My "Ash Wednesday" Half Cent

I'd say that's a good next move, keep us posted. And congrats on a great example!

Sorry Slider, I disagree there. Yes the coin is original, but the coin will also be dust eventually if not properly conserved.

You made me laugh! Thanks.

Steve

Looks like, for ashes, someone used the lit end of a cigar!

I wonder if there are any "comparables" in recent sales or for sale that might help inform what collectors think of similar spotting on an otherwise valuable coin?

Stay well,
Diy89Nurm7

I believe no one looks at a spot like that in a positive way. However, this coin has so many Positive attributes (blazing luster that the photos cannot capture, great strike, and other than that spot, very decent surfaces for copper), which is how it got upgraded to a MS64+RD AND got a CAC for being SOLID as a M64RD (CAC ignores "+" grades).

As far as what to do about the spot, I have now reconfirmed that the spot appears to not have "grown" at all in the past full year that I have owned it, but as noted above, I plan on sending it to the professionals at PCGS Restoration in the Spring and have them look at it. I'll let them know my primary goal is to see if there's something they can do to CONSERVE it, to make sure the spot does not grow (or to slow down the growth). Only secondarily, I'll see if they feel they can lighten or reduce the spot IF they feel it will NOT reduce the coin's existing luster or cause a new/different type of spot, as it's important to me to have CAC reapply their sticker if any conservation is done. As noted in my earlier post, I'll keep this forum advised when I receive a result, but that will likely come in the Summer.

Understood! Excellent advice. Every time I've had coins go to PCGS Restoration (only about four times or so), the professionals at PCGS Restoration did a good enough job that the original CAC sticker on each of those coins was always reapplied. The last one was a "big" job, and I actually sent the coin in advance to John. Sure enough, it got the sticker back after the pros at PCGS Restoration took "Miss Ugly", and turned her into Cindarella, a real beauty (yes, a slight exaggeration on my part).

Please READ ALL of these points before looking at the photos, if possible:

1. This coin had been purchased to "fill a hole" (not too smart), and has subsequently been upgraded with a different coin. This was clearly (to me) the ugliest coin in my collection.
2. This is NOT an apples to apples comparison since the "After" is a TrueView and the "Before" has no TrueView!.
3. I don't have any slab shots of the "After", since I no longer have the coin, as I sold it to a friend after I disclosed to him what had transpired.
4. The Image Optimizer Tool really reduced the image quality of the True View. I'll attempt to put in a hotlink to the PCGS page which contains the True View in much more detail.
5. Not tied to the above, the dies for this coin had some issues. I was shown a photo of another 1854 coin by a friend that was made with this same pair of dies, but that coin is graded MS66. As such, there are several "marks" you'll see on my coin that are actually from the dies. Besides the clash marks, there's a diagonal line on the obverse from the left arm to the "T" in United; what looks like a little gouge from the forearm holding the pole, among others. The weakness in the reverse center by the feather talons and the weakness in the strike of one set of claws is also identical on the MS66 coin (NOT shown here). On the reverse slab of the "Before", there's cloudiness at the center of that reverse slab. For those that wonder why PCGS gave this a 64, AND why CAC said it was solid as a 64 is because these distractions are all mint made.
6. Finally, the slight rainbow coloration on the obverse periphery now seen in the "After" TrueView" was actually visible on the coin in hand "Before", but are not visible in the photos of the "Before". PCGS Restoration did NOT add any coloration or toning.










Hotlink to a better quality TrueView (once you click on the hotlink, then click on that TrueView to see a larger, more detailed version)

https://www.PCGS.com/cert/40981024

To be clear, I was indicating that the "Before" coin was ugly (not the grade, which I liked). But remember, this was a mistake on my part - "They" are correct when they say "Buy the coin, not the holder" I bought the holder.

I like the "After" coin, but as noted, I upgraded this to a MS65+ PCGS w/CAC.