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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1093086, member: 112&quot;]OK. First of all there are some things that must be understood when weighing coins. One would be that any coin with pitting or corrosion is by definition going to be underweight. For if it is corroded then metal is going to be missing and if metal is missing then the coin has to be underweight, depending of course on how much is missing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Secondly, nobody, least of all me, denies that if a coin is worn enough that it is going to be underweight. The key there is &quot;worn enough&quot; and how one defines worn enough. For general purposes I define worn enough as G or less. But there will still be some few examples of G grade coins that meet weight specifications.</p><p><br /></p><p>My point in these discussions is this. AU coins have wear on them, but yet they all weigh within tolerance. XF coins have wear on them, but yet they all weigh with tolerance. VF coins have significant wear on them, but yet they all weigh within tolerance. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, is it an accurate statement to say that wear equals weight loss ? Rather obviously it is not. For if it was then all of these coins would show weight loss, but they do not. The reason they do not is because in all but the most extreme cases of wear coins do not lose weight. Instead the metal of the coins is merely squashed down and spread out by what we call wear. But the metal does not leave the coin, so there is no weight loss. Not until you get down to the extreme low grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reason this is important to understand is this. Say some collector reads these threads about coins losing weight with wear. He remembers that because it is important. Later, he has a chance to buy a coin of some rarity or value. The coin is in the VF or XF grade ranges. Wanting to be sure he is getting the genuine article he weighs the coin. But the coin is light. Then he remembers a thread like this one- coins with wear lose weight. Knowing that he goes ahead and buys the coin, paying significant money, even though it is light.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some years later he finds out that he was taken, that the coin was not genuine.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, if the same scenario takes place but the coin is an AG grade. Then yes, the coin is probably going to be light. But even if the coin is not light there is still a chance that the coin is not genuine. Many a counterfeit, or altered coin, in any grade, will be of the correct weight. Weight alone is not a good indicator that a coin is genuine. It is merely ONE of the many indicators used to determine if a coin is genuine or not.</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s why threads like this are so important. That&#039;s why I always stress to point out to people that wear does not mean weight loss !</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes wear can mean weight loss. But in far more cases than not wear does not mean that a coin will be underweight. Wear equaling weight loss is only true in some few cases. But nowhere near all of them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Never forget that.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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