Maybe, but I'd be inclined to leave it as-is. Aside from the spot/stain on the back of Liberty's head and the patch near the Y in LIBERTY, I don't think it's that awful looking. To me, the eye appeal is neutral to very slightly negative, but hey, it's a 1916-D Merc, authenticated by a recognized service, so it would be appealing to many buyers, regardless. If the spots bother you, sell it and get another. Plenty of people wouldn't mind those. I've seen much worse. Or cross it as-is to PCGS. Best to leave this one in its original state, I think.
BUT, if you're sending it to PCGS, and you do want to try Restoration service, I'd be interested to see the outcome. But I don't think that's necessary. The major concern I have is that those blackish patches look like deposits on the surface of the coin that have been there for decades. I don't know how easy they would be for the conservator to remove, and whether or not they'd cause uneven coloration afterwards. I suppose that depends on how skilled your conservator is. I still say "nahh", but if you do choose to go for it, I look forward to seeing how it comes out. Hey, who knows- they might be able to improve the eye appeal of it considerably. If everything goes well. IF. That's a risky proposition, even though you'd be entrusting it to professionals. Could make things worse. I wonder how they'd deal with that. Could make things better, and end up being a win. I really don't know.
The only thing I'd take a closer look at is the black splotches by the Y in LIBERTY and the back of the cap. If those are surface crud rather than toning, I'd target them for removal, otherwise leave it. Even so, I would instead put the money toward an upgrade to a more attractive one already in a PCGS holder, even in the same grade.
Restoration is used to remove debris (dirt, glue, crud and corruption, etc.) from a coin. Your coin does not have that. All you have is honest (but not necessarily pleasing) toning. Leave it alone.
I leave as is. Any crossover attempt might result in a lower or no grade. At least it straight graded by a known tpg. No restoration is necessary. It's just toning. That date is always desirable so sell and get another if it bothers you.
If you want a PCGS - send it in for same grade cross or send it back. Do not restore as it will remove some surface to clean ... leave as is. The offset die hit is kinda cool too
Assuming the grade remains the same (PCGS price guide for VG10 is $1500), then the cheapest way to get it into a PCGS holder is to submit it for restoration and grading. The grading fees for the three options are: Crack it out and submit it raw. The cheapest grading level is $35. Submit it for crossover grading. The grading fee is $35 + 1% = $50. Submit it for restoration and grading. The restoration and grading fee is a flat 2% of the final value (minimum $30). 2% = $30. The handling and shipping fees are the same for each option. I just got off the phone with PCGS customer service and they confirmed that this is correct and I am not missing anything. So my plan is to submit it for restoration and grading.
Purely my opinion, but my concern would be that it might be put in a problem coin slab once they cleaned it. I even think it's possible that might happen if you just tried to cross it. But, they do tend to be quite lenient with the rules when it comes to coins like this - so who knows.
Details grade for what reason? If you are referring to the scratches, than they are no worse than several other coins that were straight graded by PCGS. For example, I do not think it is any worse than the scratches on the reverse of this coin or the multiple dings on the front of this coin.
Personally, I think yours is far worse than than either of those. And if it was cleaned, I think it would look worse than it does now because I think even more would be revealed. In other words, I'm thinking that dark toning, and I'm not sure it even is toning, is covering up a good bit. My concerns are the coin may have been harshly cleaned, and then had a darkening agent used on it to cover up a good bit of it. Secondary concern, the gouge on the obv, on a dime that's large enough to warrant a damaged label. But, as I said, they are known to be very lenient coins like this, far more so than they ever were in years past. So who knows what would happen if you sent it to PCGS.
Here are side-by-side comparisons of the two examples I gave. You really think mine is far worse? The PCGS sample has a large obv gouge (below the B) plus a hundred other smaller gouges. Also, the scratch on the reverse of the PCGS sample is far longer than any scratch on my coin. I don't think there is any risk of it receiving a damaged label. But we shall see in 4-6 weeks.
You have 11 responses, all from outstanding members whose advice I personally would follow, saying leave it as is. You have been given sound advice but it sounds like you made up your mind before you started this thread.
That’s not true. I wanted it in a PCGS holder before I started this thread. The question was whether or not I should get the restoration done while its there. I was assuming restoration would be an added cost so I wanted to know if that added cost would be value added. It wasn’t until after I started the thread that I found out it will actually be cheaper to get it restored and graded versus just getting it graded or crossed over. That is what tipped the scale for me. I don’t see any risk in getting a details grade, so why would I pay more for less? There seems to be a certain value range in which it is cheaper to restore plus grade a coin than it is to simply grade a coin. This is good information to know.