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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;RonSanderson, post: 2796166, member: 77413&quot;]Case study: 1913-D Buffalo Nickel &quot;<i>1913-D Buffalo Nickel, Type 1 Better Date ** Free Shipping!</i>&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Original Vendor Photos (joined by me for display)</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]650525[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Impressions </b></p><p>When this arrived I was disappointed. Here is what I did not like:</p><ul> <li>My impression was of a white lifeless coin without any luster.</li> <li>The vendor&#039;s photo is so dark it obscures the weakness along the top of LIBERTY and the corresponding position on the reverse, in the 3:00 to 4:00 position.</li> </ul><p><b>[ATTACH=full]650527[/ATTACH]</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Analysis</b></p><p>There is a huge difference between their photos and what I saw. It is obviously the same coin based on the grain pattern on the reverse, but their photos are dramatically underexposed. With less illumination, the contours are more sharply emphasized.</p><p><br /></p><p>Worse, the coin felt wrong. Literally. It looks like it is masked in something cloudy and I could feel a grainy / sticky resistance when I touched it. I rubbed the rim with my thumb and I could feel this texture coming off.</p><p><br /></p><p>I rinsed the coin in distilled water, then acetone, then xylene to see if I could remove this film. The coin still looked dry and lifeless. I tried a drop of VerdiCare (even though there is no corrosion) and used a Q-tip to make sure the surface was covered. I blotted off any excess and let it dry for two days.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Conclusions</b></p><p>I do not know what happened to this coin. I have never dipped a coin, but the filmy dullness and unpleasant feel makes me suspect a chemical treatment of some sort. (Note, there is still a green spot of corrosion on the outside of the rim. Of course, nobody shows photographs of the edges.) Whatever happened, it did not hurt the overall sharpness.</p><p><br /></p><p>I could understand a new collector feeling they got a terrible coin. If I didn&#039;t have a few tricks at hand, I would feel that way too.</p><p><br /></p><p>Between the very dark photograph, the possibility of treated corrosion, the chalky appearance, and the unpleasant feel, this would be a coin that inexperienced buyers should not have bought.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the coin after rejuvenation. I like the detail and it now has a bit of shine to it. There is a great strike - split tail, nice rounding of the foreleg, and all the sculptural elements well brought forth. I think the coin is worth the $53.70 I have invested.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]650530[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]650538[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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