This coin reminds me of that Seinfeld episode in which Jerry's girlfriend does not look quite as beautiful in certain lighting! When I picked it up it had some toning I saw but not until I took these pictures did the reality set in. Is all green toning bad on copper? This has some but don't know if it is verdigris? Would a little dip on a q-tip help? I know Verdi care supposedly works but Wizard has been out for months... I gave it an acetone bath but no change...
Yeah, I remember that episode, & I can see why that may be the case here. I can't speak to the cleaning of this cent, since I don't clean anything (by that I mean coins!). In 1953, the Phila. Mint made 256.8 million of these. So while this cent is in fairly nice condition for a 66 yr old cent, you should be able to pick up an MS-65 for under $20 or so. I don't attempt to grade coins by pics. What do you think this would grade if you can rid of the gunk? (On this one, my first thought was that Abe was strutting a pompadour .)
Actually there were only 128,800 proof 1953 cents made. But point taken on the cleaning, I dont do more than acetone. I have heard that the eZest on a q-tip can take the haze off of silver proofs but not sure how it wold react with copper.
With the second set of pics, it's hard to believe it's the same coin...amazing what different lighting can do. On the first pics, I never considered it a "proof", since to me, Abe looks too "mushy" & both the obverse & reverse didn't look sharp enough, & the edge didn't look square, to me. However, the second set of pics seem to show the brilliance & square edges, indicating it could be a proof. Are you saying it is a proof? Nevertheless, nice cent! (There are many threads on CT which discuss cleaning copper.)
Yes a proof! The "Seinfeld" effect of lighting I guess! I find it very hard to photograph proof coins...i think diffusing the lighting may help but it is tricky.
Yes, sorry, I missed that in the thread title. So, it's worth conserving but I can't help with that. Still, nice specimen!
