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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 8355503, member: 24314&quot;]<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> It&#039;s late and past my bedtime but you deserve an answer.&nbsp; [<i><span style="color: #660033">Self <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie14" alt=":angelic:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />Edit</span></i>] IMO, you already know the answer.&nbsp; Remember what I wrote: &quot;Most Ancient collectors are very knowledgeable about the coins they collect.&quot;&nbsp; I should think that applies to you <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie26" alt=":bookworm:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> so please don&#039;t prove me wrong.</p><p><br /></p><p>For anyone less knowledgeable than our friend, please understand this:&nbsp; <b><font size="6"><span style="color: #b30000">IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT HAPPENED TO A COIN BEFORE IT REACHED YOUR HAND.</span></font></b> <b><font size="6"><span style="color: #ff00ff">***</span></font></b> This especially applies to Ancient coins BECAUSE YOU WERE NOT AROUND all those centuries before you got to touch it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Therefore, as soon as it gets into our grubby little hands, we make a PERSONAL DETERMINATION OF ITS STATE OF PRESERVATION!&nbsp; Then, if it looks totally original as struck, and you have an ounce of knowledge about what you are</p><p>doing - you just might come up with a correct determination of its originality.&nbsp; For some folks making assessments like this over decades with the proper light and magnification is child&#039;s play.&nbsp; <i><span style="color: #b30000">The only complication comes when we need to </span></i></p><p><i><span style="color: #b30000">&quot;play the game&quot; by making up a flowery word to describe what we see or ignore obvious signs of minor alteration and wear to please others seeking market acceptability.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></i></p><p><b><font size="6"><span style="color: #ff00ff"><br /></span></font></b></p><p><b><font size="6"><span style="color: #ff00ff">***</span></font></b>In class, I tell the story of the most perfect gold coin of any denomination</p><p>(it was a Type 3 dollar) I ever saw under a stereo microscope .&nbsp; The proverbial little old lady sat before my desk in the Birkler &amp; Waddell Coin Gallery and dumped the contents of a tattered black silk change purse on to my blotter.&nbsp; In the pyramid pile of threads, dirt, dust, trinkets, and circulated junk US and Foreign coins, I reached into the filth and plucked out that perfectly preserved, flawless, brilliant, frosty gem (MS-68+ or MS-69 by today&#039;s&nbsp; standards) unbelievable, coin.&nbsp; I blew off the dirt and there was not even one microscopic hairline visible.&nbsp; I&#039;d say that coin was original as struck regardless of its history!&nbsp; What do you folks think?</p><p><br /></p><p>Good Night &amp; Sleep Well[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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