I need your opinions and advice on this silver dollar. The dollar is in very nice condition except for a rim ding on the top. There are only 90,000 of these made ,and I was wondering if there is some place that could repair the ding professionally, or am I wasting my time.The dollar has very little to no wear , the lines on the reverse that represent the Northern Lights are all in excellent condition , and the other points that wear first show little to none. If I was to leave it as it is , how much would the rim ding knock it down in grade, Any guesses will be fine . The pictures are a bit poor ,and the dollar is better then the pics show. I appreciate any opinions ,and information anyone can help me out with. I appreciate all answers and everyone's time. Thank You
Thank you , I never thought of the jeweler ,that's a great idea I am sure that the work that they do with other metals would likely be the same in a way. I appreciate the idea and your response. Dillan
Personally, I would leave it alone. However, you could check with Numismatic Conservation Services (I think they are part of NGC) to see what they think and the costs. I WOULD NOT take it to a jeweler. Conserving coins and fixing jewelry are completely different fields. The last thing you want is to have an obvious repair significantly lowering the value of the coin. This isn't a plug for NCS, but at least they understand the market and should know how to minimize the impact of the repair.
Neither PCGS nor NGC nor ICG would do anything to this coin. None of them will do anything that involves moving metal or filling marks ect. You would have to find a coin doctor with the top notch skill and then hope to slip the doctored coin past people.
I was not getting the coin repaired to slip by anyone. The coin is part of my collection , and I was curious if there is a restoration business for this type of thing. I can live with it the way it is the ding looks a lot worse in the pictures then on the dollar. I thought that since there are so many coins that could use a repair that there may be a professional business accepted by the community that could properly restore the coin , and if it was done by a respected restoration place it would be an acceptable practice. I thank everyone for their time and for the comments and suggestions. Much Appreciated. Dillan
If you aren't happy with the coin as it is, then sell it for whatever you can get for it, and put that money toward one that is undamaged. It could prove quite costly to have it repaired, which could negate any value it might have.
Thank you , I was most curious if there was a company that was accepted by the community for this type of practice. I know that altering coins is a negative and in-acceptable practice . This is like putting a bandage over a problem so nobody can see it. Places like the Smithsonian have professional restoration people for their items , so I thought there just may be one for damaged coins . I like the dollar damaged or not just thought if there was an acceptable restoration business I would have it repaired. Due to the low mintage the ding is not the end of the world. Someday I may replace it with one in better condition , but for now I am happy to have one dinged or not. Thank you
as an ex jeweler the first thing I thought of is how I can move/fix the metal once I applied heat / flame to soften the metal to fix it. Then as a coin collector the term "heat / flame" was a "duh; that would ruin the rest of it numismatically" moment.
Well Thanks everyone , the coin will stay as is . I had hope there was a conservation business that was acceptable. It seems like there is no such business. I would never alter a coin unless this was an accepted professional service that was widely accepted in the coin community. I like the coin especially the low mintage, 90k is a really mintage , and I am happy to have one with a ding then not to have one at all. Thanks to all.
There is a firm that does such work, but it isn't cheap and would probably cost more than this coin is worth. They do good work and are ethical enough to always leave enough evidence that you can tell it has been repaired, if you look closely. I don't know if I would say they are widely accepted by the numismatic community though. To much chance of one of their repair jobs getting sold as undamaged to unsuspecting collectors.
Thank you .I decided to leave as is until there is an acceptable company that does restoration thats accepted as an improvement, rather then an alteration. appreciated. dillan
That won't happen. Any quality alteration may make a coin look better, but it will never restore originality and will always present the risk of being sold as something it isn't.
