Disfigured Coins

[Guest richbedforduk]

I have seen a few coins now that have blemishes, verde gris and damage. Until now, as I didn't want to pause and dwell on the effect to the grade, I have made swift decisions and moved on.

I came across this one tonight. Obviously a medieval peasant has sold his chickens & cow and turned his assets into cash. Then put his name on it for safe keeping. So, how would you guys say this effects grade and desirability? Is it still of value, or scrap now?

[Rob 3,152]

The grade isn't affected becasue there is no more wear after stamping the initials than there was before. There are a few collectors of countermarks or business stamps, but your normal currency collector wouldn't want one with the stamp unless really rare. So a reduced resale value would apply in the case of something as common as this.

[Peckris 579]

I think it very much depends on an individual collector. Some would not go near graffiti coins, others might say "ok, it's etched into a plain area - I'm happy at the right price".

Truth to tell though, those particular Geo III shillings and sixpences are not in the slightest bit difficult to obtain in high grade, so I wouldn't think the residual value of this would be very much. If it was a rare coin, it would be a different matter.

[1949threepence 3,367]

Totally agree with Rob & Peck. If it was a rare coin in that condition, and a stamp on it, I'd probably go for it at the reduced price. But with a common date, there'd be absolutely no point, when you could get a perfect one quite easily.

With increasing rarity, you can forgive a lot. With abundance, you really can't.