Hello my friends. Here is my latest acquisition a Beautiful Augustus Aureus. Do you think it is great as it is or should I take it out of its gold frame?
I agree with @Mat. It looks like there shouldn't be much edge damage from the mounting, so if it's possible to remove it carefully I 100% would. Lovely coin, by the way!
It looks like it is only connected by prongs. That means if you can carefully bend the frame the coin should just pop right out, without any edge damage. But, if the bezel is somehow attached to the coin you would have a much harder time removing it.
I would leave it as is. You can easily remove it at any time. To have another bezel put on would cost though. It does not hurt it being on and it does not obscure any of the coin.
I would definitely ask a jeweler/goldsmith to do it. Good ones will have steady hands like a surgeon & are used to working on small objects without scratching them. One slip, you could scratch the heck out of it. For a pro this might be a 30 second job. (Heck, if you're lucky, they might do it for the price of whichever prong they snip off!) If you happen to be near Milwaukee I'll send you my uncle's address!
I agree. Let a professional remove this. If we were talking about a LRB in a silver holder I would say do it yourself, but you are looking at an early aureus. Best to minimize risk with a professional.
If you just bought the coin I’d leave as is. You can always remove it later. If your unsure about removing it yourself, go to your local jeweler.
The real question is how it’s connected, if it’s free floating are not attached I think it would be really easy to remove with out any damage what so ever but if it’s attached using some other means I would leave it alone.
If I wanted to remove it. I would use a pair of side cutter and clip two sides so it just falls off. Unless you don't feel you are in any way Mechanically inclined. Then you can sell the gold for scrap.
I have a Grade 1 Atocha coin 8 Real with COA from the Mel Fisher Museum. The guy I bought it from had a jeweler put on an 18k gold hand made bezel. I did not take it off. I thought it looked neat and it can always be taken off but it would cost way way more to put one on then it did when I bought it. I paid 375 for the coin from a Key West mission who worked in Key West every winter. I had it verified from the Mel Fisher Museum. The last time I was in Key West these were running around 1600 for that size and grade no gold. I also have a Gold Escudo and US 10$ gold piece in bezels. I have left them as they are.
I would leave it in there if the mount had any historical significance (>150 years old or so). To me, oddball things like this can actually increase my enjoyment of the item (gives it character, a story, etc). If it was mounted 20 years ago, I'd definitely prefer to have it removed (whatever option reasonably minimizes chance of damage). Great coin by the way!
