1855 Gold $, To Break Out And Soak, Or Not?

First, Are you sure wax is the reason for rejection? Altered surfaces can mean many things. An acetone bath wouldn't hurt but might not help get it into a problem-free holder either.

Second, I use pliers to break open slabs on the label end of the slab, as far away from the coin as possible. A Dremel tool is often mentioned and should work well too.

Last, Your coin is not a high-value piece. You might be better off selling it selling buying one already in the grade you want.

Best of luck!

I can see why you'd want to keep it, then. Your reasoning about the removal of the wax is accurate, but so is BH's advice that removing the wax won't necessarily get the coin into a problem-free holder.

Another consideration is that it's possible (since you've submitted the coin recently) PCGS may already have high-resolution images of it, whether they've released them to the public or not. PCGS has owned the patent on automated software grading for many years, and never done anything with it....in public. Until (I'm theorizing) they introduced the Secure Plus service which is plainly the application of that patent in their operations.

The only reason I went off on that tangent is to explain why they may already have precise data on your coin, sufficient for them to almost-automatically determine that they've already seen the coin before, and assigned a Details grade. It's very unlikely that they've done so for your relatively low-value coin, but they may have.

The only thing which removing the wax might hurt is when it reveals what was under it. If the wax was accidental as you think, nothing untoward will be revealed.

In my shoes, if I were you? I'd do it. Remove the wax and resubmit. You seem comfortable with the cost, and that'd be the only stopper.

This is a neat one - I'll be following along. [popcorn]

Hmmmm... After reading SsuperDdave's comment, perhaps I am not in the best position for sending it back. The coin was graded through their Secure Plus service, so they certainly have a scan. Does this mean that they will not in the future re-grade a details coin, even if it is then apparent that there are no problems?

On value, I was not convinced that the coin has any real wear on it. The coin does exhibit a very light strike in some areas, particularly the center of the reverse. In MS state, this coin can be rather valuable as it is the Type II, which is why I sent it into the Secure Plus service. I agree though that based on the picture included above, this is not apparent.

The results on other coins I sent through the Secure Plus service came back with the exact grade I expected. I can not, in any way, blame the service, but rather my lack of previous knowledge on the wax issue. Although relatively new at all this, I catch on quick, but can still get tripped-up on details or situations that I have not previously encountered. I'm learning.....

I did not emphasize that truth as well as I should have. Secure Plus is for high-value coins. It's a technology that scales down rather easily, but that doesn't mean they're doing it, nor does it mean that they're necessarily disqualifying coins based on what their computers flag.

It's just as likely that, seeing the coin in its' conserved state (and mind you, nobody considers the results of acetone to be "cleaning," because if it's done properly to the right coin you can't tell it's been done), they'll compare it to the previous and say "Hey, this was only incidental wax-paper rub, not deliberate" and offer a righteous grade.

But consider that "Altered Surface" does not mean only wax; it could mean putty (for gold) which is not accidental. It could also mean, "let me rub this thing with my thumb (or an eraser) until this soft gold melds back into what it was before." Successfully removing the wax might not change why they called it a 94. It's the risk you have to weigh, and unless you're capable of providing images at the very highest level of quality (this is a darn small coin), all we can do to help is offer opinion based on what we know.

Everything is understood in the comments, and I thank you. It is my belief that the problem is the wax. The other 9 coins in the set of gold dollars are also in the small wax paper envelopes and have wax transferred onto them. None of the other gold coins in the collection, which were in small manila 2X2 envelopes, have the problem. Of course, by removing the wax, there could be something else, though I would be surprised. I understand that nobody here can answer this question, but ideas and suggestions on the best way to proceed are appreciated.

I do have pure acetone, so I should be ok on that front.