reassembled and repaired from parts.&nbsp; Dinosaurs are cobbled together from bones of several individuals and every so often we hear of a head being removed since it was from an incorrect species.&nbsp; The direct of travel would be toward Ides&#039; &quot;gently tooled&quot; example being unnecessary to mention.&nbsp; My coin is not my worst and not my best but it may get better or worse depending on the whims of the market. Obviously the big sellers have plenty of bidders who either don&#039;t know or don&#039;t care so our only recourse is to buy what we want and skip the rest.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in