Roman Republican denarius No. 32: graffiti or just scratches?

I haven't tried it on a bronze coin, but the grill is very effective on silver coins...

 

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I've always looked at scratches as something that were done accidentally and graffiti as something done on purpose. The problem is that sometimes you can not really make a decision as to which one you're seeing. I think your very nice coin is one of those.

 

Thank you very much. It is one of my favorite subject themes. A very serene and peaceful type coin. I always find that when you photo a coin in proper lighting (whether I "mistakenly shoot a good photo, or if it comes from the Seller), ALL the minute imperfections seem to pop out. However, like you see on your coin, when it is in-hand, the imperfections are not really noticeable. Besides, I always find that the imperfections "prove" the coin: it has been CIRCULATED as intended by ANY coin, and have traveled through a lot of hands and history in transactions.

I would have snapped yours up in a heartbeat. Yours is a very nice coin. I like many of the device details as they pop-out... the wings on the helmet, the horse-hair helmet brush detail, etc. Nice.

Personally, I do not get hung up on these details, rather I enjoy the holistic of the coin. The nay-sayers or the crystallization critiques are just sour grapes. It seems they always look to the negatives, trying to show they are expert. Especially since they truly have no coins of their own to post! I just ignore that crap that comes out of their posts.