I Don't See Any Reasonable Way to Resolve This, But ...

It's easier to conserve somebody else's grade, if it goes up or down, it's not YOUR problem.

 

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I see that frequently when perusing slabbed circulated coins for sale, particularly old copper/bronze coins — gunk accumulated in the devices from years/decades of handling that nobody bothered to address before submitting for grading. I avoid them out of concern over what problems might develop down the road.

If it were my coin, I'd either replace it with one that's gunk-free, or do what Jaelus suggests:

 

It's a Rarity-1 coin graded VF.
I'm not going to spend lots of money to get it conserved.
I was just asking in case someone had a good idea that had avoided me.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

To be honest, the slab does nothing for the coin. Just crack it out and use the acetone dip. It will dissolve off the grease, and anything embedded in it will come off as well. After you do, the surface will be too dry, so you will need to brush a tiny bit of mineral oil on the coin. It will look much better. Specialists do this all the time.

 

I'm with you. It's nice and pretty the way it is...seriously...given its age and circulation, et al. If you don't like coins like this, don't buy/acquire them again. As for re-grading after any attempt to soak or otherwise, BEWARE...but you can always request a "no slab" if a details grade. I do that as standard practice on any/all coins sent in...a no-grade ("details" comment) is, for the most part, the kiss of death to most coin's potential value and marketability. Many folks just aren't going to give it a second look. That said, have bought a few that I couldn't see it, didn't agree with it, etc., cracked it out and re-sent it to the other TPG (NGC if PCGS, and visa v.)...got a straight/legit grade back on each. For another topic/time.

 

Leave it alone. It's sealed, graded, and airtight. What's more, it's a very nice looking coin for it's age and circulation. Good luck in your decision.

 

Might I suggest finding a "junk box" large cent with a similar look if you're interested in experimenting with crud removal. It should satisfy your curiosity as far as what works and what doesn't, as well as what to predict a coin will look like after removing crud.

 

Observation: once the originality is gone, you can't get it back. Look at a dealer/auction gallery of (non-cheap) coins of any type and compare the ones with CAC stickers to the ones without. The ones with some original toning and a bit of dirt in the devices are often the superior coins, sporting the CAC beans. (I say "non-cheap" because people don't send real inexpensive coins to CAC sometimes.) This isn't an ironclad rule, of course - guck like PVC/verdigris/corrosion isn't pretty and it isn't healthy.

 

Isn't this the same thing as a coin graded as tooled? Screw up once and the game is over?

 

Not really. Tooled means you're moving metal around. A junk box large cent will offer the chance to see what happens when you try to remove crud with solvents and a stick. No real downside, since it's already in a junk box. The upside is that you learn what might and might not be salvageable.

 

Why ? Why would you want to clean these coins . Take away years and years of history and you guys want to make it all nice and pretty ? I don't get it .

Some things cannot be explained.

There are several types of green crud on copper. The soft stuff comes right off, usually with no damage underneath.

IMO, Acetone is a highly overrated chemical for copper. It will remove organics. I have no time to SOAK COINS.