I just picked up a little 1/4 gold Noble hammered coin from the reign of Henry VI, he was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at the age of nine months upon his father's death, and succeeded to the French throne on the death of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, shortly afterwards. Having "lost his wits, his two kingdoms and his only son", Henry died in the Tower of London during the night of 21 May, 1471, possibly killed on the orders of King Edward. Miracles were attributed to Henry after his death and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, King's College, Cambridge, and (together with Henry Chichele) All Souls College, Oxford. Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret. (from Wikipedia). This coin is damaged and fragile (and was priced appropriately as such) but I'd really like to have it stabilized / perhaps even have the top welded together or something (if anyone does such things). I bought the coin for personal and historical reasons, I know that many folks here don't like details coins and are probably horrified at the idea of messing with it further, but does anyone know what might be done / who might do it and / or how I could find someone. Happy to pay appropriately for same and it will always be a details coin, I'd just like it to be less likely to fall apart. Has anyone used a "Coin Doctor" that they're willing to discuss or are you familiar with any stories regarding same? Good results? Bad results? (sellers pics, I don't have it in hand yet)
Is that 1.21 grams or grains? I suspect the former but if it's grains that coin is thin to the point of non-existence. If you can find a jeweler who is actually an artisan and not just a seller of product, then you can consult. Another good place to start is with the artist community in your area. Nowadays, they often fill the role of the olden-days craftsmen in addition to their creative endeavors. Me, I don't think I'd try to improve its condition. That said, I'm not sure exactly how fragile your little quarter noble is and what you envision for "stabilization". Do you think it's about to fall apart from spontaneous decomposition or are you more worried about damage from handling however gentle that handling may be? If the latter and you don't want to mess with the coin, then you might use one of the self slab products (I use Leuchtturm Quickslab product) and devise your own custom insert. I think two thin slabs of soft foam with the coin sandwiched between them and then encapsulated in the halves of the clamshell. This would cushion the coin from jostling & etc. Plus, if you buy the slab of the type that is designed for easy opening, then you can look at the coin from time to time. Downside is you won't be able to easily see the coin. But you could take good photos of the coin and put them into the slab so you can "see" the coin virtually and know at a glance what's in the slab. You can do something similar with an Air Tite capsule if the rectangular slab is not to your liking. Again, the problem is that if you are going to protect the coin, you won't be able to see it. I did something similar with my raw 1793 half cent. It's in a cotton liner, inside a coin envelope which is nestled inside a custom foam insert in the self slab product. A photo of the obverse graces the slab along with a printed description. I did it this way so that this coin would fit into my type set album which uses the slab pages. And finally, you can use one of the coin tray systems. These seem like they would be pretty gentle on the coin unless your Grand Pyrenees puppy of 140 pounds slings the cabinet across the room.
Lol, it is grams, thankfully, yes grains would be like a piece of rice. I like the idea of a jeweler, thank you for the suggestion - I guess I will wait to see it, in hand before I decide, I'd like to display it in a slab in my Lighthouse binder in an Encap page (picture below), so maybe self slabbing is the way to go - I'm just concerned because of the NGC designation as "fragile" that it's really delicate. Hopefully they were overly cautious. Our grown up puppy is thankfully only about 50lbs but is mostly boxer and likes to sit on people and other dogs, because she is silly. Thank you for your helpful response!
If you just leave it alone the coin will stay just as it is. The coin is not deteriorating, it's not falling apart or anything of the sort. The coin was damaged, plain and simple, and more damage is not going to occur unless someone causes it. Put it in an over-size Air-Tite, close it up and leave it alone - it'll stay just like it is. It looks like the coin was holed and worn as a necklace or pendant. Then at some point somebody pulled on it ripping the chain through the top rim of the hole causing what you see.
Coin repair is a very specialized craft. It's not something that every jeweler can do, even if they are especially gifted in diamond setting and general jewelry repair. My advice is leave the coin alone. There nothing anyone can do to improve it. It's the sort of piece you place in a holder and avoid touching it. This James I gold laurel is paper thin. It wouldn't take much to bend it I store in a safety flip and have had no problems.
