I thank you all for the clarification.  It appears to me that you are all practicing due diligence and searching back to an acceptable point of beginning--the established norm in your area.

For the record, I never really believed that the conscientious posters on this site would ever ignore the likelihood of a lien recorded prior to a light-weight deed.  And I agree, the knowledge and experience of the abstractor does make a difference here.

I would not begrudge you the additional fee for the additional work either.  You are right, Robert, when you suggest that my experience is with geographical indices.  I have worked both sides of that coin, but the majority in geographical. 

I understand your dilemma, now, when you are asked for a lower-priced product with the specific instructions of a higher-priced product.  When searching the geographic indices, it is not such a big task to take a peek beyond the current owner if there is reason to believe another valid lien may lurk.