'This, in its depth and beauty, reminds me of ancient coins,' he said. 'They are, in my opinion, the most beautiful and interesting of all coins.'
'Is it an ancient coin?' I asked.
'I do not think so,' he said.
'What sort of coin is it, then?' I asked.
'Look here,' be said. 'Do you see how this part of the object, at the edge, seems flatter, or straight, different from the rest of the object's circumference?'
'Yes,' I said. To be sure, one had to took closely to see it.
'This object has been clipped, or shaved,' he said. 'A part of the metal has been cut or trimmed away. 'In this fashion, if that is not noted, or the object is not weighed, it might be accepted for, say, a certain face value, the individual- responsible for this meanwhile pocketing the clipped or shaved metal.
If this is done over a period of time, with many coins, of course, the individual could accumulate, in metal value, a value equivalent perhaps to one or more of the original objects.'
'Metal value?' I asked.
'In modem coinage,' be said, 'we often lose track of such things. Yet, if one thinks about it, at least in the case of many coins, a coin is a way in which a government or ruler certifies that a given amount of precious metal is involved in a transaction. It saves weighing and testing each coin. The coin, in a sense, is an object whose worth or weight, in standardized quantities, is certified upon it, and guaranteed, so to speak, by an issuing authority. Commerce as we know it would be impossible, of course, without such, objects, and notes, and credit and such.'
'Then the object is a coin?' I said.
'I do not know if it is a coin or not,' said the man.
'What else could it be?' I asked.
'It could be many things,' he said. 'It might be a token or a medal. It might be an emblem of membership in an organization or a device whereby a given personage might be recognized by another. It might be a piece of art intended to be mounted in jewelry. It might even be a piece in some game.'
'Can you identify it?' I asked.
'No,' he said.
The object was about an inch and a half in diameter and about three eighths of an inch in thickness. It was yellowish, and, to me, surprisingly heavy for its size.
'What about the letter on one side?' I asked.
'It may not be a letter,' be said. 'It may be only a design.' It seemed a single, strong, well-defined character. 'If it is a letter,' he said, 'it is not from an alphabet with which I am familiar.'
'There is an eagle on the other side,' I said, helpfully.
'Is there?' he asked. He turned the coin on the felt, touching it carefully with the cotton gloves.
I looked at the bird more closely.
'It is not an eagle,' be said. 'It has a crest.'
'What sort of bird is it?' I asked.
He shrugged. 'Perhaps it is a bird from some mythology,' be said, 'perhaps a mere artist's whimsy.'
I looked at the fierce head on the surface of the yellowish object.
It frightened me.
'It does not appear to be a whimsy,' I said.
'No,' be smiled. 'It doesn't, does it?'
'Have you ever seen anything like this before?' I asked.
'No,' He said, 'aside, of course, from its obvious resemblance to ancient coins.'
'I see,' I said.
'I was afraid,' he said, 'when you brought it in, that you were the victim of an expensive and cruel hoax. I had thought perhaps you had paid a great deal of money for this, before having its authenticity ascertained. On the other hand, it was given to you. You were thus not being defrauded in that manner. As you perhaps know coins can be forged, just as, say, paintings and other works of art can be forged. Fortunately these forgeries are usually detectable, particularly under magnification, for example, from casting marks or filing marks from seam joinings, and so on. To be sure, sometimes it is very difficult to tell if a given coin is genuine or not. It is thus useful for the circumspect collector to deal with established and reputable dealers. Similarly the authentication of a coin can often proceed with more confidence if some evidence is in band pertaining to its history, and its former owners, so to speak. One must always be a bit suspicious of the putatively rare and valuable coin which seems to appear inexplicably, with no certifiable background, on the market, particularly if it lacks the backing of an established house.'
'Do you think this object is genuine?' I asked.
'There are two major reasons for believing it is genuine,' he said, 'whatever it might be. First, it shows absolutely no signs of untypical. production, such as being cast rather than struck, of being the result of obverse- reverse composition, or of having been altered or tampered with in any way. Secondly, if it were a forgery, what would it be a forgery of? Consider the analogy of counterfeiting. The counterfeiter presumably wishes to deceive people. Its end would not be well served by producing a twenty-five dollar bill, which was purple and of no familiar design. There would be no point in it. It would defeat his own purposes.'
'I understand,' I said.
'Thus,' said the man, 'it seems reasonable to assume that this object, whatever it is, is genuine.'
'Do you think it is a coin?' I asked.
'It gives every evidence of being a coin,' he said. 'It looks like a coin. Its simplicity and design do not suggest that it is commemorative in nature. It has been produced in a manner in which coins were often produced, at least long ago and in the classical world. It has been clipped or shaved, something that normally occurs only with coins which pass through many hands. It even has bag marks.'
'What are those?' I asked.
'This object, whatever it is,' said the man, 'can clearly be graded according to established standards recognized in numismatics. It is not even a borderline case. You would not require an expert for its grading. Any qualified numismatist could grade it. If this were a modern, milled coin, it would be rated Extremely Fine. It shows no particular, obvious signs of wear but its surface is less perfect than would be required to qualify it as being Uncirculated or as being in Mint State. If this were an ancient coin, it would also qualify as being Extremely Fine, but here the grading standards are different. Again there are almost no signs of wear and the detail, accordingly, is precise and sharp. It shows good centering and the planchet, on the whole, is almost perfectly formed. Some minor imperfections, such as small nicks, are acceptable in this category for ancient coins.'
'But what are bag marks?' I asked.
'You may not be able to detect them with the naked eye.' he said. 'Use this.' From a drawer in the desk he produced a boxlike, mounted magnifying glass. This he placed over the coin, and snapped on the desk lamp.
'Do you see the tiny nicks?' he asked.
'Yes,' I said, after a moment.
'Those are bag marks,' he said. 'They are the result, usually, of the coin, or object, being kept with several others, loose, in, say, a bag or box.' 'There might, then,' I asked, looking up from the magnifying device, 'be a large number of other objects like this somewhere?' That I found a very interesting thought.
'Surely,' said the man. 'On the other hand, such marks could obviously have other causes, as well.'
'Then all the evidence suggests that this is a coin?' I said.
'The most crucial piece of evidence,' he said, 'however, suggests that it cannot be a coin.'
'What is that?' I asked.
'That it fits into no known type or denomination of coin.'
'I see,' i said.
'As far as I know,' he said, 'no city, kingdom, nation or civilization on Earth ever produced such a coin.'
'Then it is not a coin,' I said.
'That seems clear,' be said. 'No,' he said. 'Do not pay me.' I replaced his fee in my purse.
'The object is fascinating,' he said. 'Simply to consider it, in its beauty and mystery, is more than payment enough.'
