New Ft. Vancouver - looking for advice

[Crohnos01]

Ok, so I picked this up from a friend of mine who is down sizing his collection. He got it a number of years ago from his wife's great Aunt and it has been in their family for years. My photography skills really are not up to parr with many of you, so my apologies; I am still practicing. I cannot seem to capture the luster on this coin and I think now looking at it as I am posting, my focus is still off a bit. It has much more of a luster than my poor attempt shows. I will try to take some more photos tomorrow and repost them. I am using a Fujifil S1000, a tripod and two of the natural light CFL lamps (can't remember what they are called at the moment). If someone has an idea of how to bring out the luster on the photo, let me know. I did do a manual white balance (thanks to Brandon for walking me through how to do this awhile back). Holding the coin in hand is much more impressive when you rotate it in the light and pick up some of that original luster.

 

My real question is, what is the best thing to do with the darned thing? It is raw and came to me in a flip. Should I send it in for conservation to see if some of the gunk (like the spot on Doc John's shoulder on the obverse) can be removed, send it in for grading, or just leave it in a 2x2 and call it good? My goals are just to build my collection, but I am a little worried as to if some of the gunk around the rims may be damaging to the coin. I appreciate any thoughts.

 

Cripes. I can't even seem to get both pictures to load at the same size... Sorry folks.

 

[messydesk]

Looks like a pretty decent coin. Vancouvers can be spotty, blotchy coins that look like someone spilled coffee on them, and other than the blotch on the shoulder you mention, nothing else really turns me off. The toning is rather even. It's hard to tell what the blotch is, and if it's something that can be conserved or not. The stuff by the rims might just be dark toning that is best left alone. It would be best to have this coin certified, since it is worth a few hundred dollars and doesn't look like a problem coin. This will be your first (but not your only) line of defense from lowball offers to buy.

[Crohnos01]

It really is much better looking than my images allow for. I am going to try and take some better photos shortly. I want some nice images for no other reason than to send to my friend who I obtained the coin from. Something that has been in their family for several generations like this, I think he would appreciate a photo of.

 

I think that the blotch on the shoulder looks like a soft "sticky"compound of some sort. Almost like the residue from a sticker that had picked up dirt on it. I am thinking that I should send the coin to NGC for grading if for no other reason than to protect it.

 

Any thoughts on if I should try acetone on it or not? I have never done acetone cleaning on a really nice coin like this. Even though I know its supposed to be ok, it worries me to do so.

[messydesk]

If you're not comfortable using acetone on this coin, don't. If you think it might be goo on the coin and want it removed, then you probably have to go through NCS and give them explicit instructions to remove only the sticky goo.

[BillJones]

The trouble with removing goo on a coin like this is that you can end up with white spots that don't match the rest of the coin. If the goo is NOT PVC, I'd be tempted to leave it.

 

As for the coin itself, the yellow toning sometimes results after a coin was dipped some time ago. It's hard to tell from the photo. The Vancouver in my collection was dipped white. It's an okay coin, but not wonderful.

 

As for lightly, try using a source that is perhaps a couple feet above the coin. That might crank up the luster.

 

For what it's worth here is a photo of the Vancouver in my collection. It is graded MS-64.

 

[Crohnos01]

Thanks for the advice on the lighting, I will give that a try. Your shot definitely shows up the refective surfaces better than mine.

 

BTW - I like yours. I see what you are saying about the dipping, but I wouldn't be too unhappy with it either.

[TomB]

Vancouver half dollars can have absolutely spectacular luster. The spots on your coin are definitely distracting, but not all that uncommon for this issue. A light acetone treatment might help remove anything that is goopy, but if this is simply toning and carbon then it will not affect the coin. I see little reason to have it certified unless you want to have it certified since a Kointain or other holder would work just fine to preserve the coin.