Altered Surfaces?

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Dipped?

 

Too shiny, someone applied turtle wax and a buffer to it.....

 

@coinzip

I once submitted a DMPL Morgan to NGC that came back "Details - Altered Surfaces". I took the coin to the FUN Show with me, and David Lange explained that NGC uses "Altered Surfaces" as a catch-all for anomalies that can't be classified as other problems. Has anyone given you an explanation for why this coin has a problem?

Chris

 

High grade early die state (said by a bumpkin). Not seeing anything untoward.........educate me folks.

 

What is that around the eagles head? Looks like the great salt flats. Also a die crack by lower left leaf cluster. I don't know about early die state green18. I might also guess dipped to cover that whatever it is around the eagles head.

 

Interesting smokey, glossy look. Agree that around the head and wings of the eagle presents a strange crackled-pattern... was it shellacked or smoked to cover over-polished surfaces?

 

I'm not seeing the luster , and a coin this nice should have tons of it . How's the cartwheel in hand Alan ?

 

Looks like a realnice piece to me zip.....

 

I have a feeling this picture isn't really capturing something about this coin that might explain why they detailed it. @coinzip is the picture accurately representative of the coin?

 

In hand this coin is the bomb, my take is if a big company had sent this coin in it would of graded and graded high .
But when the little guy sends in a real keeper they toss it back and give a lame excuse . BTW the coin is to pretty to be in a plastic holder.

 

I see nothing except a slightly weak strike and heavily toned coin that I would do a flat-footed back flip for.

 

Polished, I believe. The brightness of the reflection off the edges of the devices most perpendicular to the lighting greatly exceeds any luster appearing in the fields, and it's hardly "overlit" to explain that away as a washout. Real red flag to me.

At least, in these images. I see at least two different color temperatures of lighting involved, so I can't really be too certain of what I'm seeing. Kinda like it was under a lamp next to a window in daylight.

 

@coinzip Alan I'd still like to know about how the cartwheel is in hand , as this coin has no wear it should have cartwheel galore . and in these pics I'm not seeing it .

 

Dipped and retoned. Or overdipped. You get that glossy reflectiveness of the surfaces. I usually see it on earlier stuff usuall gets graded cleaning etc

 

I'm with ya. What is that crackled skin above the eagle? Never seen anything like that before personally. Good analogy to salt flats!

 

That crackling on the back reminds me of a old clear coat finally doing something after being on a piece of wood for 20 years. Could someone maybe have dipped the coin in clear coat way back when? Kind of looks like a layer of something on her.

 

They is me in this case, the coin has not been sent to a third party grader, that's not my cup of tea.

It has semi reflective surfaces but oddly lacks cartwheel.

Your observation of lighting temperature is amazing, the original photos posted were taken using florescent and LED lighting. The florescent was probably around 2500-3000k and the LED's are probably around 5000-6000k. If I remember correct the F stop was about 20, I was trying to bring out the field of depth.

This is similar to my thinking. As others have stated, very little or no wear, nice fully struck, if you exclude the gouge by star 3 we are talking about a technical grade of 58-62. But where is the luster that we are used to seeing with these grades.

My guess is an early collector wanted to preserve this coin and applied something to it. Shellac or gun bluing maybe even both?

 

Would it be worth it to pay to send it in for professional conservation on this one?

 

No, probably not. An 1832 CBH is fairly common, and in AU details it may be worth $300-$400. Conservation isn't really going to help it, because the surface has been altered (polished/shined/something). It will always be this way, no amount of conservation can restore the surface.