Abrasion - The loss sustained by coins or by gold or silver bars by rubbing against each other or
against other objects or substances. The value of gold or silver for export or import is reckoned by
weight and fineness whether in coins or bars.

The law says that any gold coins of the United States reduced in weight by natural abrasion not
more than 1-2 of I per cent after a circulation of twenty years, as shown by the date of coinage,
and at a ratable proportion for any period less than twenty years, shall be received at their
nominal value by the United States Treasury.

Silver coins are worth their face value so long as the inscriptions on both sides can be deciphered.

Mutilated coins, either gold, silver, nickel or bronze, are worth only their bullion value, or in other
words, are worth only the commercial value of the metal of which they are composed.

The extent to which coins may be reduced in weight by abrasion or wear and still be redeemable
at the Treasury is designated tolerance or mint remedy.

The term tolerance or mint remedy also applies to the allowance for a slight difference in the
fineness of gold or silver from the government standard. In the United States the limit of difference
in gold either above or below is one thousandth; in silver it is three-thousandths.