Begin with the Complete Japanese Dragon Silver Coin
Assign one identifier and capture both uncropped faces before enlarging a proposed Marugin, Gin countermark or any other impressed mark.
Copy the visible date, denomination, national wording and principal designs, marking unreadable characters rather than using a label to supply them.
Keep the enclosure, old sleeve and inherited countermark name as dated context, especially where a mark is worn or partly hidden.
Locate Every Proposed Countermark
Show the mark first within the complete face, then add a close view with its clock position, neighbouring design and orientation recorded.
Describe shape, visible strokes, depth, overlap and surrounding metal without naming the punch more precisely than the evidence permits.
Complete the Edge and Measurement Set
Photograph overlapping circumference sections from a fixed start, noting concealed sections, joins, rim work, holes or former-mount traces.
Keep weight and diameter with instrument, native unit and contact point under the same coin number as the countermark frames.
Preserve every conflicting repeat and do not compare a specification until the visible coin family is reasonably established.
Separate Intervention from Coin Identity
A punch, chop, hole or solder trace belongs in the physical history and cannot by itself prove the date, denomination or variety.
Use neutral light for designs and raking light for impressed edges, hairlines, relief and possible repair, retaining the unfiltered images.
Record weak strike and circulation wear separately from stable patina, wiping lines, colour alteration and each proposed countermark.
Set a Boundary for Direct Examination
Request handling only for a named hidden legend, incomplete edge, conflicting reading or mark whose structure cannot be resolved through the holder.
Leave composition and precise punch attribution open unless the allowed examination supplies the required physical and documentary basis.
Reading the Left Marugin Position Without Over-Attribution
The source image places a Marugin at the left of the Meiji dragon coin, so the full face fixes that location before the countermark is enlarged.
Shape, visible strokes, depth and overlap describe the Gin countermark itself without allowing the mark to supply an unreadable date or denomination.
The underlying legends, dragon design, edge views and original measurements establish the host coin independently of the later impression.
Patina, wear, wiping and metal displacement around the punch remain separate observations under the lighting that reveals them.
Precise punch attribution stays provisional wherever the holder, wear or incomplete documentary trail prevents the left Marugin and other Gin evidence from being compared safely.
