Would love to hear any input on this. After a lot of reading, I came up with this. Please let me know if I have this correct. Value for each coin would be in the range of $200-$600. All coins are copper proofs. If they decide they can't help the coin, the fees would be a bit less. Restoration and grading. NCS $45 PCGS $30. I know that NCS has been doing this type of work, much longer. Not sure if that matters. The coins would probably bring more at auction in PCGS slabs and I can get Trueview images for about $5 extra.
I have only had three total coins conserved over all of my years in the hobby, and those were all coins which, after original submission for grading, the service came back to me with the recommendation to conserve. All three of those coins came out well. I expect the reason was because they voluntarily recommend conservation only for those coins where they feel the likelihood of an improved outcome are high. When a customer asks them first if a coin should be conserved, they are pretty much let off the hook, because the discussion was initiated by the customer, and not by the conservation service. In other words, I have never, of my own inclination, sent coins in for conservation. That is because I know of more cases of dissatisfaction than I do of favorable results. Knowing that, I think the cost of the service should weigh much less on your mind, than likelihood of favorable outcome. As for my preference between the 2 services, I have none . . . my sample size of 3 coins is statistically insignificant. More importantly, I have used only one of the two services, and therefore have no experiential basis on which to compare them. Good luck.
With copper even professional restoration is a gamble. I've seen plenty of restored copper from NCS (before and after pictures)that I thought was not an improvement and in some cases they looked worse after restoration. With proofs it might be even more touch and go.
I had PCGS restore a Fugio for me. It had some pretty severe green growth in the crevices that they addressed. I was pleased with the results.
Cleaning, dipping, restoration, conservation - whatever you choose to call it - is always a gamble, always ! So the question becomes is it worth that gamble ? At this point Larry only you know what you have so you have to be the one to figure that out. But consider this point of view first, what could you get for the coins as they are ? Then estimate what you think the best case scenario could be if the coins were cleaned and the fees added in - and compare the two. Whatever number you come up with usually answers the question you have. It's a simple risk vs reward question.
A few years ago I bought some silver Mexican coins from one of my relatives. The coins were dirty but no major scratches that I could see. I decided to have them conserved & graded by NGC. I was happily surprised at how well they were able to conserve/clean the coins. They definitely look a lot better and the grades were in the range I expected. It wasn't inexpensive to have this done but after seeing the results it was worth having it done. That' just my opinion of course
It sounds like to me: that if it is a silver coin, it will come out well. But, if it is copper, it's a real crap shoot. To me.
I sent a coin in to ncs for conservation they sent it back saying it was too risky basically. I respected that from them it didn't cost much to send it and have it looked at. I will probably send some older silver pandas to them in the future. That's the only first hand experience that I have had with either of the two.
Yes, restoring copper is tricky. However, if you have been following Larry's recent posts at all, you know that many of his Indians are sorely in need of some TLC, and the risk may pay off. I personally would go with NCS. That have been doing it longer, they have the experience, and they have excellent customer service. I have used NCS a couple of times, and I've been pleased.
I,ve been trying to clean my coins ncs how do they clean them and which procedure dipping or ms 70 do they tank them in a jewelry cleaner of some sort All the coin i,ve done loose tone and sheen how do you clean them and keep color. I have found acid free oils take hours but sdheen is held a bit and seems to come back quickly is there another way also what do they casll an improper cleaning anyone know
I think all the companies that conserve coins protect their processes. Guaranteed (mostly) harm free methods include rinsing/soaking in pure solvents (water, alcohol, acetone, xylene) and (sometimes) a careful dip in diluted eZest or some such. Always a crap shoot.
