Featured Photos that don't look like the coin

Seller couldn't focus on the reverse of this denarius of Faustina the Elder:



My photo, taken in natural sunlight, better captures how it appears in hand:


Faustina I, AD 138-141
Roman AR denarius, 3.17 g, 17.3 mm, 1 h.
Rome, AD 147-161.
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: AVGVSTA, Juno enthroned right, holding transverse scepter.
Refs: RIC 363; BMCRE 428-30; Cohen/RSC 120; RCV 4585; CRE 98.

 

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A coin i bought last year.. Antoninus Pius, RIC 168
Sellers Picture, 3 of mine and the 2006 auction photo.

 

I had posted these two pictures in a previous thread (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/hadrian-aureus-a-makeover.284246/) but it seemed appropriate to post at least the pictures again in this thread.

The top picture is Heritage's, taken when the coin was in a slab, and for some reason elongated in the vertical direction. The true color and brightness were lost. The bottom picture is mine, after it was freed from the slab, and accurately illustrates the coin's color. Heritage did a disservice to this coin by settling for the picture it used, to my advantage since I got a great coin for less-than-market price.

 

It was sacrificed in the interest of toleration and inclusiveness on international venues where speakers have widely different skill levels in handling the language. No one wants to be considered part of the "grammar police."

I personally feel that approach gives up more than it gains, but who asked me?

 

Perhaps Heritage was going on the theory that anyone bidding on a coin in this price bracket would either have viewed the coin in person or had someone with sense acting as agent at the sale. I believe someone here recently and correctly gave this advice. Those who buy $10 coins can't play by the same rules as those who buy the $10k items. I find those two photos taken together tell me a lot more about the coin than either of them separately. Other than the color and the missing plastic, the light comes from opposite direction and has very different qualities. Together, they make it obvious that the coin was a winner. I might feel sory for the seller but they made the decision as to how the coin was to be sold. I hope you will find it pleasing for many years to come.

The history of the English language is an interesting study. 150 years ago, there were grammar policemen in England that felt American English had more purity points than most of the dialects they suffered to hear in the UK. American English has suffered from the demand for being understood by people for whom English was a second (or fifth?) language and native speakers who knew less about language than the average ESL user. The language changes on what would seem a daily basis and many of us can tell where and when others learned the language from our quirks. Change is not always bad but there is something to be said for being able to understand and be understood. That said, I will go to my grave using the English Subjunctive even though it seems most people today no longer recognize the term.


If we understand the intended meaning based on what was said and what we expect from the speaker/writer, there is no reason to point out the variations.