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Message:: [QUOTE="GDJMSP, post: 1012445, member: 112"]From the Heritage web site - Artificial Wear Four of the six known Class III dollars were artificially worn, giving the appearance of coins long in circulation. This imbued the coins with a certain legitimacy in relation to the concocted stories of their discovery, intended to hide their true origins with persons closely tied to the Mint.The Idler and Linderman specimens are unworn proofs. Since both of the original owners were Mint insiders, there was no reason to give those coins an artificially worn appearance. Today, both are in museum collections.The Berg specimen was purportedly found in Austria and today is considered PR50. The Davis specimen when it first surfaced was alleged to be an original rather than a restrike, explaining the XF grade. The Ellsworth coin, now in the ANS, was first rumored to be the property of a former slave, explaining the XF grade and the surface nicks. The Adams-Carter specimen, the coin in the present sale, had a concocted provenance from an old English collection, and is graded AU58 by PCGS today. Of the six Class III 1804 dollars known, three are now in museum collections. As the example with the least amount of artificial wear, the Adams-Carter specimen is by far the most desirable of the three Class III dollars available to collectors today. Given that info Mark, there is little doubt remaining as to what their (the minters) intentions were.[/QUOTE]