How do you tell the difference between rub and wear??
Wisconsin
Posts: 645
I enjoyed Mark's post about telling the difference between a weak strike and wear, but how do you tell if it is rub. I look at MS coins with what looks like light wear and people say that it is rub and not wear?? What is the difference??
Jay
Jay
0
Comments
"Rub/cabinet friction/stacking friction" as it's called, is theoretically not the result of circulation. "Wear', on the other hand, is. When a coin has been circulated, in addition to the "wear" which appears on it, there will typically be other tell-tale signs, such as circulation/handling marks, dirt, impaired luster and surfaces etc.
That said, in many cases, on a technical and practical basis, it is nearly impossible to distinguish "rub" from "wear". And, some would even argue that they are one and the same. They might even be right.
My opinion is that they are one in the same. Whether wear is caused from circulation or from rubbing in a cabinet, is it still not the same?? Either way it is noticable and will make a change in color or luster on the coin. When I look at bust halves for instance, I will see some graded AU58 and others MS61-63 that look the same.
With that said, how high can a coin grade if it is considdered to be rub??
Jay
Camelot
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
<< <i>Same difference as between a touch and a feel. >>
...and this is how a wise old bear becomes known as a wise old bear.
There may be no wrong answer (at least in this thread), but there is a slightly
different quality to the type of wear that a collector is likely to impart. It will
typically be a very fine "polishing" sort of wear on the older coins which were
often stored in cabinets or handled over many years. Newer coins with rub
might have collided with the adjacent coin in a roll over many decades.
Circulation wear does tend to be more dynamic than the wear collectors usually
cause to coins. Circulation wear often knocks off significant amounts of metal
from sloughing, cutting, or shearing as the coins are forced against other coins,
counters, or sharp objects in pockets or elsewhere. Wear is unique to all coins
which exhibit it though at some point as it approaches a basil state it becomes
quite impossible to tell usually.
Rub occurs when a coin slides across a surface, hence the term "slider".
Only the highest surfaces and edges should be affected.
Wear comes from the coin's subjection to handling. Fingers tend to contact
allsurfaces of a coin so damage is more uniform. All luster is lost.
You are correct on this one!!!
AU58-62 seems to apply well to moderns but for 19th and 18th century coins, those grades are essentially identical. Luster is significantly IMPAIRED or broken up with chatter.
RUB = WEAR
roadrunner
David Hall gave me a good explaination of why one grader views it as rubbing and another as wear.
(PCGS was the conservative AU58 grade)
<< <i>With that said, how high can a coin grade if it is considered to be rub?? >>
Jay, I have seen numerous older type coins in MS66 holders, some in MS67 holders and perhaps even a few in MS68 holders, that I would technically describe as having "rub".
As one type that quickly comes to mind - Capped Bust half dollars, no matter how high the grade, almost always appear to have some "rub" on Ms. Liberty's cheek.
If you are a collector then it is the other way around.
If it's on your coin, it's wear.