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A Tale of Two Barber Dimes

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A while back on E-Bay, I picked up a Barber Dime in NGC MS-66. I was surprised when I received it, at how dark the toning was on the obverse, with what looked like a big, fat, fingerprint across the portrait. Underneath though, I could tell that there was a lot of luster remaining in the coin. Another board member suggested I send it to NGC for their Appearance Review process. I did so, with a note that I felt that if the toning could be lightened on the front, revealing the luster, the coin would be a no-question 66. There were a few green spots on the reverse that I suggested needed to be removed as well. The coin was received back today (within a week and a half) and the coin had been lightened as suggested, and the spots were removed:

 

BEFORE:

 

fcc60efa.jpg

 

AFTER:

 

fcab958a.jpg

 

REVERSE:

 

fcab9588.jpg

 

Kudos to NGC for keeping the originality of the piece intact and still improving the eye appeal of this piece.

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At some angles, you wouldn't think there is any toning on the portrait at all. Not as booming as the completely white reverse, but there was a lot of luster under the print.

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I actually don't like what they did. I realize that I can't get the true feel of the coin simply from a scan and that it likely makes the coin look much more flat, however, they seem to have taken away some of the darker, purer colors from the rim and, in the process of lightening the portrait, have revealed what appears to be a significant hit in front of Liberty's mouth. You have a much better idea of how the balance of the coin changed since you have been able to inspect it but I wouldn't want them to do something like that to one of my coins.

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Tom,

 

There was some bluish-green toning around the F in OF and A in AMERICA that got lessened. There are still traces there, but that side of the rim suffered a little. The mark in front of the nose is actually some of the old toning pattern that is still present, and not an actual hit.

 

This is a coin that many people would have taken and dipped all the toning off in an effort to "improve" the piece and make it more marketable. The Buy It Now price when I got it was a significant percentage below Bluesheet Bid for the grade. I think that NGC was able to compromise and leave enough of the original toning without completely altering the piece.

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Okay, your explanation of what the coin really looked/looks like makes me feel much better about what was done. Do you think that perhaps NGC would accept some sort of enhanced image of what you would like the coin to look like when they are finished? That might be cool.

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It is nice to know that we have that recourse available. I had no idea that we have a service available for this. I just dread having to dip any coin (even in well diluted acid) because of dark toning. I am always afraid that I may lessen the coin rather than improve it.

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