So I got a Standing Liberty quarter in the mail and noticed it has black dirt along the reverse reliefs, and I decided - tell me if this was a bad idea - to pick out the black dirt with a toothpick. This can go either way in my experience: it can simply remove the dirt, or it can remove the dirt and reveal very tiny pitting (often just one very tiny pit noticeable with a 5x loupe). This pit is tiny, again. So does this pit mean the coin is a details coin if everything else is essentially flawless on an XF coin? This tiny pit may look almost indistinguishable from a nick from another coin at times, as it's so small. Some people might argue to leave the coin as is, but the black gunk these coins collect is not attractive and is clearly not good for the coins in the long run. So the question stands: is this a details coin? My view is that's insane if the rest of the coin looks like say a solid XF. There are nicks or scratches that can be worse. Maybe some OGs have an answer for this.
Well... I will catch flak for this.... I am an old school collector and if you own the coin then I believe it to be perfectly acceptable to do something as minor as this if it helps you to enjoy the coin. But yeah, I am afraid the label folks will tell you that a pitted surface, even a very minor pitted surface would result in a details grade. If you aren't submitting it, then who cares?
Yeah, my understanding is that some are opposed to cleaning up dirt with a toothpick, but there are times when it simply removes a source of corrosion. And I agree - it's crazy that a very tiny pit that can only be seen with a loupe would give it a details grade. My hunch is that some graders might actually straight grade it if the pit is so small that it could be just another nick on the coin. Also, it truly can be difficult to distinguish a pit from a contact mark, because I can picture a genuine contact mark looking almost like one very tiny pit that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
So here's what I mean. The coin basically looks like an XF, and it has a tiny, tiny pit just underneath the left wing on the reverse close to the 3 o'clock area. This is a good example of what I mean: I often find these types of pits on Standing Liberty quarters, because the relief style tends to attract dirt over time that corrodes. You can see, though technically it may have a tiny pit, isn't it crazy to get a details grade over something so minor? Am I crazy or are there actually people who believe no matter how small the pit, it should just be a details grade? I just want to know because I have searched for this answer many times, and I don't think it's been cleared up. Also, this is discrimination against Standing Liberty quarters! Just kidding. Edit: I also just found another tiny pit just above a wing feather in the 2:00 o'clock area.
I don't think that the coin is even near XF. If you like the coin, then put it in a holder and enjoy it. It's a mistake to send coins like this to a TPG to put it in a plastic coffin, and have to pay 2-3 times what the coin would ever be worth and chance not getting a grade.
Yes, it could be VF30 to VF35*. But that doesn't seem to clarify whether it straight grades. People will say to ignore the TPGs, but I think many people do seem to want to learn how to find or detect problem-free coins. Call me crazy, but I try to avoid problem coins as much as possible, though I will make exceptions now and then for coins to add to my tubes. I don't know if a tiny, tiny pit or two has ever been clarified as designating a coin as a problem coin. Now maybe this is not a big deal to some people, but it could be to others. Also, it would help to get clarification on exactly how coins are graded. *Actually, the grade also depends on the strike, not just the detail. I just saw a 1926-S graded XF40 with about as much or little detail as the one I posted up. I've also seen much earlier dates with plenty of details graded VF. So I'm guessing there were weak strikes around this period - but I'm willing to be corrected.
I don't think the SLQ above is worth the added expense of submitting to a TPG. But as to your conservation work on it, I think it looks decent. And while the minor pits might (or might not have) have resulted in a "details" grade had you submitted it, I don't think they're all that bad looking. It's a perfectly good "album coin" as-is. (I think it might have had a shot at a straight grade.) I did some toothpick work and a Vaseline rub on this one. When I found it in a bulk Wheat cent bag, it had a piece of gunky dirt concealing the mintmark. When I toothpicked that away and discovered the "D" hiding underneath, I let out a shout! The coin cost me somewhere between three and five cents as part of the bulk lot. After PCGS graded it XF40, I sold it for $700-something. One of my better cherrypicks of all time! And despite my conservation work, PCGS straight-graded it. Of course it didn't have any pitting. I only removed the loose grime that had been on it.
Hopefully the neighbors didn't call the police when you let out a shout unless it was at night in the moonlight.
Yes, I'm guessing that, though technically any pitting (no matter how small) merits a details grade, in practice if a pit is so small that it could look like a small nick, it could be overlooked if there are no other major problems with the coin. This reasoning would align with similar "problems." This is just one of those things that really has never been clarified in any forum I believe (at least not explicitly), because ChatGPT (which scans every forum and website) returns a very literal or strict answer to this question (basically saying such a coin will not straight grade). So hopefully this thread can contribute to the corpus on this very niche topic or make people think in the future. Maybe actual graders will one day make public their thoughts on this specific topic.
Regarding SLQs, the majority have been cleaned at some point. So it's not uncommon to detect minor hairlines on these coins that are straight graded. So graders judge not only whether a coin a has been cleaned, but also the degree of the cleaning. Many of these coins, because of their age, have significant tarnish, even the so-called terminal toning (off-hand I believe it's the very black toning that often precedes corrosion), and even the coins with the most blackish toning will still straight grade. So it would seem arbitrary to pick on a pit or two when coins with a bunch of hairlines are getting straight grades.
OK, actually, I probed ChatGPT further and based on its logic and the grading principles (as articulated) of major graders, the AI program determined that a coin with a tiny pit or two due to corrosion can straight grade if it is very minor and does not detract from the overall appearance of the coin. So there is an area of subjectivity here.
OK, I gave it a quick acetone wash - I just dip each side for a few minutes in pure acetone, and I let it dry. This will be going in my tube. It is now preserved! I'm an advocate for a minor pit or two being treated roughly equivalent to a nick.
