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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,800 |
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
Just got back my last shipment for a TPG and the below coin came back with a QC designation. For the 1/2 cent experts on this forum, 1) any chance this coin will ever grade "clean" on a raw submission?, and 2) what do you think caused it to look as it currently does?   |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
Again, what does questionable designation mean? Do you just mean a details grade? Currently, I think there is something odd going on with the surfaces. I means, towards the middle of the coin and around the devices the coin appears to have superb luster but as you move away towards the rim, it's more like that of a much lower grade coin. I don't maybe the coin was cleaned and then artificially re-toned? It's hard to say without getting a good judgement of the surfaces in hand.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
Maybe an old cleaning of a MS coin.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
It appears to have been cleaned and re-toned, but, it also may be re-toning by itself after being cleaned. There are ways to re-tone copper slowly.
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Valued Member
 United States
291 Posts |
@ zxcccxz yes, au details questionable color.
I've seen a fair amount of cleaned copper, but never anything that has looked quite like this.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8521 Posts |
Did you buy it from the same seller that sold you the 1864 2 cent ?
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
@ 52Raymo I inherited a diverse collection of coins. This, and the 1864 2 cent were both living next to each other in a safety deposit box for the last 30+ years. But yes, the bill of sale for both coins indicate they were purchased from the same collection in the mid 1970's. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
I have 2 LC's that look like this with less of the darker toning and I had the same questions as you have. I was told by an expert in the large cent field that my 2 coins had been dipped and were re-toning on their own. I was told that this was done by some collectors years back. The bright copper color (not natural looking) on your coin is in somewhat protected areas of the coin so this to me suggests a re-toning by some means, possibly natural re-toning, possibly paper (maybe paper napkin) that has sulfur in its composition touching areas that are not protected (darker areas) and not touching areas that are protected (bright areas)..
Edited by 1893S
05/22/2014 9:14 pm
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
@ 1893S Thank you for the explanation.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
11922 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1852 Posts |
In my experience, natural toning patterns, not just on copper but on any other coin, often show darker toning around the devices which lightens toward the fields. Over time the tone evens out and the entire surfaces (devices + fields) acquire the same tone. Now, on this coin, the pattern seems to be the opposite: lighter around the devices, darker on the fields, which does not seem natural. In my opinion, this seems be a situation where the coin was cleaned and is now retoning. Alternatively, the coin was recolored, and the recoloring was not done uniformly. Note this is till a nice and well preserved little Half Cent! I would let it retone naturally over time by placing it on a window sill where the sun catches it. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1874 Posts |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,800 |
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Posted 05/22/2014 7:36 pm
