Originally posted by StDevious
not sure if that's good or bad
The later years of the M50/1.7 had a trim ring made from stamped plastic, not engraved aluminum. Some of these were made in Taiwan. You can tell the Taiwan ones because they left Japan off the trim ring. The essential parts are all the same, so performance is the same.
I would not shell out full value for this sale. These lenses can be found elsewhere. The seller only has one terrible cell-phone photo of the valuable lens in the sale. The most obvious thing in the photo is giant dust, which any idiot would have attempted to blow away before taking the photo. Of course you are assured that the problem you can see isn't a problem. Second most obvious is the filter which is useless except for obscuring any decent view of the front element. Third, since the lens is mounted on a camera, the aperture is fully open so the blades are not seen. The other terrible photo doesn't even show that much. When they are insulted by your $30 offer, move on to a better seller.
Without a lot of effort, the M50/1.7 has a beautiful reflection off the front element. You can tell that this trim ring is stamped plastic.