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 Replies: 265 / Views: 17,281 |
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Okay, I have a question about how this designation thing goes down:
When a coin is given discovery status, how is it assigned R-2 or R-7 based on it being the first one found so far? (There must be a method to the madness).
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1551 Posts |
Lou, I can not give you an intelligent answer too that question.
SWAG = Scientific Wild ------ Guess
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Pillar of the Community
United States
709 Posts |
My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that a coin will generally be given a "R" 5 rating. If the coin is a late die state (lots of die breaks) it will be given an "R" 6 rating. If it is near terminal die state it will be given a "R" 7 rating.
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Thanks Russ, the question was not intended as a set up for further rebuttal of the rarity thing, but rather as a question of my own curiosity.  |
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Now that sort of makes sense Terry. Would this also explain why it seems to me that coins discovered today are more likely to be assigned as R-5 to R-7 more so than in the past? Are R-1 and R-2 becoming uncommon designations as of late?
You know, if the verbiage assigned to the numerical ratings were dropped, I could almost accept the current rarity scale as having some small degree of merit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
709 Posts |
Forty plus years into the hobby, you will not see "R" 1 or "R" 2 ratings any longer. Enough coins have been sifted through and cataloged to ascertain that aspect. I doubt you will see "R" 3 again either. The intellectual rights of vamming belong to Leroy Van Allen. The "I" (interest) and "R" (rarity) were assigned to give some level of quantification to a particular VAM. In the general scheme of things it was the impression at the time based on his or A. Geroge Mallis's experience in what they thought of the coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
It is making sense Terry. As the possibilities of unknown pairs decline, so will the probabilities of the more common varieties being 'newly' discovered.
Previously, I had considered this all to be interestingly naive. If a person looks at 10,000 coins in a year's time, how many of those 'same' specimens will have been examined more than once? More than five times? I could assign a numerical rating to those odds based on locale of origin. Just because a coin is in New England this week, does not necessarily mean it will not be located in Texas next week. What are the odds of reviewing the same coin ten times?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
709 Posts |
How about looking at these coins in the mint bags which contained a thousand? Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis were afforded this courtesy at the treasury vaults before the GSA release to the public.
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
Whoa.....Now 'that' adds a whole new dimension of credibility to their work in my eyes. Once again, my arrogance is only overshadowed by my ignorance.  |
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Pillar of the Community
3660 Posts |
wrong thread.
Edited by zeewool
09/25/2010 9:57 pm
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Replies: 265 / Views: 17,281 |
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Posted 09/24/2010 10:02 pm
