Need Your Valued Help Again With This 1859 Cent Dbl Struck?

i do have Vaseline here, but I have no idea where to get sulphure..., and how these two play a role with coins.
all that happens to copper coins here is that some get acquainted with warm water and soap. Silver coins might meet some acetone if the former does not work.
nothing was rubbed here
But, that the question was completely different.

Sorry, the question was value/grade and my thoughts related to that.

I think the coin was cleaned harshly and then had its toning "restored" by rubbing it with a mix of vaseline and sulphur.

I'm not saying you did that, I'm just saying I think (my opinion) that's what happened. Further I think it was done by someone who didn't have a very light touch.

So grade "authentic"

I agree, you took fantastic pictures and there's a lot of definition there.

Here's why I think what I do. I grab your photo, change it to grayscale and slowing start upping/lowering the contrast. All the minor hairlines in the queens neck pop up. Next, look at the colour of the coin you posted. Assuming error for colour correction and so on, that's the right colour for restored toning. See the bright spots on the fields of the coin? In those low points why isn't the patina much more even? It's almost mottled. you can understand the copper standing out on some of the raised surfaces, but a naturally toned coin shouldn't show that bright in those low fields when there is that much dark patina on the other areas of the coin. Again, look under the queens neck where's it's harder to a get a finger into. Last but not least there is a heavy gloss like quality on many of the edges around the lettering and beads. If you clean a coin and don't get in tight to these points, there is no natural copper to absorb your vaseline/sulphur mix. Instead the original patina remains and does it's job of repelling the mix and forms... glossy areas.

I don't have the coin in hand. The colour could be off, the hairlines could be artifacts of my admittedly old eyes. But I've seen cleaned, toning restored copper coins before and that's what they usually look like.

Just for the record, I don't have any need to be right, I'm just offering up what I see. Feel free to disagree. I have no ego in these matters.

i agree with ugly about the cleaning but I do think it looks doubled. it looks more clear at he bottom of 1859

What's wrong with banter? This isn't a job, it's just for fun.




I find people restore coins a lot, especially with metal detector finds. I've done it just to do it.

least noticeable way; (cost about five cents, takes no time/effort at all)
You tumble the coin in a plastic barrel rock tumbler using a soft oil based polishing blend about 6000-9000 grit so the coin doesn't look *too* noticeably cleaned. The tumbler forms a random motion and does away with the normal directional swirls of hand cleaning or swirling. It looks more random if you can even see it. Afterward, dump your find in a real bag of pennies and shake it around a bit to form fresh circulation marks. Rub in your magic toning solution and you have something that even a really good professional has a hard time identifying from a photo. Do it badly and it's obvious.




Does this help? looks like doubling to me. Manipulating the photo's to best contrast shows a lot more. Especially when that gleam is eliminated.

hhb, sorry man, I also agree with "ugly" that coin IS a problem coin. Certainly has been laquered or something similar. Of course we are all just basing our opinions on photos (which are great BTW) I don't agree it spent anytime in a rock tumbler. But it certainly has been messed with and coated in something.

hhb, have you received the coin back from CCCS yet? If so could you lease post the results, I find this thread to be very interesting!

Cheers!
Leaf