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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 4421771, member: 105571&quot;]There are wiser and more-experienced collectors on this forum that could well have better or more accurate opinions than mine on this topic, but here&#039;s what I think:</p><p><br /></p><p>I would venture to say that there is no set of generic rules that would be available that would cover all U.S. coins of all vintages much less all coins of all eras and countries.</p><p><br /></p><p>But maybe a first point to consider is nomenclature:&nbsp; You can have strong strikes from fresh dies; weak strikes from fresh dies; strong strikes from tired dies and weak strikes from tired dies.&nbsp; So, in addition to wear and strike, you should add early and late die state to your criteria.</p><p><br /></p><p>In order to make these distinctions between wear/strike/die state, you have to be able to grade and also have some intimate knowledge of the specific coin that is in question.&nbsp; Otherwise, it can be at least difficult and possibly impossible to distinguish between a weak strike or a late die state in mint state coins and all 3 criteria in circulated coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>And to make it even more complicated, with some issues you can have a coin that exhibits both strong and weak striking on the obverse (or reverse) at different points on the obverse.&nbsp; Specific to your comment on the strong stars on the 1859-O, the head is weak but not due to strike weakness as this is a late die state coin. It just so happens that this die sharpness wore more at the head but not the stars.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I have only been collecting for two years but in that time I have purchased books and found on-line resources that have helped immeasurably in making these distinctions.&nbsp; But one rule that I have found to be almost universally true is that in order to figure out almost anything, it pays to be very familiar with the characteristics of the specific coin in question.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry to be unable to provide a simple answer to your question.&nbsp; If you already know all the drivel I&#039;ve thrown out there, then just ignore me.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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