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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BilboBaggins, post: 1583798, member: 21742&quot;]I completely agree - this argument applies to so many things in life.&nbsp; One example that I can think of is old homes with what was once beautifuly stained woodwork.&nbsp; Woodwork that was carefully built by matching wood for consistency.&nbsp;&nbsp; Yet nearly always when I walk into an older home the woodwork has been nearly destroyed and decimated by a series of amateur DIY homeowners with multiple coats of paint.&nbsp; I am sure they thought they were just &#039;sprucing it up,&#039; or that they were &#039;increasing the value&#039; or their realtor told them it would be more sellable this way.&nbsp; Honestly, what they have done to their homes is more akin to just &#039;screwing it up.&#039;&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;m sure they liked that &#039;nice&#039; clean white feeling for a little while.&nbsp; However, then the paint jobs get dirty again, or it begins to chip off with the old aging varnish/lacquer, so then it gets another coat. (Geez - Sounds like a coin being &#039;dipping&#039; or having &#039;baking soda/vinegar/aluminum&#039; applied to it when it starts to tarnish).&nbsp; Over time the woodwork is just an unsightly, nasty mess with paint drips all over.&nbsp; Years later as these homes become historic they are &#039;ugly&#039; houses, and go the fate of becoming rentals, frat-houses, and eventual tear-downs...&nbsp; It is just a shame.&nbsp;&nbsp; Just like that poor old abused &#039;historic&#039; house this is in a sense what happens to that coin when you start messing with it and altering it.&nbsp; Obviously restoration and maintenance play a role in making/keeping that old home a beautiful place to live, just like they do in preserving a coin.&nbsp; But, I like to ask myself if placing that coin in some substance or performing some operation on it is simply akin to &#039;painting the woodwork.&#039;&nbsp; Does that treatment add anything to it 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 years down the road.&nbsp; Or does it just hasten the day it becomes an eventual &#039;tear-down&#039; for its melt value.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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