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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2445268, member: 19463&quot;]High grade coins are better than lower grade coins --- right?&nbsp; Certainly but late Roman coins sometimes throw a curve at me when I weaken and buy a coin like my new Divus Carus (Lugdunum mint):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]510280[/ATTACH] </p><p>I like the reverse which has much remaining silvering and is worn through to the copper alloy below in what I would call a pretty pattern.&nbsp; The obverse --- not so much!&nbsp; The coin has much detail but the lack of silver in an irregular patch makes it not so pretty.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Lets compare it to a coin I had previously - also a Divus Carus.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]510282[/ATTACH] </p><p>This one has no silver and an amount of surface roughness.&nbsp; It still has a lot of detail but which of the two is a more pleasing coin?&nbsp; Neither?&nbsp; That&#039;s where most might go with the question.&nbsp; Should we hold out for one with 100% silver?&nbsp; Perhaps a compromise would be one with the situation on both sides we have on the reverse.&nbsp; I do not have a Divus Carus to illustrate this next point but here is a regular old lifetime Carus:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]510281[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This coin has no silver whatsoever.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know it it was lost in millennia of burial or if the coin was cleaned of silver when it was cleaned of dirt.&nbsp; The situation is that I consider this by far the prettiest of the three coins even though the &#039;mint state&#039; coin would need silver.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>What do you think?&nbsp; How do you prefer your should-be-silvered coins when perfect is not an option?&nbsp; If you could wave a majic wand and remove all traces of silvering on coins like the first without destroying the surfaces below, would you?&nbsp; Discuss the matter and illustrate your opinions with &quot;should-be-silvered coins&quot; from your collection.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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