http://www.ebay.com/itm/1908-O-BARBER-QUARTER-NGC-AU53-NICE-/130686420707?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item1e6d8486e3 To me this coin looks harshly cleaned. And yet there it is, in a problem-free holder from NGC. Anyone think they messed up in this case? Or are those acceptable hairlines? (BTW this Ebay seller has always provided excellent service to me!)
I am not convinced it was cleaned. Like Doug said though, hard to tell from those images. Here is one I have that is much more obvious that it was cleaned. Aside from the obvious cleaning marks, notice the difference in the luster between mine and the one the OP posted.
Well maybe its the pics, but I see remnants of some very bad toning so I believe that coin was overdipped. I am not saying the person who did it had a choice, since my guess was the coin was covered with some nasty black toning and the dipping was the only thing that could save the coin. Overall, though, to me looks over dipped resulting in lack of luster. Its shiny, but not lustrous. If I had to guess, I am guessing it was dipped repeatedly and then lightly polished. This is only from a photo which is dangerous so not throwing the coin under the bus unless I could see it in hand. I just cannot get over the black on the reverse, and the only times I have ever seen those is from remnants of dipping a black coin.
Somone told me that "53" was code for a coin with minor problems; others question whether AU53 should even exist as a grade. It does not look that bad to me, and you had three graders in a completely black dark room with the best lighting in the world and a finalizer who thought it was OK. So who is to judge? If it were a super rare coin you can be sure that puppy would have ended up in a details holder. There are plenty of "walking wounded" coins with various problems. Does the market discount them? You betcha!
It looks to me too like it was "harshly cleaned". At the least, something happened to it that's not natural. Gee--a major TPG totally screwing up their grading.....never saw that coming....(??!).....
I find it very difficult to tell based on these photos. It could just be the lighting. But, as we discussed in another thread...this is a prime example of why we need to be able to judge a coin being slabbed or raw. With the concerns I have based on the photos, I would not add this coin to my collection even though its "slabbed." I'd look for another example, there are plenty out there.
It is very hard to tell, but that obverse looks like it was harshly cleaned. I'd say it was "Au details" but harshly cleaned. Just one man's opinion.
Might have been dipped at one point, there's lots of toning/crud around the devices to indicate some sort of help.
Looks to have been dipped, the black toning around the reverse devices seem to indicate places where the toning was not fully removed.
Not to me. It looks like it was dipped, and is slowly re-toning in spots. The luster is uneven due to that, and so is the toning--it was not a recent dip.
Just saw this thread but I'd like to venture a thought beyond the iffy pic. What if their own NCS did the cleaning/dipping whatever and shipped it to be graded NGC? Do they look the other way on cleaning and putting in detail/blackbag if someone paid to have the conservation done? I'm not going all conspiracy here but would NGC just assume because their conservation service did the work that it was done right when maybe it wasn't?
Nope, NGC has put many a coin worked on by NCS in Detail slabs, and body-bags before Detail slabs existed.
They have also put many coins into problem free slabs that they shouldn't have after NCS treatment as well. So do they turn a blind eye to NCS worked on coins? Sometimes, sometimes not.
I won't disagree, but I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that it was NCS who worked on the coin. You and I both have seen many problem coins slabbed as problem free by NGC and PCGS - regardless of who worked on the coin. To me the issue isn't that NGC gives NCS preferential treatment. To me the issue is that NGC and PCGS both give preferential treatment to specific coins.
