Seated Liberty Half Dollar with Spot

I’ve had this coin for over 40 years. I have been out of collecting since then, what with family and life taking priority. When I bought this coin I don’t recall that it had that spot to the left of Liberty’s right arm. Now I am getting ready to sell my coins and this one has a problem that I have to deal with.

I thought that this might be an old cleaning of a dark spot. A friend suggested that it might be putty, which makes more sense; putty can apparently change color with time and even though I had no idea what I was doing when I bought this coin I don’t think that I would have overlooked this spot if it was visible.

I never knew about puttied coins until a couple of months ago, when I started getting my better coins graded. I learned that I own a half dozen coins that have been doctored with putty, grr. When I found this out I tried soaking them in acetone and the putty came right off and the acetone was harmless. I can find out if this coin is puttied by soaking it, but I don’t feel that I should do anything without getting some expert advice from Seated Liberty collectors, here. Do I try soaking it? Do I send it in to the grader as is? Do I send it in and see if there is a conservation possibility? I’m wondering what you would do if this were your coin and you wanted to sell it.

 

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I'd have it graded and conserved.

 

I'd have that one conserved and graded by a TPG. Nice looking.

 

NICE coin, that should grade as a AU-55 with no problem, I'd even think an AU-58. I hope it isn't puttied for your sake. If the acetone didn't harm your other coins, try it and then you'll have your answer.

 

I too believe it would bring an AU from a TPG. Nice coin good luck

 

thats a really nice coin and its a CC. have it graded and preserved. its a high AU easy.

 

@mike estes will the spot stay the same if preserved in a prof. holder ?

 

I believe that one of the services could lighten the spot but it will still show.

 

Hopefully lighter in appearance .

 

@Insider Could you share your thoughts?

 

The 1875-CC has a Graysheet value of $1200 in Au-58 which your coin most likely would grade at (could slide into MS territority) absent the putty and ensuing spot. With the putty it would probably get a details grade. With the putty removed and with the spot remaining, it would probably straight-grade unless there is pitting under the putty.

In any event, the coin has sufficient potential value to warrant taking a look at professional conservation. If mine, I would submit asking for a conservation evaluation and proceed from there depending upon the TPG's recommendation.

 

In addition to the spot, can anyone offer an opinion as to whether the grade will be hurt by the marks on the cheek and right bust of Lady Liberty? Thank you.

 

Thanks for your comments, everybody. I appreciate them! I will send it in then, to see if conservation can be done. If they could just get rid of the bathtub ring it would make the coin *so* much more attractive. The ring draws the eye much more than the spot itself. In hand, the spot itself looks small and not real dark. Publius2 is the only one who seemed to have an opinion on what the spot might be - putty - and I sorta hope he’s right. It may be the only way that the coin can get a straight grade. If it’s a permanent spot and Idhair is right (that they might be able to lighten it) I think that this would be a really attractive coin to Seated Liberty collector.

Thomas, it is also dark on her right shoulder. I don’t actually see what I think of as signs of wear on these points - flattening, change of sheen/texture. I looked at the PCGS Photograde pics and I see this sort of darkening up to MS65. I think it must be really tricky to grade Seated Liberties. Publius2 thinks that there may be a shot at MS, and I hope he’s right. I never so much as rinsed this coin in water, never touched it, so maybe some of the darkness on the cheek, breast, shoulder is just grime. I don’t have the experience to know.

 

I don’t think this Seated half will straight grade, the surfaces have a weird appearance. Better photos may change my opinion, but I doubt it. I’d wait for @Insider to share his opinion on the spot.

 

Nice coin. I’d try the acetone I don’t think it’ll hurt anything

 

The little gray spot with the ring around it looks raised. Soak the coin in soapy water first. It may float off. Then put a drop of goo gone on it. Then put some acetone on it to remove the goo. No rubbing. Probably best to send it to a TPGS for conservation. Let them do it for you since it needs grading anyway.

 

If you decide to send this in for conservation/grading, it's a very nice coin, and it would be great if you would post the results. Thank you.

 

Already planning to. Don’t you hate it when somebody changes the channel and you don’t get to see the end of the program? Not submitting it, though, until after the holiday rush at the P.O.

 

I promised to follow-up on this coin.

So, PCGS didn’t do restoration, must have figured that the spot wasn’t putty and was a cleaning. They just charged me a $10 evaluation fee and passed it on to Grading. Grading gave it a “Genuine Unc Cleaned Details” grade.



The grading gods have spoken, it is what it is, a details coin, sigh... I plan to sell it, and I have little idea how to price it. One thing, it looks like PCGS has graded no more than 75 MS 1875-CC Seated Liberty Halves, which makes it a truly scarce coin, and that helps.

I lack experience with details coins, and I can’t figure out how to technically grade Seated Liberties. So, the only thing I can think to do is to compare the general look of my coin to the PCGS Photograde coins, and try to guess what number PCGS might put on a straight graded coin like this. I have comparison pictures, MS60 through MS64, along side my coin:





What I like about my coin is the way that Ms Liberty stands out from the background and draws the eye. But it lacks the luster to be a 64. So, it at best could be 63. Maybe 62?

How many numbers do I need to drop the price? Beats me. Is MS60 too optimistic? I’d far sooner live with the appearance of my coin that that MS60 in Photograde, but I realize that the market doesn’t exactly work that way.

What do the voices of experience say?

 

I think you would find a market at cleaned, 50 details.