What, and ruin that perfectly good sinking feeling you are harboring in the pit of your gut . . . ? Z
One of the biggest mistakes made by the mint administration hacks. This was one of the top proposals by chief mint engraver Frank Gasparro Which one would you choose? [ ATTACH=full]1525540[/ATTACH]
Those are called colorized. Some people really like them. Ruined is using Mexican money to weld up holes and or for washers. Have you priced washers lately? Mexican money is way cheaper.
The little swirly circles on the reverse actually improve the look of the coin. Gives a dreary old beat up coin a bit of flair. Bruce
Q. Cassius Longinus, Rome, 55 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.60g). Head of Bonus Eventus (or Genius Populi Romani?) r.; sceptre behind. R/ Eagle standing r. on thunderbolt; lituus to l., capis to r. Crawford 428/3; RBW 1535; RSC Cassia 7. Large scratch on rev I bought this for the hauntingly beautiful portrait of Apollo? (the ID of the obverse portrait is in dispute), the bargain price (circa 65 bucks), and the great toning. I thought that the awful reverse damage was old plow damage. It took me about 30 seconds to decide to buy a bargain example of a fairly pricey coin. However, a numisforums member opined that the damage looked more like ancient damnatio memoriae. While this coin wasn't issued by the famous Cassius, the name of Cassius wasn't real popular after the murder of Caesar. Equally mercifully, this particular dealer managed not to break this one in transit.