Lacquered Large Cent: A Job For Ncs?

Hello folks. I don't want to hijack the the thread but I am new here and looking for a little help on a topic close to this one. If you can point me in the right direction I'll not bother you further.

I recently inherited a belt buckle on which my Dad epoxied half-a-dozen Morgan dollars. I loved my Dad dearly, but this "thing" is REALLY ugly and I would like to see the coins returned to something more in line with their history, so I have two questions:

1) Can you tell me how to remove the coins without damaging them?
If the answer to "1" is "get a professional to do it", then
2) Can you point me to a professional that can do it?

I have seen reference to "NCS" which I assume means Numismatic Conservation Services or something of the sort, but I do not find them with a google search of "NCS".

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Paul

I bought 5 large cents from a seller in Missouri, and after getting the first one, I reallized that it had been coated with varnish or lacquer. I used lacquer thinner and it melted right away. Then soaked it in acetone for a few minutes and patted it dry. I got the 4 others today, and while they too had been clearcoated at some point, they also have a fine film of PVC contamnant on them. Don't fool yourself....those staple type coin holders will damage a coin left in them for 40 years if they aren't kept dry.

I've been applying zip strip and letting it work for 15 minutes or so, soaking up the stripper with a paper towel, blotting it with pressure which is lifting the pvc from the coin. I'm finished with 2 of them and they came out well. I'll be posting pictures of them when I'm done in the classic coins sub category, in the thread "Large Cents 2 acquisitions for my Dansco" or something to that effect.

Chance

Always start any conservation project by following the solvent polarity ladder. Soak in the following, in a covered, glass vessel for 24 hours each:

1) distilled water
2) aectone
3) xylene

Rinse with fresh Acetone after removing from the bath and then rinse with Distilled water.

Thanks Freedom and biokemist6! So far, I've done the following to the coin:

Soaked in distilled water for three hours
Rinsed with acetone
Soaked in acetone for 5 minutes
Rinsed with water and still soaking (will go at least 12 hours)

I will repost with fresh pics. There's more red now coming out, but the difference isn't huge yet, but it's a definite improvement!

Thanks for the tips, everyone! I'm back with some pics to show the results. I had to resort to the ANACS-recommended rolled q-tip with acetone method for some stubborn spots. It's a definite improvement, though I was expecting a more dramatic result.

Hi BadThad,

Yes, it been through VC and very lightly rubbed with microfiber. I think it is just a combination of the patina and a bad picture. I had to resort the the cellphone camera for this close-up, but it is pretty accurate (discount the noise in the image):

Agreed, it looks a lot more natural now....nice job!