...or how my coin went from "body bag" to MS65RD.

I haven't submitted a huge number of coins for grading, but I've submitted enough to have suffered a variety of disappointments. I've had them returned with a details grade because of "excessive hairlines," "improper cleaning," and "altered color." One even came back in a body bag as having been "plated," but "lacquered" was a new one to me.

The 1928 Ecuador One Centavo is the only copper coin minted by the Philadelphia Mint for circulation in Ecuador. They are fairly easy to obtain, but full red, high mint state specimens are rare. I was really pleased to acquire a beautiful full red example in 2007, but I waited 5 years before sending it to NGC to see if I had a true winner. You can imagine my disappointment when it came back in a bag with no grade and an NGC tag that declared it to have been LACQUERED.

After an appropriate period of grieving and grousing, I decided to do some research. It seems that in days gone by it was a common practice to apply a thin coat of lacquer to copper and bronze coins to preserve their color. The postings I read also indicated that this was not necessarily a death sentence and the odds were pretty good that the lacquer coating could be removed safely using a solvent. I'm not a "do-it-yourselfer" in these matters, so I sent a email to NCS to see if they thought it was worth a try. They will never say yes or no without having the coin in hand, but the representative did indicate that they have had success in conserving lacquered coins, so I sent it in.

I've had success sending other coins to NCS for conservation, but this result is one of the most dramatic. NCS does amazing work, and in this case they not only resurrected my coin, they delivered a grade of MS65RD! Although the lacquer had darkened over the years, it wasn't hiding any scratches and it really did protect the surface. This coin looks as fresh as the day it was minted, and it is currently tied with one other for the finest graded by NGC.

Many details grades and body bag tags are permanent, but LACQUERED is not one of them. I highly recommend that you give NCS a try if this happens to you.

Below are the before and after pictures.

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