1803 $1 ANACS - Problem?

My first post.

I'm thinking of buying this coin. It'll be my first bust dollar.
ANACS EF 40. I think it's undergraded. But I'm wondering if it's a problem coin.
Maybe an old obverse cleaning retoned, perhaps artificially?
And what is that whitish gunk at the bottom and top of reverse? Something damaging?
There is a little of it on the obverse, too. I've been studying hundreds of bust dollars recently, in all kinds of holders as well as raw, both in hand and online, so I am a little familiar. I've seen a lot of overgraded, overpriced crap in PCGS and NGC holders. This coin seems like a chance to get something nice at a reasonable price. But would PCGS grade it, or would it get "detailed"? Any opinions?
I appreciate your advice.

 

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That's quite an interesting coin and very strong for the grade. I'm sure it's been cleaned and or dipped and has since retoned. TBH I like this better than the stripped white ones I see even the ones with rainbow album toning. Now that's what I call AT but the market accepts them and I don't collect them so who am I to complain. There is definitely something going on with the reverse especially and the coin is in need of a conservation regardless of which service you send it to. Also of note, NGC no longer crosses ANACS but PCGS does.

 

I guess I'm more worried about the white gunk on the reverse than I am about the toning. Does anyone recognize what that is?
This appears to be one of the older ANACS holders. Maybe this gunk appeared long after it was slabbed?

So, the big question is, will this result in a details slab?
I know that NGC doesn't cross ANACS coins, but I could just crack it out and submit as raw? Is that more expensive than just crossing a slabbed coin?

 

Here is a much larger pic of the reverse, for a good view of the white gunk.

 

Beautiful coin, it definitely (and definitely to my very untrained eye) has something wrong with its reverse. There is a very recent post you might consider reading, though I'm not much into cleaning coins. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/restoring-artificially-toned-coins.255202/

 

If I owned this coin, I would have crossed it to PCGS long ago. I wonder if the seller has tried and failed to cross it, due to the white gunk, and is dumping it for that reason. Could that stuff be PVC residue? I thought that only affected copper coins. But then again, these coins do contain 10% copper.
So.....PVC?

 

Yeah, I read the thread about restoring artificially toned coins. So there is hope, even if it is AT. Of course, AT often hides something, as that thread explains.
But it seems entirely possible that this is just natural retoning from a very old cleaning, if indeed it has ever been cleaned at all. What do you think about THAT?

But it is really the white gunk that has me worried. I won't be able to see the coin in hand, so I'm looking for everyone's knowledgeable opinions.

 

Thanks , Toughcoins;
Well, the cleaning question has me confused, since I've seen similarly toned coins in problem-free slabs. On these early dollars, TPG's seem to "exercise discretion", meaning that they sometimes let things grade when they shouldn't. It seems to depend on whether the grader was in a good mood or not! There is a lot of inconsistency, it seems to me. The idea of "luster" on such a dark coin is also hard for me to understand.

But what is that white gunk?

 

Could it be residue from the dip, not properly rinsed and didn't retone with the rest of the coin?

 

That's a ANACS "problem free" holder. ANACS 14 used from 1997 to April 2000.

 

This slab is probably late '90's vintage, I'm thinking. Wasn't ANACS quite good back then? If so, then probably the coin did not look obviously cleaned at the time, so would any cleaning have happened 100 years earlier?

 

Ahh, thanks Conder101. I was hoping you would comment. If those were the good days of ANACS, then presumably the coin was in fact problem-free at when slabbed?
And the white stains developed later in the slab?

 

Unfortunately, Toughcoins, I won't get a chance to see it in hand. I have only photos to go by.

 

well, I like it anyway, if the price is right.

 

She's puuuuuuuuurdy!

 

Definitely higher details than the grade would suggest. I would put it in the AU-53 to 55 range. My guess is that it was net graded due to the questionable reverse color. Seems like a really good candidate for NCS.

 

Yes, the more I look at it, it is the reverse that seems weird, with odd colors, and that white gunk. Net grading would explain that. I'm worried that the edges will be massively corroded, but hidden by the holder. Do you think that is corrosion we are looking at on the reverse?

 

And, what would NCS be able to do for this coin, in your opinion?