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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IdesOfMarch01, post: 8286411, member: 39084&quot;]Posting the obverse of this coin has been very helpful and enlightening:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1464072[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>When I examine this image closely, the two questions that pop into my mind are:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;<i>Why do the reverse columns and exergue legend seem so well defined and in such high relief, yet similar features on the obverse (such as the crown and the legends) are not nearly as well defined?&nbsp; How is it possible that the reverse of this coin has experienced so much less wear on its high points than the obverse seems to have received?</i>&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m not referring to the smoothing in the reverse fields, which is so obvious as to not need any specific comment, but rather I&#039;m noting the stark visual difference between the obverse and reverse sharpness and details.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s highly unlikely that this coin&#039;s reverse experienced less circulation wear than the obverse -- so unlikely that I personally would not consider it as an explanation for the difference between the obverse and reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>It might be possible to argue that the reverse has been subject to over-zealous smoothing between the columns and in the exergue legend, which would result in a deepening of the surface and a much higher relief of the surrounding details.&nbsp; If I accept this argument, then I personally would regard this as tooling, since it entails the removal of parts of the coin <i>that were present on the coin when it ceased circulating</i>, which is (essentially) my personal definition of tooling.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s not my intention to dissuade anyone from embracing this coin as acceptable for his/her collection, nor am I definitively stating that this coin is tooled.&nbsp; Rather, the appearance of this coin&#039;s reverse strikes me as unusual -- even more so when compared to its obverse -- and for those collectors (like me) who prefer not to collect tooled examples, I would at the very least get an expert in-hand opinion before acquiring this coin.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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