I recall an old collectors paradigm that when all else fails, its about condition, condition, condition. I dont disagree that the broken and battered items will bring less money than the new and pristine, but at what point, particularly on the grading of coins or guns, does it become an exercise in the ridiculous? My point, for example, is that I collect ancient coins. To put it bluntly, because of their history, I expect every single one of them to be worn. Why? Because there was no ancient Roman coin collector who hid his stash away in a trunk that was put in the attic of the Parthenon and now has been discovered. The ancient coins come from the ground. Yes, there are those that are in great shape and those where you have no idea what it is. However, I am not sure that you can really argue that there is any uncirculated ancient coin. Yes, I am exaggerating but doing so to make a point. Many collectors become obsessive about the condition issue. It is certainly relative. As a brown furniture guy, I accept that vacuum cleaners took their toll on most pieces over the last century. But also as someone who likes redware and English ceramics, the thunk of my thumb on a piece tells me that it is cracked and thus of no interest to me. Is there a middle ground? Years ago, I was cataloging a number of items that had been consigned by the late dealer Chris Machmer for Conestoga Auction Co. Chris handled a lot of expensive stuff in his career, and so what I was working on were not run-of-the-mill plain crocks and candlesticks. The first item was a super rare Shenandoah Valley pottery bird. Rare beyond belief and even with some base chips, it was going to (and did) bring a five figure price. Wear was not the consideration with something so uncommon. However, the next item was a 4-inch jagged fragment of a cobalt decorated crock. Clearly the original vessel had been shattered, and this piece of pottery was all that remained. The key here was that it showed a man standing and holding his hat. If the crock would have been whole, wow, what a price it would have brought. But who would buy a piece of it and what would you do with it? I am sure we are all hearing the voice in our heads of the mythical visitor who sees this fragment in a collection and says, So where is the rest of it? Chris had priced the fragment at more than $2,000, which seemed a huge amount to me. I went ahead and described it and was pretty anxious to see what it would bring. In the end, it was bought in because it did not hit its reserve (and I did not know that number). Clearly no one was racing to buy it. Was it because it was too damaged? Had the line been crossed? Stay tuned for more thoughts. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.