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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 6260573, member: 44316&quot;]I love it! I collect Turkoman bronze and can attest that the OP Nasir al-Din Mahmud coin is outstanding. Yes, it cost more but, after you have a substantial number of coins and have decided what you like, high quality may be &quot;worth every penny.&quot;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I ask if a coin was a &quot;masterpiece&quot; when it was minted it is still one after enduring substantial wear? Or, maybe a test cut? I&#039;ll show one below.</p><p><br /></p><p>I like ancient coins and have often decided the premium for &quot;superb&quot; is not worth it. But that is a personal decision and I have coin-friends on both sides of that issue. It is necessary for the hobby that we don&#039;t all want the same coins as each other! </p><p><br /></p><p>I have the &quot;Prospero&quot; catalog (The New York Sale, XXVII, Jan. 4, 2012) and it has some splendid $10,000+ examples of types I have in lesser condition for less than 1/20th the price. Many Prospero coins were bid up too high by a bidder who didn&#039;t pay up (and provoked quite a lawsuit), but, like the Berk book mentioned by [USER=110350]@DonnaML[/USER] , Prospero has masterpieces well worth enjoying. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1247980[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>If it weren&#039;t for the test cut this coin would equal Prospero&#039;s $17,000 (+ 15%) example. </p><p><br /></p><p>Cilicia. Tarsos. Time of Pharnabozos, 386-383 BC.</p><p>23-20 mm. 10.59 grams.</p><p>Head of Young Hercules 3/4 right in lion&#039;s skin headdress.</p><p>Male (Ares?) head left in crested helmet.</p><p>Sear Greek 5642. SNF France 2: 240. ANSMN 31 (1986) plate 2.25. &quot;Only seven known&quot; (to the author, Maysay, in 1986). </p><p>ex CNG 41 (1997) lot 638 at $300 + 10%. It seems like test cuts can lower a coin&#039;s value a great deal. For me, a coin can still be a &quot;masterpiece&quot; even if the condition is not superb.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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