I found an Adams dollar with no edge a few days ago. I haven't done coin collecting since I was a kid, so was curious, looked into it, and these coins appears to have some value, at least now. Unfortunately, after handling, the coin began to look smudged and oxidized. So, yes, fool that I am, I washed it with soap and water in the sink. So, now after another day of handling, it looks rather oxidized again, quite tarnished and without the original luster. I tried soaking the coin in distilled water in a nonreactive porcelein bowl. Hopefully, this removed any further contact with any residual soap, but it doesn't look like a new coin any longer. My question is: can this coin still be authenticated? How much value, if any, has the coin lost? The attribute that made the coin valuable in the first place, namely the lack of edge inscription, is still as it was.
What you should do now is soak it in acetone for as long as it takes to remove the oxidization or whatever. I would then just sell it on ebay with good pics.
I got an Adams out of a post office machine a week or so ago but mine was the double die variety with the edge lettering running both ways and upside down to one another, i was fortunate it must have been it's first time out in circulation so it was in nice condition. I just sent it off to be graded and slabbed yesterday so we'll see what happens.
Without seeing any pics of the coin it is hard to say on this, but i think it is safe to say it lost about half of its value or more. depending on the cleaning it could probably still be cerified and sell for $350 or so depending on grade. If it gets MS62 I think people would still buy it just to have one. It is a rare error and could be worth a lot more as time passes.
I would use ANACS for grading and slabbing it because you will at least get it back slabbed even if it has details. I bet there's a possibility that the financial hit isn't that bad for an ebay auction. Most people would bid no more than half, but there are alot of bidders on ebay that are not like most.
Agreed. Why on earth is there is there so much "handling" going on. Put it in a new ziplock bag if you don't have anything else and don't touch it ever again.
I called PCGS, and got conflicting answers. One operator said it had been cleaned, so not to bother. The second time I called, I actually spoke with an evaluator. I explained if my brief soap and water followed by a distilled water bath constituted "cleaning", then I wasn't going to bother sending it in. He said not to rush to judgement, that it may, but not necessarily, be regarded as a cleaning. It simply depended on the subjective evaluation of the grader. With the coin looking rather oxidized for the moment, I don't know if that helps or hurts my chances. For what it's worth, after I had lightly soaped it, it looked about as good as new. Frankly, if the oxidized appearance isn't a hit, then I really don't care. The missing edge IS authentic and the coin is otherwise uncirculated. But the grading process is simply too expensive for me to just toss it out there only to have it come back in a body bag. Nor am I enclined to, as one person suggested, clean it AGAIN in acetate simply to take the smudges off. For now, the coin's status is in limbo with me because I'm not sure whether the $130 hit I'll take to have it graded is worth it against the marketable value of the coin. See, easy! :headbang: ANACS I know nothing about. NGC I've heard actually does work with some vendor(s) that does/do cleaning. I don't know if that means I should send to ANACS or not. To be honest, the coin is quite a novelty, and in the end, I may just keepit for my own personal self Thanks again. Keep the comments coming. I'm learning by your responses. :bow:
ANACS is easy. The fee will be $15 + shipping/insurance. They will grade it, they will slab it, and the slab will say something like "Details: Damaged, Cleaned" or some variation, but they will authenticate it and send it back in a slab. With PCGS, you risk getting it back in a bodybag and losing your $40. You don't need to pay extra for PCGS because nobody is going to be arguing the difference between MS-65 and MS-66 with your coin. At this point, it's value is only dependent upon it being an authenticated error coin. I'm willing to bet that with ebay, it will still fetch about 75% of what the undamaged ones are getting. Good Luck.
Makes sense to me. How much will the oxidized appearance of this coin affect its numismatic value? The way I remember it from when I did this as a kid was that it generally didn't matter much, except for the "BU" designated coins that most people were achieving by dipping uncirculated coins. As you might expect, I'm loathe to screw around with what I've got. On the other hand, if the buyer wants a shiney pearl of a coin without the edge marking, they may go elsewhere. I really no longer recall what the MS designations signify and if they are in any way attached to the bling of the coin, of it is more a matter of dings and wear. Anyone care to explain?
In theory it could be black as coal and still be MS60 (uncirculated) if there is no wear or, it could look brand new but not be unc. if there is rub on the high points. It may or may not be unc. at this point. I would not pay big money to have it graded. Use a cheaper service than PCGS, opt for the economy/slow turnaround, and hopefully it will l come back in a slab.
