Tried to conserve a Seated Half Dollar

You are right. I did not pick up on the "dip" phase being EZEST. And I could not figure why you would water down the acetone.

It all makes sense now!

 

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Organic crud on the coin can hide the luster sometimes.

 

The original coin wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, but it was original.
The coin, when dipped, seemed to uncover more design and may have upped the grade. Not original skin, but if it's dipped just this once and then stored properly, it'll turn out fine.
Don't know which one I prefer.

 

I'm Interested in the result.

 

Emphasis on the "stored properly," because stripping the surfaces is the numismatic equivalent of suppressing the human immune system to treat a disease - the surface of a stripped coin is as susceptible to picking up new corrosion as the day it was struck, possibly even more so because it lacks any Mint treatment to prevent it.

 

Grading should be done soon. Probably sometime next week. Results coming soon. I'm betting AU53.

 

My opinion also.

 

I had no idea there were customers for nearly black and yellowing coins! I've found 2 here! But... to each his own. Personally, the look of the original coin was akin to a rotten banana.

 

You should have sent the coin before Cleaning it by your own, either to NGC or PCGS for professional conservation Service imo.
I' m not sure it will come back straight graded.

 

Best advice above. Leave it to the professionals and they most likely would have straight graded. Nevertheless, you did a great job. The coin is hairlined though but it does not look cleaned. NCS would have removed the tiny black spots. The plus for you leaving them on is the grader may think the coin was not dipped.

 

CBD, as you might have noticed on this thread, longtime well-educated numismatists are going to want a coin left in its original state with crusty toning intact... ;-) and they are going to want it at a fair price because they know the market inside and out.

But the bidders who make the price go up, up, up way higher than it should be at an auction are not the longtime well-educated numismatists...and they strongly prefer a white-ish coin with shiny frosty looking fields.

 

I like crusty, but not this coin's type of crusty. I'm a numismatist, but I prefer the look of my conservation. (But I am biased).

 

That was said with a bit of a wink and a nod. You made the coin more desirable to a wider audience.....which will help it in the long run.
I think the post conservation photos look "flashy" too, a re-shoot might let us see another side to it... when it comes back of course.

 

Who knows.... it may not grade.

 

It got an AU55! (But I'm more excited about the 1925-D Mercury Dime that graded MS62 FB... that's a $1k coin.

 

Hah! likely doubled your money?

 

I'll be darned.

 

I do not know enough about the mint planchet preparation program to be aware of whether they strive (or ever did) for a "perfectly clean" planchet or add a little surface anticorrosive of one sort or another. It just makes sense that they would/should. That's why I used the term "possibly." If you have greater knowledge, I'm happy to learn.

 

Well they do have a oil film on them that your freshly dipped/stripped coin doesn't.