Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;messydesk, post: 4492974, member: 1765&quot;]Good question to get the answer to.&nbsp; Very easy to show in person, harder with photos and text.&nbsp; Hairlines are patches of typically parallel scratches left on a coin from rubbing or even wiping, usually with a cloth.&nbsp; They tend to show up best is expansive areas of the coin.&nbsp; On proofs, they pop out on mirrored fields when the light hits them the right way.&nbsp; On the coins in this set, they&#039;re easiest to see on the Morgan and Barber half obverses.&nbsp; The raised parts of the design will actually protect immediately adjacent parts of the fields from wiping.&nbsp; If you look at the Morgan from 3:00 to 5:00 on the obverse, you see that near the stars, the field is deeply reflective, while in the space between the stars and the portrait, has a different look to it.&nbsp; Find something plastic with embossed lettering on it, rub your finger across the lettering, and you&#039;ll see the same thing.&nbsp; This is what hairlines look like on a mirrored proof, even at low (no?) magnification.&nbsp; The reason you don&#039;t see them on the other coins may be because the orientation of the hairlines is parallel to the direction of the light.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hairlines like this on business strike coins are no-question no-grades, but on proof coins, they may simply result in a grade of PR61 or 62, especially if the coin is deeply toned, making the hairlines harder to see.&nbsp; Someone on VAMWorld today asked about choosing between 3 slabbed Morgans. One was PR61, two were PR Details, but he said they all looked about the same and were priced the same.&nbsp; Without seeing the coins or knowing the price, I told him to pass on all of them and hold out for a PR63.&nbsp; PR61 and PR Details was most likely a distinction without a difference in this case.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in