I agree with you about pictures taken through slabs, and agree that pre-slabbing shots will be helpful.

I have always been intrigued by the effect of coin orientation on judgments of condition. Tilt a copper and it looks fabulous, change the angle of incident light and...boom...dark and dingy dog. When computer memory gets cheaper, all coins at auction would benefit from being placed on a rotary tilt table and turned mechanically, recording in high def. video or at set periods by high def stills. At its best this will highlight hairlines. Maybe someday the pics will be so go you can distinguish between cleaning hairlines (bad) and die polish marks (OK).

The New York Times article (June 15, 2019) posted on The E-Sylum for all of us to read, "Retouching the Mona Lisa Is Restoration, but a Mickey Mantle? Collectors Cry Fraud" ( the print article was entitled: "A Snip, A Scrub and a Million -Dollar Scandal") has ramifications for collectors in a wide range of fields. Paul Sullivan, the author of the article quoted Gary Moser (a longtime baseball card dealer): “The grade you get, ...depends as much on the grader as on the card.” Apply that perspective to grading and authentication in other “hobbies" and you have a subtle warning that merits consideration. It should be noted for clarity that Moser has been accused of trimming rough edges of cards. He has denied the charge.

One wonders if this article exposes the tip of a widespread scandal? Caveat emptor.

Common apothecary weights seem to sell for $1 each or less. I bought a lot of 17 for about $12 a few years ago. The imaged weight was one I have. In fact they come in 2, 1, and 1/2 drachm (dram) weights. The 2 drachm is marked usually 3 ii or ij and is ideally 7.776g or 6 scruples of 1.296g. The 1 dram is marked, 3i for 3 scruples, ideal weight 3.888 g and the 1/2 dram is marked 3s which I do not understand since it weighted 1.892g or 1.5 scruples, ideal weight 1.994, so this one was about 0.6% light.

Most of mine are from Philadelphia alone or Philadelphia/NY. Makers H. Troemner, H.T. (likely same maker), and one marked JLB. The diamond with an M inside also worked in Philadelphia and NY. Three of the weights have a royal crown (Canadian origin?) and are marked in "Dram(S)" not Drachm(S) as used in Philadelphia/NY weights.

Die rotation seems common for the US weights. All the foreign weights were medal aligned. All were directly punched out of metal strips except one 2 drachm (H. Troemner) which had angled sides. There are 6 of 2 drachms, 10 of 1 drachms, and a single 1/2 drachm in the group. The 2 drachms went from 7.703 to 7.999g with a well worn outlier at 7.561g. Average weight of the remaining 5 at 7.747g expected 7.776g or about 0.4% light.

Of the 10 1 drachm weights, the one in the best condition an EF with obvious mint luster was the lightest 3.608g which is 7.2% light. (This was a dishonest weight as the variance is simply too great for a simple manufacturing variance.) The other 9 averaged 3.884g expected 3.888 with the high at 3.935 and the low 3.824, again 0.1% light. I'll be interested to hear if anyone has a reference on the apothecary weights. Happy Collecting

I am sure than 20 people already told you that OSS stands for Office of Strategic Services, not "Secret" services; and the Michigan Today article is wrong.

David Pickup urges a competition of coin shops and notes: “I realise there is a need for security and a camera controlled lock on the door is needed as well as internal CCTV, but jewellers and banks probably have higher levels of security and manage to be welcoming and informative…. You can still have good security systems and be welcoming.”

This photo, taken by me in a Fullerton CA coin shop in 2014 represents the best example of numismatic security arrangements. This chap comes across as a serious but amiable guard, well dressed and attentive.

Only one thing: He is not real. He is an alarmingly precise dummy of a person, visible to visitors from the shop window. Like a favorite rare coin, you just can't take your eyes off this guy.