Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SuperDave, post: 2650379, member: 1892&quot;]I&#039;m guessing this was directed generally; I&#039;ll answer from my own viewpoint.</p><p><br /></p><p>1) I consider it highly unlikely that features of this size, color and obvious vertical depth could just be &quot;splattered&quot; onto the coin without affecting any other spot on it. The edges are quite abrupt, no evidence of &quot;feathering&quot; at all, when one would assume that any liquid or semi-liquid splattered onto the coin, if it were liquid enough to separate into droplets, would also project somewhat smaller extensions adjacent to and contiguous with the larger areas. Those have been removed by the cleaning process, strong enough to get them while not strong enough to remove the worst/thickest of the contamination.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) The background of your images seems to be color-accurate, in that blacks look black without any real hue from anywhere in the color spectrum. I&#039;m theorizing that this coin was shot on an older, worn, high-pile velvet surface such as that which comes in a jewelry box. This, to me, means that aside possibly saturation issues, your images are relatively hue-accurate. That, in turn, means hues over the surface of the coin vary greatly, and not in any pattern known to me to be purely a photographic lighting artifact. That&#039;s a strong indicator of cleaning as well. Only the darker of the areas seems anywhere near the &quot;true&quot; color of an 1864.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) An IHC showing nearly unmarred sharpness in the horizontal lines of the shield was not only well-struck, it&#039;s barely circulated. This coin was no worse than AU to begin with, and for that grade not the weakest of obverse strikes plus wear could so completely obliterate the upper feathers in the headdress. That was where the removal tool(s) hit it the hardest, evidenced by the pitting on the cheek. It&#039;s plain that whatever&#039;s infecting this coin has worked its&#039; way into the metal, and they managed to remove the spot on the cheek, exposing the pitting clearly when they did. </p><p><br /></p><p>4) I&#039;ve handled a fair number of coppers which were crudded into near-invisibility, and attempted the removal of that crud from more than a few. Some of my efforts ended up looking just like this.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in