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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2073719, member: 19463&quot;]Lately I have been gathering more and more coins of Gallienus who has some interesting types.&nbsp; This one came today and made a point that makes me wonder if I should be more selective.&nbsp; I bought the coin from an image so I knew full well the situation but I have to wonder if the reason I won it is the competition realized that mint state is not necessarily a high grade. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]384487[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin has a reverse showing Luna as bringer of light (Lucifera) wearing a crescent moon on her head, carrying a torch and wearing billowing drapery.&nbsp; The billows are optional on this type.&nbsp; The coin is pretty fully silvered and has a number of hard spots, mostly brown or dark green, of raised patina on top of the silvering.&nbsp; These show much more plainly under magnification so I&#039;ll show a small section of the reverse image above cropped but not reduced.&nbsp; This is not a close up photo so it could be sharper but will suffice for the point it makes.&nbsp; These firmly attached but raised spots offer evidence that the underlying silver is original. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]384488[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Note on the highest part of the head, Luna has a slightly copper look where the silver wash has worn away.&nbsp; Otherwise the surface is silver.&nbsp; The rest of the body is flatly struck with no robe detail.&nbsp; The obverse portrait barely shows separation between the crown and head but is fully silvered.&nbsp; Save the tiny reddish spot on the head of Luna, the coin is unworn.</p><p><br /></p><p>So is the coin mint state?&nbsp; Not to me!&nbsp; To be called VF I would want to see some detail on the reverse figure and a bit more portrait crispness.&nbsp;&nbsp; How would the slabbers grade a coin like this?&nbsp; US TPG standards recognize that some unworn coins have weaker strikes (MS60) while others have better die detail (MS66+) but a little wear would make each coin AU.&nbsp; This coin left the dies in what I would call aVF.&nbsp; There are much worse examples.&nbsp; For comparison, at the bottom of this post is another mostly silvered type (Saturn) with full body detail and a portrait with a good ear.&nbsp; The OP coin should look like this!&nbsp; The range between the strongest and weakest strike on ancients is much greater than on moderns.&nbsp; How do you feel about such coins?&nbsp;&nbsp; Would you rather have this silvery one or a well struck (more detailed) but slightly worn VF that has lost its silver to time?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]384495[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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