on my "cautionary tale" thread, I tossed out for all to see my newbie buying mistakes from 2 or 3 years ago. I mentioned an 1886 nickel that was BB'd by the "old" ICG for being cleaned. That coin appeared to have a sort of flat luster to it, but it was very hard to make out signs of cleaning. It occurred to me that maybe something was applied to the coin to conceal signs of cleaning? So, I gave it an acetone bath, and the somewhat golden coating on it disappeared, revealing the true extent of the natural luster, and a bunch of fine hairlines in the fields. I suspect this may have been an infamous "putty job." In any case, here are my first photos of the coin, pre-acetone: Here we are post-acetone, including an image with the coin propped on a toothpick to help bring out the hairlines in the left obv. field: What's sad is that this coin has intact luster on the bust, and a clean cheek. The hair is full of luster. This was, I believe, an MS or AU coin before someone decided to "improve" the fields with a fine abrasive. It's still not a bad-looking coin, except for the mark above star 12, but it was sold to me as "BU" for a 'bargain' price by one of the large-scale sellers with those multipage CW ads full of pictures. You know who they are. It is my understanding that auto body putty can be applied to a coin's surface to conceal marks and create an illusion of luster- or at least a kind of matte surface-- but it will not reflect light properly and under a strong light the concealed marks may become visible at the correct angle. So, be careful with "key dates" and stick to properly certified coins (when significant money is at stake) to minimize the risk of this sort of thing happening to you!
my photos make the coin look a bit reddish, it was actually a sort of golden color. I guess I think of smoked coins as being brown. I also don't know if acetone would remove tobacco smoke residue, if it had been on the surface for years.
Could have been almost anything, intentionally or accidentally, applied to the coin. But not putty. But the post illustrates quite well what a trained eye can see and an untrained eye cannot.
Great post and lesson. I agree GDS, impossible to tell if it was intentional or not and it does not look like a puddy job.
Great post , the before and after photos tell it all , when spending good money really check a coin over , or buy certified , Great pics BTW . rzage
And just my opinion , whatever was used to cover the hairlines was most likely intentional , key date , hairlines almost gone , more $$$$$ . rzage
Great post to learn from. I'd like to know which " one of the large-scale sellers with those multipage CW ads full of pictures." sold you this coin. I have only bought through the ads in Coin World once. It would sure help me & other collectors who might do business with your dealer to know his/her name and be more informed in making a proper assessment of a purchase. Bruce
Thanks for the comments, folks. Knowing what I do now, it was obvious that something was "off" with the 'luster,' and looking carefully under good light I could see the hairlines. I hope others can benefit from my mistakes. I think that the sellers in question know exactly what they are offering, pay next to nothing for it, and then sell it to the uneducated (and trusting) collector, as I was. The really choice goods go to their 'want list' customers, or off to the TPG's for grading and sale at auction. The dreck goes into the glossy ads or eBAy. Just my outsider's opinion, of course. While I prefer not to name the seller directly, the letters of the name may be re-arranged to spell "slum pisa."
Well when the loupe and 1000 X electronic magnifacation fails. I use my tusty Bauch & Lombe circa 1898. You need an old mic to look at old coins.
Sad story. But, think about this: Why are we all so careful to not mention the sellers' names? We say the name when the news is good. Why not reveal the names of the perps? If they don't want word to spread about their poor business practices, they shouldn't sell in such an underhanded manner. I can understand why the buyer may be cautious, he/she may not want to be sued, but... The seller has to be taken to task for their underhanded activities.
