1909 VDB Lincoln Wheat Cent Doubled Die - DDO-001, FS-1101

I don't think acetone did this. It was a more abrasive chemical. Acetone will improve luster from what ive seen. And have submitted coins dipped in acetone.

Thanks for all the great comments! I was away all day, actually having fun instead of working for a change. It was brought to my attention that the title has a typo, it is FS-1101, not FS-101 but it's been 24 hours so I can't change it now. I got it right with the info by the coin photos though.

Years ago I put some high-end coins in acetone and was mighty displeased with the results. That light bits of smudgy that I was hoping to remove were removed, but under them they had done some kind of minor reaction with the surface of the coin and so when it came out of the dip they still had great luster but were obviously altered when you looked at the surfaces. Micro corrosion of the patina under the smudgy stuff had eaten just enough tiny bits of metal that the end results were coins that looked dipped, as in the surface wasn't natural or correctly colored. Just a hint off, but off enough that PCGS would cuff it.

That said, it isn't impossible that they used something like MS70 or other product claiming to not harm the coin. What I am seeing is what I saw back when I did a few with acetone, but that was a long time ago and maybe this one was treated with something else. Yes, still a fabulous coin, just so sad at the same time.

That would be great! I am looking forward to that!

Thanks Spence. Some days just doing too much too fast and make mistkes. Er, mistakes.