Originally purchased this 2 Pence at the Johnson County Numismatic Society annual show last month in Lenexa, Kansas. A wee bit outside my interests, I do collect foreign but not typically British bronze or copper. However, the coin was too good of a deal to pass-up. It isn't a rare coin by any measure, but most of these are seen pretty beat-up with rim knocks and other problems. This particular coin was priced exceptionally attractive, the seller only wanted $70 for it. I figured it was a solid AU+ and with flawless rims it had to be worth at least two or three times that much. The only downside was the crud on the coin, which while not too distracting, would probably keep the coin out of a slab. So, with that in mind, I made my first submission to NCS down in Sarasota, Florida. I checked the box requesting the coin be authenticated and graded by NGC once conservation was complete. The declared value of the coin was $300 for shipping purposes. Total cost to me for transit there and back, conservation, and slabbing, came to a modest $55. The conservation service was only $19 which I thought was very reasonable. Did they significantly improve the coin's appearance? I will let you all decide. Would love to read your comments. I wasn't expecting to get the coin back with flawless glossy brown surfaces. Beyond that, I didn't know what to expect. Have a look and tell me what you think. The before pictures show green oxidation. While there is still discoloration, it isn't nearly as noticeable after preservation. Keep in mind the original photos were taken during the day, the new photos taken at night with an LED ring illuminator on the camera.
Unfortunately, there are too many people who have the misconception that conservation will restore a coin to top-notch condition. That just ain't gonna happen! In the case of your coin, the contaminant has eaten into the surface of the coin and there is no way to remove the traces below the surface without risking irreparable damage to the coin. I'd say they did the best they could given the circumstances. Chris
Looks considerably more presentable in the hand. I will have to take some more photos in daylight and post them tomorrow.
If I had fifty more coins just like it, I think I would have to try a thumb rub of olive oil on the "after" surfaces. NCS did get the active corrosion off the coin, but they didn't do much about the discoloration that went with it. Keep in mind, the whole point of the exercise was to get the coin in a slab without a details grade.
This style slab is necessary for coins or medals with very high relief or a wider edge. Some of my ANA Convention medals have extremely high relief. Chris
Does NGC make a plastic box that will hold the thick slab type? Is there actually 3 different slab thickness examples in your photos? Looks like maybe there is...,,
No, they don't make a plastic box for this size. It's understandable because they wouldn't have a great amount of demand for it. I save the shipping containers from NGC for oddball sizes and my large medals. There are only two thicknesses in the photo.....the standard and the wide. It is probably the reflection off the top of the right-hand stack that is distorting it. Chris
Out of curiosity does the NCS conservation stop the effects of the future deterioration caused by the waste on the coins surface. Does it nuatralize the effects or is this also uncertain?
Hard to say, this being the first coin I have sent in to NCS. But in the case of this particular coin, the green crud was not PVC damage, was actually a very thin coat of corrosion on the surface of the coin. Hard to say how stable it was prior to being removed. Could be the coin has been like that for 175 years but all the damage occurred many years ago. In any case, they did remove the green crud, and there is no way of knowing how they did it, all proprietary. Could be they just dropped the coin in acetone for all I know. One of the concerns I had prior to sending it in, was that removing the crud would reveal a pink surface underneath made of raw untoned copper. Did they remove the crud then artificially retone the area affected? Who knows. But I think the coin really does look nicer overall, and for what ever reason I have so far had a great deal of difficulty getting the coin photographed in such a way that it resembles in-hand appearance. I don't think anyone who was unaware it had been conserved would notice anything funny going on with the coin. Looks like a solid (for the grade) coin that should fetch considerably more than the $125 that has been spent on it so far.
A while back, I posted before and after photos of a silver 1978 Bicentennial medal that was in horrible condition prior to submitting it to NCS. I had no expectations for the conservation, but all in all, I was very pleased with the results. It is a proof medal, and the "after" photos do show the faint haze that remains along the perimeter, but it ended up grading PF66 Ultra Cameo. I'm happy! Chris
That is pretty consistent with my experience on the 2 Pence. Would I have paid twice as much for the coin with the expectation that NCS would be able to fix the coin? Not a chance. In fact, the whole thing has to be entered into with the understanding that the coin might be destroyed in the conservation process. NCS will never tell you that is a possibility, but to send the coin in to be messed with without assuming some risk of a bad outcome would be folly. That said, the key is to find a coin that is worth hundreds in nice condition, purchase it for a fraction of that because it has "issues" then take a chance on the conservation turning the coin into something that can be slabbed and resold at a significant profit. To be sure, there are plenty of collectors who consider a slab as a zero value-add on a coin. But anyone who has bought and especially sold coins online can tell you the slab makes a huge difference on price realized when sold at auction.
NCS did a great job of conserving the coin. Olive oil should NEVER be used on copper. The organic acids present will accelerate the corrosion process over time causing more damage.
Acetone will not remove verdigris. The verdigris on this coin was light to moderate which is why they were able to conserve it. They didn't "retone" the coin. The look is purely the end result of the conservation process.
And what do you suppose they used to remove the verdigris? Verdi-Care?? Never messed with it, but have read about here on the forum.
