I see a trend now,more often than not,of sellers removing the daguerreotype plate from it's protective case and either photographing it or scanning it. Please do not do this. It ruins the plate. A scratch on a plate can lessen the value by half or more. There was a wonderful fullplate from South America on a short while ago and the seller broke it's seals and removed the daguerreotype from it's case and photographed it on a red carpet and then turned it over on this same dirty red carpet and photographed the back of the plate. I would of loved to have added this piece to my collection,but I have a rule now that I dont bid on any bare plate,and would hope that other serious buyers would take up this same rule until amateur sellers get the Idea.