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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 4356336, member: 85693&quot;]Really terrific <i>al marco</i> examples and information shared here - it is nice to see them all in one thread.&nbsp; It is also interesting to note that the tools used and the techniques were not identical.&nbsp; You had deep &amp; narrow gougers and broad &amp; shallow gougers working at the mint, apparently.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Doug makes a good point about &quot;damage&quot; and &quot;interest.&quot;&nbsp; For many years I was an enthusiastic chopmark collector (on world crowns, and sometimes, minors).&nbsp; Back in the 1980s, there were collectors of chops, but generally prices were still reduced for chopped coins.&nbsp; Which made this an affordable and interesting area to collect. </p><p><br /></p><p>Nowadays this isn&#039;t the case - chopped coins sometimes sell for more than an un-chopped host, if chops were unusual for this particular type.&nbsp; But even commonly chopped coins sell pretty close to the same as un-chopped specimens, at least in the VF-G range.&nbsp; I don&#039;t actively collect chopped coins anymore, but I still venture onto the World Forum from time to time:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1792-carlos-iiii-8r-silver-w-100-chop-marks.355449/page-2#post-4163334" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1792-carlos-iiii-8r-silver-w-100-chop-marks.355449/page-2#post-4163334">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1792-carlos-iiii-8r-silver-w-100-chop-marks.355449/page-2#post-4163334</a></p><p><br /></p><p>As for <i>al marco</i> RR denarii, they are considerably scarcer than, say, chopped 8 reales or trade dollars - Stannard (in the article linked above) suggests 5.3% based on hoard analysis.&nbsp;&nbsp; But I doubt anybody would pay a premium for them. </p><p><br /></p><p>Of course Roman Republican (and Greek, Persian, Indian etc.) banker&#039;s marks are more analogous to chopmarks than <i>al marco</i> scoops are. </p><p><br /></p><p>Then there&#039;s adjustment marks, of the sort found on French ecus, etc., a pre-strike way to adjust a flan to proper weight...so many ways to mutilate a coin!&nbsp; As a collector, I find mutilation interesting - chops, countermarks, holes, jewelry mounts...and <i>al marco</i>![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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