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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;-jeffB, post: 1934314, member: 27832&quot;]Yeah, it&#039;s really hard to tell, but if these were picked out of a larger lot by someone who recognizes key dates, it helps knock out my initial &quot;couldn&#039;t possibly be real&quot; knee-jerk reaction.</p><p><br /></p><p>Even with this much heat damage, real examples of those dates would be worth conserving and getting authenticated. By &quot;conserving&quot;, I mean &quot;having them treated by professionals who know what will help restore the coins without further damaging them&quot;. Even wiping off soot with a soft cloth will damage coins, although with these I don&#039;t think you&#039;ve done significant harm.</p><p><br /></p><p>By &quot;getting authenticated&quot;, I mean sending the coins to a company (a &quot;third-party grader&quot;) that will examine the coins, offer a professional opinion on their condition and authenticity, and encapsulate each one in a tamper-resistant holder (&quot;slab&quot;) labeled with its date and condition.</p><p><br /></p><p>Both conservation and authentication/grading cost money, but you typically make back that money and then some when you go to sell the coins. If I saw one of these on eBay, I&#039;d be unlikely to bid -- it&#039;s just too hard to tell whether it&#039;s authentic from a photo or scan. But if I saw one in a slab, I might bid. (And I&#039;d probably be outbid.)</p><p><br /></p><p>There are several grading services, and a lot of different opinions about which ones to use. I won&#039;t rekindle that fight here, but I will say that some companies do both conservation and authentication/grading, and prices vary widely -- from $15 or so per coin to slab, plus $12 to conserve an entire batch of coins, up to $50 or more per coin just for slabbing, depending on how you submit the coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>If I were in your shoes, I&#039;d pick out a few of the coins (maybe with help from folks here) and see if they authenticate. If they do, many or most of these coins would be worth sending through the process. If they don&#039;t, you can probably assume that all the rest are fakes, too.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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