Question About Chopmarks

I have always assumed they just displaced the metal, but I believe Spence is correct that multiple overlapping marks would eventually cause some to metal to be lost.

Fair points.

It is damage. But is it acceptable damage? That is a personal preference.

Toning and wear should help determine when the marks were made, but that stuff can be faked as well.

Chopmarks were usually applied via a punch and hammer. There isn't really a way to remove mass from something just by hitting it with a hammer.

Even multiple chopmarks should not, in and of itself, cause a mass reduction. But if a coin receives multiple chopmarks, this might create new "high points" which might be quite sharp, and thus vulnerable to subsequent wear. So from that point of view, a well-circulated heavily chopmarked coin is likely to be lighter than an equally-well-circulated un-chopmarked coin.