RWB

It doesn't matter who takes the photos - if it's through a plastic slab it will be an inferior image. (Plastic distorts images and the slab prevents optimum lighting angles. Compare any of the slabbed DE photos with the PR-58 (aka PR-63) in another thread. The half was tilted are various angles, much as one would to manually examine a coin, and thus revealed obvious wear on high points - hence its false grade.)

True --- but the people making the most money are Greedy Americans who buy from the counterfeiters, then resell to the clueless. If there were no market, the counterfeiters would go back to making toothpaste out of plaster of Paris. [Chinese Communist Capitalism is entirely consistent with ancient government and social philosophy. Strong government roles, with limited interference with free trade, so long as the government gets a cut and has final control. You are seeing that in operation now as the Communist Party cracks down of excess speculation, but does little to protect its citizens from consumer fraud and misrepresentation. No drug - not even aspirin - can be trusted. The better-off buy from import sources, never Chinese.]

"Patina" was commonly applied to copper coins with natural oxidation. Then greedy sellers began calling anything "patina" and eventually killed use of a perfectly good word. I recall "verdigris" still being applied to green/aqua colored corrosion on copper and brass coins - especially ancients. It is usually a mixture of sulfur and oxygen compounds with copper and low quality zinc.Sometimes called "bronze disease," I think.

There is no standard for the mirror depth of proof or proof-like coins. Thus, neither has any provable meaning.

1856 FE cents exist as circulation and proof (or master) coins. The Treasury pushed hard for the small cent and so they issued a lot of these. Like 1909-S VDB cents, and 1893-S dollars, they are readily available and greatly over priced compared to rarity.

A century ago small city and local newspapers depended on large city papers for news and routinely republished anything exciting or that would fill an empty space. (Usually short human interest articles called "fillers.") News organizations are far more accurate and careful than a century ago. You can trust the major newspapers to present the best they can, and editorial comments/opinion is kept separate. Even our local Fox station has excellent local coverage and truthful national materials. All new organizations have certain viewpoints in editorial or "commentator" shows, and it's unfortunate that so many people can't separate obvious lies of truth. Naturally, there are always errors - responsible media admits to these and makes corrections.

That's a famous "upside down Indian" error. Sell it quick, before someone rotates it!

The OP might be interested to learn that 1858 cents were the most hoarded US coin until 1883-No Cents nickels came around. Many newspapers had punished false stories that the coin contained a small amount of gold and would be bought by the Mint at a premium.

It's an ordinary 1963-D cent.

These were all mixed dates and were repacked in bags and boxes.

Most counterfeits from China and Colorado are readily identified as fakes by collectors of moderate experience. With ANA and other hobby "trusted organizations" sticking their heads in the sand and avoiding aggressive dealing with counterfeiters, we should all be glad that most of the trash is badly made and easy to identify. Merely an opinion....

I suspect, but this is only a guess, that Jim Ruddy was trying to imitate line illustrations using photos. Possibly on the premise they would be more accurate or clearer in some ways. That could account for the absurdly high contrast. But this approach cannot reveal the consolidated detail in line illustrations. It's of little importance at present with all bowing to the God TPG.

The photographic images in Ruddy's Photograde are awful. They are the opposite of the tonal range and quality needed to accurately represent a coin's surfaces. As mentioned above, verbal descriptions and illustrations for guidance are much better. (Several months before Photograde came out, I was preparing a high quality photo illustrated grading guide -- but had great difficulty getting the necessary range of specimens. Gave it up when Pg came out.)

It is all very, very simple: An extraordinary claim MUST ALWAYS be accompanied by documentary evidence. That is: those making the claim must publish their complete evidence and proof. That was what happened in the "old days." There was no TPG dictating. One specialist identified something he/she thought new or unusual. An article was written and published. Others added their ideas. Eventually, the claim was accepted or rejected on the evidence presented in public. The conclusions might or might not have actually been correct, but at least everyone interested had the opportunity to examine the evidence and offer comments. Now, with so many praying to the Golden God TPG, some of the Golden God Angels merely reach a secret conclusion, print some labels, and possibly publish a superficial promotional article. There is no public disclosure of all the information; no open and wide debate; no opportunity for specialists to inform the Golden God TPG.

Come on, Mark. Let's see the documents that support "1964 SMS" claims. I'd love to change my opinion -- just prove those extraordinary claims. I'd love to support new discoveries - but they have to be real, not inventions of greedy wallets and ignorant guesses.

Oh, you don't seem to grasp the difference. An opinion based on facts and documents is called "truth" - at least until someone comes up with contrary facts. That is the scientific method applied to numismatics. Hypothesis, research, data, analysis, correlation, conclusions -- whether that conclusion supports or disproves the hypothesis is the final result. None of that was done with the phone "1964 SMS" tall-tale. All of what I write and publish is, to the best of my feeble abilities, as accurate, complete and truthful as possible. The contemporary documents, letters, tables, reports are the basis - they tell the story, not my personal opinion. You and other make extraordinary claims for this and "specimen" coins and other off-the-wall nonsense -- prove them. Publish the "expert" analysis with data. Pretend you and other understand research science, not the rotten from Breen and his other acolytes. Post the documents..... Where are they? Where is the authentication research and analysis for these so-called "1964 SMS" coins? Data? Publish it -- not guesses or "Geeee, it looks like...uh...well...kinda...1965-ish," drivel. Come on. Show us the facts and someone claiming "It looks like...." is opinion, not fact. There are none. No research analysis has ever been published. No original documentation. Nothing. The whole thing is an ignorant and greed-base lie.

It is a fact. It is another extraordinary claim that is not supported by facts. No amount of "looks like" authentication will change the fact that there is no documentation . There is no evidence whatever of so-called 1964 SMS coins. None. Zero. It is a lie built on ignorance and perpetuated by greed.

Coin collectors commonly refer to the green slime as PVC contamination because 2x2 soft plastic coin flips are the most common source of contamination, and most of these are made with flexible PVC. You can purchase Mylar 2x2 flips which do not have plasticizes and are generally safe for coins. Iron and low carbon steel coins have their own problems due to moisture that can be present in any coin holder.

The green stuff is one of several decomposition products of Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DOP) commonly used to make polyvinylchloride flexible. A trademarked product, Jayflex™ diisononyl phthalate (DINP) plasticizer, has replaced DOP in some applications. PVC without plasticizer is hard and brittle.

There are no 1964 SMS coins of any denomination. What you've read is a lie. SMS sets wer5e issued only in 1965, 1966 and 1967.

If it is cleaning, why don't the scratches extend across the rim?

If you find a lot of them, it's likely from improper upsetting of planchets. This can cause the same parts of the design to strike up improperly. There are other possible causes, as already mentioned. Designs are subject to routine adjustment - most too small for us to detect - intended to improve die life or bring up the design better. Such changes can have unintended results.

That's true. Punishment for crimes, or personal beliefs classified as crimes, were very limited. Death, slavery, mutilation and branding were most of the list - governments did not have prisons, they were expensive to maintain. Brits were considered magnanimous in using "Transportation" for petty criminals in the 18th century.

I have no objection to "boiling caldrons," teapots, soup spoons, or Mason jars. People should be dipped in a good seasoning first -- and maybe some Panko bread crumbs.

The key point is that any surface discoloration that involves a chemical bond with either silver or copper, can only be changed but not reversed. Many gold coins from the Saddle Ridge Hoard were stained with iron oxide - rust. But that was not a chemical bond and easily removed.