Polished 1909SVDB Penny

How much has it been devalued after using copper cleaner?

 

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Bigly, unfortunately.

 

ditto

 

Why would you do that?

 

am I missing something? Is there a pic or am I going senile.

 

well without pics this post is useless. I would say more than half probably 2/3rds value is gone. Rule #1 do NOT clean your coins.

 

Prob turns a $1000 coin into a $100 coin.

 

Frankly, S-VDB's are in such demand that they do not lose as much value as many other issues would if cleaned. One can't generalize the numbers; the better the original grade, the less value lost. That said, copper cleaners are as much abrasives as anything else, and among those methods described as "harsh," chances are the only thing harsher one could do to a coin would involve a wire brush.

The effect of such treatment becomes more obvious the more originally worn the coin is. That's why a polished VF would lose relatively more of its' value than a polished AU, as the latter would end up looking more like it was originally. It's a subjective judgement, but given the popularity of the issue there's ample auction record of specific instances in every grade. Images would help a more accurate evaluation.

 

TTIWWP (This thread is worthless without pictures)

 

I seen one purchased ( 1909-S ) at the coin show over the weekend . It was so harshly cleaned, then it was turned over for re-toning and looked really nice, when it was finished ..

 

Some do, some don't, some will, I won't. Shame when someone does though.

 

Somewhat of an overstatement, don't you think?

 

If you don't want it I will gladly take it!!!!!

 

Polishing or damaging a rare coin will decrease it's value probably less than the value of less rare coins. This damaged 1909 SVDB would have been a $1000 coin but it sold for $404.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/xf-1909-s-v...n-Wheatback-penny-cull-cent-1c-/272614772894?

 

I don't see an SVDB ever selling for $100, simply because there is so much demand for the coin from collectors. Demand keeps prices up, and believe me, it matters more than the rarity of a coin.

 

You are definitely right about it losing value, but even cleaned it is still a 500 dollar coin.

 

Thank you SuperDave. You're the first response that anything positive. I'm new to this. My father started collecting coins in the 1930's and his collection of pennies is amazing, and I just started researching the value of the oldest one. Do you think it would be wise to try and darken it? I'm at a loss what to do. Right now I'm looking for a copper 1943 in his collection. The 1919 his in good condition the leaves are well defined as well the hair and jacket. I would truly appreciate any knowledge you could share with me. Again, thank you. Sue

 

The only appropriate response is, "It's necessary to see the coin first." The more vicious the cleaning, the more obvious it is that this is a coin which can never be mistaken for "original" again, then the more reasonable it might be to consider at least ameliorating the harm somewhat.

This is colored by the knowledge that an attempt to restore an "original" look to a badly-cleaned coin is normally construed as reprehensible and dishonest. Originality in a coin is prized, and attempting to pass a non-original coin (especially a valuable one such as this, and of course this is not accusation, just education) as original is considered one step below outright thievery in numismatics. Therefore, we tread carefully. I'm not going to go through all the possible permutations of conservation technique, but copper coins are known to acquire a truly offensive color after certain types of cleaning operations and even though the result will still be a known altered coin it would at least be a little less disgusting after some steps to lessen the harm.

So see what you can put together for images and we'll see what we can come up with. At this point we're as much interested in actual color and surface appearance as we wold be sharp images for grading purposes, and we'll be happy to help you refine your technique to get closer to the goal. For this one at least, your ultimate goal will be to get it into the slab of a reputable third-party grader.

 

Wow. Lucky break. That's like getting shot and the bullet misses killing you by a millimeter