I liked this coin for the Civil War era date and the details... definitely cleaned and retoned though- had a very dark, glossy thing going on. Fine for an album coin, problem was it was so dark that I could hardly see the details at all when viewing my album. The above shot is under direct bright light. One short, very diluted dip later (exact same lighting) : Yeah, it revealed some chatter but brightened the coin up substantially. The details look great, I can actually see them now and it fits well with the other coins in there. I wouldn't usually dip a coin this circulated, but since it wasn't original anyway I took the risk. This was literally 2 seconds in a 1/8 dip & distilled water. Nice when it works out, I'll enjoy the coin for a long time now.
Alas, I did too. Looked nice in pictures but was just too dark in hand to enjoy and I couldn’t sell it in good conscience as problem free even with the retoning. I like it enough to not list it as a problem coin and let it go for cheap. Agreed... it had been messed with so I wasn’t shocked by that. Without the bright lights on it, it’s not so obvious. Definitely agree though... my thinking was if I’m hanging onto a details coin for the details I at least want to see them. I’ll post a few more pics of both tonight in alternate lighting.
Agree with Larry. My reason is while the original coin was dark, it looked more natural. It is a little "cleaner" now and sometimes that is a plus or a minus. I don't think the value has been affected. I just kind of liked the darker coin.
As I've said a million times, coins are like ice cream - it's one of those chocolate and vanilla things.
I agree that the details are now easier to view and because the coin already had problems, you just enhanced your viewing pleasure. What dip did you use?
Couple more of the before. I'm gonna take another look at that coin tonight; just bought a new batch of acetone. Might try a thing or two to get the last of that milky/hazy crap off of it.
Hopefully now it can re-tone in peace without that glossy weird stuff hanging all over the devices... enough dirt left to outline the design.
