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Message:: [QUOTE="Insider, post: 2679467, member: 24314"]This was a good question with a very simple answer: YES! Nevertheless, we got so far away from that simple answer by introducing things that are not helpful.  For example: The government says a $20 Liberty should weigh 33.436 grams +/- .032.  SO WHAT!  Some genuine coins come right off the press below weight (out of tolerance).  Therefore, trying to equate a coin's weight with its condition is .....<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie66" alt=":muted:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />   Doug posted: "Books is telling you - 'wear can cause the loss of metal.' Well, the key word in that sentence is CAN, and I suspect Books worded it that way quite intentionally. And he is also quite correct - it "can" cause a loss of metal. But that is not the same thing as saying - it does cause a loss of metal." So I'll say it:  Friction wear is just that.  Abrasive friction to a coin's surface that removes metal.  Wear causes a loss of metal.  Problem is, the loss of metal happens on a level that is generally not noticeable until it is.  Then we see a change in the original surface. We are talking microns at first.  Lightly rub a nail file on the rim of a circulated gold coin.  What do you see?  Microscopic particles of gold metal that has been removed from the coin. "Here's the explanation. With almost any coin, regardless of composition or type, the first and middle stages of wear DO NOT cause a loss of metal. It is only when coins are worn to the point of VG grade, and often not until they have reached G grade, or lower that they lose enough metal due to wear to take the coins out of mint tolerance." ALL WEAR causes loss of metal.  You can see the loss when a coin goes from Mint state to AU-59.999. "What you have to understand is this. When a coin is made it has a given weight that has been established by design. And there is a tolerance for that weight, a range if you will. That tolerance range differs with each coin type, but each one has its own. As a rough rule of thumb that tolerance is about 1%. So when brand new and freshly minted every coin of a given type will weigh within 1%, plus or minus, of its design specified weight. What that means is you can take a coin that is fairly graded at F, weigh that coin, and it will be within 1% of its original design weight. In other words it will not have lost any weight, at least not that can be proven because of the tolerance range." As I wrote above, forget about a coin's weight.  Due to the tolerances of a machine shop (the U.S. Mint) some XF+/AU Morgan's may weight more than an Unc!  "And it's that line of thinking that usually gets most people. What they don't take into account is that wear doesn't remove metal from the coin until it reaches very advanced stages. Prior to that it's more a matter of the metal being pushed down, squished, flattened out - but remaining on the coin." I'll give you this one.  Crush a coin in a massive press and much of the design will be lost and virtually all of the coin's original metal will still be present.  Unfortunately, this type of damage is NOT CONSIDERED TO BE WEAR. When the weight of that coin dropped by 0.000001, I'll argue that some metal was lost. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> "It's pretty simple for just about anybody with a halfway decent scale to see it for themselves. All ya have to do is weigh coins and know what the tolerances are - which can be found in the Coin World Almanac. So go weigh some coins in XF, VF, F, VG, G and see for yourself - I have.  But what you're gonna find out is that until you get to VG and lower coins, the coin will be within mint tolerance." Which has nothing to do with how much metal was removed by friction wear. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]

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