Hey Guys, Does anyone have any thoughts on this Seated Liberty Half? Grade and/or Artificially or Naturally toned? Any problems that might cause this to be graded Genuine? Thanks for any input! I really appreciate your help.
I'm guessing cleaned and retoned...but that doesn't necessarily preclude the coin from being professionally graded if there are no visable hairlines. The obverse toning looks fairly natural an NT as album toning....the reverse is a bit strange as there is no toning in some of the protected recesses at the bottom plus that dot under the eagles left wing looks like a drop of liquid that dried..speculation of course but there are some things that make me think the coin could go either way.
If TPGers don't slab that coin then the heck with them. Yes, I would agree retoned, but naturally. So many of these were cleaned that if you would not grade this coin then there are not many coins out there for this series gradable. It would be fair to knock down the grade a little for the old cleaning, but its a nice type coin. The only problem would be that weird dot under the eagles wing. I am not sure what that is. On the reverse I would say the little bit of mottling would be from the old cleaning. Surfaces react differently to cleaning, and some of the surface will never retone correctly after a cleaning, while most of the surface will. At least my 2 cents. I used to collect these, in this grade. I would have bought this, (for a discount to a non cleaned of course).
Hey thanks for your opinions, Co, Kryp, and Med!! I really appreciate the input - its very helpful. So you you think this is an AU-50 coin (assuming it grades)?
yes, good question about the underwing spot (everyone noticed that) ... I think i recall reading that pvc leaves a green residue ... so it's the right color for pvc Would PCGS clean off the PVC (assuming that's what it is) if I sent this in for grading ... or would i have to have it "conserved" (pvc cleaned) by another company first?
That was my first thought too. Under magnification with eyes familiar with what it looks like, you should be able to tell quickly. Even a closeup photo would help.
It looks like it was cleaned a while ago, and retoned but again the toning looks natural, for a grade i would guess au-50-53, i think it would grade i have seen a lot of cleaned seateds in slabs before (but like this one they saw a cleaning a while ago) the only thing that concerns me for slabbing is that spot on the rev.
PVC starts green and then turns black over long periods of time. It could also be a drop of liquid that dried and caused the coin to tone.
my only thought is it's kind of a strange spot for pvc ... i am kind of leaning towards the second option ... a drop of toning liquid (whatever that is exactly) that dried ... I wonder if that spot could be removed with acetone?
Be patient for a coin without problems (I am specifically focusing more on the reverse spot in this case). That spot will drive you crazy long term (and perhaps not "fixable") and will make it a problem to sell once you become more dissatisfied. My two cents.
I agree. Not that the OP is buying this coin to please me, but this is a coin I would not recommend buying. You can do better. patience.
Reverse is artificially toned. That's a highly concentrated liquid they used with a high sulfur amount making them drop it on instead of dipping it in stay away from the coin it's a great at job but you'll get burned.
Hey Johnny, Just in case you want to buy this coin ... it's available here ... $289 http://cgi.ebay.com/1858-O-Seated-Liberty-Half-AU-NICE-RIM-TONE-/390153735914?pt=Coins_US_Individual
