1925 Penny Help Please

OH Tim I forgot to mention I also seen the guy on here who uses the Kookaburra emblem (sorry mate I cant remember your name) I read a post he put on here about using oil and acetone, not sure in what order he does it but I did read it.

forgot to attach pics sorry.

Hi sweetap,

Some of it is grott, and a little bit of light surface verdigris, but underlying is some evidence of pitting and corrosion - that, for me, would be the most significant detractor to this coin. It's not too severe, but enough to make a difference. Not one I would go at unless the price was right, although the coin is not a total write-off. I wouldn't be paying VF pricing on it, though. Detail to VF with pitting, would be a fair description, IMHO. Value of VF? No, not in my book.

The coin also has a few rim marks that would detract a bit from overall value, but as I say, the pitting is the big issue for me, even if mild.

Regards,

Tim Bowden
TDK APDC

No worries sweetap,

A bit more on your actual question, if you're interested:

'Is the funny surface due to being cleaned and now is forming some sort of crusty corrosion'.


No, cleaning is not likely to be the actual cause of the crusty appearance, although it can be.


In basic terms:

Some of what you are seeing is grott, which is natural, and some of what you are seeing is mild verdigris (green, skummy mix).

The rest is the uneven surface created by oxidisation, (corrosion), where moisture and air have come in to contact with the metal over an extended period of time, causing it to react together and deteriorate, (verdigris is formed). Corrosion has caused the pit marks, which appear when the verdigris comes away for whatever reason, leaving a spot where the copper used to be.

It is likely that the verdigris that caused the initial pitting was cleaned away at some point in an effort to 'stop the rott' and preserve the coin from further deterioration, however the coin does not demonstrate evidence of recent cleaning. (thus the grott, and small amount of verdigris still showing, which appear to be fairly natural).

Clear as mud?


This'll make it worse:

When looking at images, you need to be a bit careful.

The 'grainy' effect can also appear as a result of poor resolution in images, (particularly scans), and may give the appearance of mild pitting.

This is not the case with the coin imaged above, which has quite well detailed images.

So, if you are looking at other coins and come to the same conclusion, consider whether the appearance may be because of resolution, because it can look similar at first glance.


Regards,

Tim Bowden
TDK APDC

Definately harshly cleaned, looks also like heavy pitting (or stains, but probs pitting).

The last one was much better than this one mate.

You're welcome, mate.

If you are looking for some 'self help' info that will assist with grading and valuation, my resource site has a visual grading guide, which you are welcome to use. It may help put things in to perspective a bit for you.

It can be found here:

http://www.tdkapdc.com.au/australia...g-index.html

It does all get easier, (and really quite interesting), once you have a reasonable foundation to work from.


Regards,

Tim Bowden
TDK APDC