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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1323130, member: 112&quot;]I almost commented on this thread yesterday but I couldn&#039;t quite make up my mind. I have now. I don&#039;t think the second coin is AU at all, though I certainly did at first glance. But a couple of things caught my attention and made me reconsider. I decided to let it go and look again today.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think the coin is MS, and a very nice MS at that. It&#039;s almost mark free, with just a couple of hits on the obv and 3 on the rev, that I can see anyway. I&#039;d give it a 65. If it were not for the strike issues I might even be tempted to go higher.</p><p><br /></p><p>And that&#039;s what made me think AU at first glance, the strike issues. For as is normal, it&#039;s the high points that typically show light wear, and a weak strike. As they do on this coin. But there is more as well, and in places that would never show wear on a AU coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>What I am talking about is this. Yes, it looks like some flatness on the head, the date, the corner of the shield emblem and the knee. Normally these areas are where you first look to detect wear. But now look at the beading inside the rim. It is very flat and indistinct in some places. Look at the outside corners of the walls at how their relief falls away and thins. Neither of these places would ever show wear on an AU coin for they are protected by higher relief right next to them, namely the rim. And the rim in these areas shows no wear at all to my eye. </p><p><br /></p><p>So I can only conclude that this coin has strike issues rather than light wear. Granted, the strike issues are in the expected places. And normally one could look for the difference in color in these places to determine wear from weak strike. The toning however makes that somewhat difficult on this coin. But it is the presence of strike issues in the unexpected places that confirms it for me, that the flatness we see on the high points are indeed the result of an unusual kind of weak strike and not light wear.</p><p><br /></p><p>Interesting coin and unusual in it&#039;s own way.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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