It's just suddenly occurred to me, reading Pies post, that varieties represent nothing other than the depth to which an individual wishes to collect! My usual comparison is E1 (sorry), where it's possible to collect the 'spink' 6ds, the individual date 6ds, all dates with numerous mm's, the BCW varieties, where dates are broken down into obvious types by pretty major things like rose style, lis, lions, shield, legends, and leaf styles (all noticeably different by eye), and then there is even individual dies if you like? Without opening the book... 1561 Spink's 4 or so varieties! BCW distinct varieties, around 100? Distinctive dies of 1561 1000 (approx) As a collector, I could easily do one of the following: Collect the spink list of 6ds, or go for the BCW list of 6d's, which would preclude collecting anything else (ever), OR collect every known die for 1561, which would be the end of collecting anything every again! The main point is: all would have the same pleasure, just a different focus!