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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3099433, member: 19463&quot;]A bite out of the rim that occurred in striking after the coin left the mint but before the coin was hoarded would have less effect on desirability than a bit caused by being hit with a shovel when being dug up.&nbsp; Ancient coins were not always made on perfectly round and smooth blanks.&nbsp; If the bite shows different color metal than the rest of the edge most would call it modern damage while if it appears that the coin was that way forever, most would be more forgiving.&nbsp; That said, many collectors would still prefer coins with a smooth edge so demand for the coin would be a little greater if it did not have the bite.&nbsp; That scratch down from the ear of the portrait would also lessen the coin in most opinions but not to the degree that a similar gouge would ruin a modern coin.&nbsp; These little things and a dozen more make it impossible to give a &#039;Red Book&#039; type value listing for ancients.&nbsp; Most ancients have some little thing that would &#039;body bag&#039; a modern coin but have to be considered in evaluation.&nbsp; Many collectors have abandoned grades like VF altogether just because it covers such a great range of coin appearances.&nbsp; That is why NGC slabs ancients with additional ratings for strike and surface.&nbsp; They are trying to do what I say is impossible but perhaps the attempt is better than nothing. </p><p><br /></p><p>As compared to most &#039;first ancients&#039; we see here, this one is quite nice and very collectible.&nbsp; Licinius is among the most common emperors and relatively few people specialize in his coins so I doubt the coin will put your son through college but it is a good start to collecting Roman coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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