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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2632517, member: 19463&quot;]We will not all agree on the question of what is included in &#039;damage&#039;.&nbsp; I can accept test cuts as damage although they were part of normal use for many coins.&nbsp; Countermarks are quite another matter.&nbsp; They were what made the coin the coin it was.&nbsp; &#039;Damage&#039; implies something negative that happened to the coin.&nbsp; In a few rare examples like Damnatio Memoriae slashes defacing Nero, there could be question as to whether the coin gained interest/demand/value along with the &#039;damage&#039;.&nbsp; Being cut in half to make a smaller denomination does not strike me as damage.&nbsp; Being broken in half by being crowded into an overfilled stock box ---<i> that </i>is damage.&nbsp; Weight adjustment file marks or Stannard scoops are not damage.&nbsp; Don&#039;t even think of calling the centration dimples on Ptolemaic or Provincial coins &#039;damage&#039;. </p><p><br /></p><p>A few samples. </p><p>This coin of Caracalla and Plautilla of Stratonicia was not damaged when it was countermarked even though the head of Zeus on the reverse was lost in the process.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]579493[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The same countermark was most likely on the Stratonicia of Septimius and Domna.&nbsp; When someone decided that it need to be removed, that might be considered damage.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]579492[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My favorite broken (damaged!) coin is this Caracalla of Pautalia with busts of Serapis and Isis. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]579494[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I agree test cuts are damage but sometimes they are bad enough that they add a level of interest all their own.&nbsp; Ken posted an owl in this category.&nbsp; My owl wishes they had hit him harder so he could be more interesting, too. As it is, he is just damaged.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]579497[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Another owl, this an obol, has damage on both sides I really wish I could prove to be teeth marks from being carried in a mouth.&nbsp; Fantasy?&nbsp; Is there a dentist in the house?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]579498[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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