1797 Brittania 2 Pence help please

[jesbroken]

I traded for a 1797 Brittania 2 Pence coin recently and have no idea how to grade the coin. I traded a 1793 Leek Commercial half penny for it. Your opinions as to its grade and any tips on how to grade it would be welcome.

Thank you

Jim

 

[Oldtrader3]

The coin looks like it has been puttied to cover marks. Grade, net VF20 cleaned..

[RI AL]

Oldtrader...can you explain "puttied" to me?

 

RI AL

[physics-fan3.14]

Oldtrader...can you explain "puttied" to me?

 

RI AL

 

Sometimes, coin doctors will take a putty which has been designed to closely match the color of the coin, and dab small amounts on the surface to fill in hits, marks, dings, gouges, or holes. This is sometimes rather obvious, but a very good doctor can make it very hard to see. There was a thread a while back where (I believe) mrearlygold was talking about puttied gold coins. Also, if the coin has been holed, for a chain or something, doctors will fill in the hole with putty. This is often the easiest to detect.

 

I really don't know anything about Jim's coin, so I can't really tell from the pictures whats going on.

[Oldtrader3]

If you look at the areas around Una's arm and George's chin, you will see off-color smudges of some substance over various dings. This appears to be putty which has aged to be a lighter color than the surrounding coin. Without having the coin in hand, it is hard to say. However these lighter colored areas resemble discolored putty which has been used to cover some of the surface marks on the coin.

[Conder101]

I don't think so. There are lots of small but significant hits still on the arm and bust. Why fill a couple of hits and leave the rest? On copper coins off colored spots are not unusual because the metal is so reactive. All it takes is a droplet of slightly acidic liquid to create a light spot.

 

One thing you might be able to do to check would be to look at it under a blacklight. Some putties will glow under UV light.

[Yarm]

jesbroken, I can't claim the ability to grade these either, but the examples I have do not have a raised rim outside the (already) raised area with Georgius III, etc. but rather are smooth all the way to the edge. Is this an artifact of the photography or does your twopence have such a raised rim?

 

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n89/rwyarmch/George%20III/Merged1797Twopence.jpg[/img]]1797 twopence

[Conder101]

I don't think his coin has a raised outside rim, I think it is just an artifact/illusion of the imaging/cropping.

[RI AL]

Physics. Thanks for the "putty" explaination.

 

RI AL