How could NGC do this ? Do I have any recourse for this ?

That's too bad! It would have made for a great discussion.

 

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I found the coin in question and at the same time found out how to retrieve posts I have contributed to. I still haven’t found the mention of Deller’s Darkener……..it may have come up in a subsequent thread.

The coin was dime size as I thought, but it wasn’t silver or even copper. It was an 1853 Dahlonega $1 gold. Something was used to cover a scratch. During the visit to NCS the material used to cover the scratch was washed away. Apparently this is probably what happened to the coin in this thread.

This is the coin I sent in. This is an after photo. I wish I had taken some before pics.

 

Thanks for being so persistent, Bob! It's amazing that someone could have hidden that scratch, but this is a great example showing how conservation can uncover things that were previously hidden.

 

You can still see remnants of the darkening under the bust and around the stars. It probably wouldn't take much. The scratch may not have been as deep as it looks. The lighting makes it look like the Mississippi. This was a small coin so it wouldn't take much darkener to hide the scratch. Plus when I bought it in the 80's I was a lot more naive than I would like to admit.

 

I found this thread started by Hoot (Mark Hooten) back in November, 2006. Mark shows his before and after images of a coin treated with (among other things) Deller's Darkener.

Am I a coin doctor? - US, World, and Ancient Coins - NGC Coin Collectors Chat Boards

The thread takes a few "wrong turns" in the five pages, but I see a lot of names of members that I haven't had contact with for many years.

 

I liked IGWT, Michael and Houston Investor.

 

If I had a chance to talk to any of them, I'd ask:

Hoot.........Mark, what field of medicine are you in now?

EZ_E........Victor, do you still live in Nevada?

TomB.........Do you still dislike hard shell crabs?

 

Putty?

 

That could well have been. Then covered with a darkener.

 

My coin was cocked, not rotated. One of the prongs that hold the coin at the rim was not engaged.