What do you think of this Reeded Edge Half?

[RGT]

 

[Tradedollarnut]

Nice! AU55-58

[relicsncoins]

I like it........Great photography too.

[truthteller]

An NGC MS62.

 

 

 

TRUTH

[toyonakataro]

I like it......can't grade those thing though.

[Stanley]

I would like to own it if you ever get tired of it...

[James_OldeTowne]

I like it a lot. Looks like a very choice UNC by today's standards. I love the grease-marks on the reverse, too - lends an aura of originality to the coin.

 

James

[MikeKing]

I love it. Your photos are fantastic too.

[paperchaser-migration]

Hmmm, looks like I'll have to go back to grading school. MS62 huh? mmmm.

[TJ'S Coins]

I know a collection where this beautiful gal would be very, very happy. Great coin!

[MeadP-migration]

Awsome photography of an awsome coin.

[RGT]

This is the point where Paul Harvey would say, "and now you'll hear, the rest of the story".

 

I can't tell you the whole story since I have only owned the coin since 1998, but I can speculate a bit on it's previous history. I picked up the coin on ebay as an AU. I can't recall if the auction had any pictures or not (many didn't back then) but I can't find them and I usually save all ebay pictures of coins I win. The coin came in a 2x2 and that's the way I left it.

 

Then about three years or so ago I took this coin and a few others to the local dealer to get an opinion on if they should be sent to NGC. He felt this coin was a borderline case and may or may not get slabbed. I decided to play it safe and not send it in. Here is the only picture I could find of the coin. I took this in Aug 2003 with my old Sony Mavica, so it's not a very good picture.

 

 

Yes, the coin was mostly white with a bit of tone at the rims. I suspect the coin was dipped and placed in an album where it started to retone. After thinking about it a bit I decided that I really didn't like a coin this age being that white and that was probably the reason the dealer thought it may not slab. So, I took the coin out of the 2x2, carefully wrapped it in tissue and placed it in a white business envelope. I wrote a note on the outside so I wouldn't accidently throw it away and then placed it up on top of a shelf. Now, two years later I came across the envelope and opened it up to find the coin you saw in the first picture.

 

Am I a coin doctor? Is the coin AT or NT or is it "market acceptable"? Should I put it back in the envelope another year or two or is the coin "done"? Does this say anything about some of the other beautifully toned coins you see around today?

 

This may not be as controversial as Hoot's repair job, but I'd like to hear some opinions on this.

[toyonakataro]

can you sell me the tissue?

[RGT]

can you sell me the tissue?

 

It wasn't the tissue that did it. I used Hayden's trick and sneezed on the tissue before I wrapped it up.

[MikeKing]

can you sell me the tissue?

 

It wasn't the tissue that did it. I used Hayden's trick and sneezed on the tissue before I wrapped it up.

 

You should put the tissue up for auction on ebay...

 

I'm not clear...did this coin get slabbed?

[RGT]

I'm not clear...did this coin get slabbed?

 

No. I haven't submitted it, but I was thinking about it. It doesn't look harshly cleaned, but I'm sure it was dipped at some time.

 

I'm surprised no one has any more comments about this one.

[James_OldeTowne]

I am glad you posted this story. I have done the exact same thing - stuck coins in paper envelopes, tissue, newspaper, whatever, and had excellent results just like this.

 

Coin doctor? YES, I would say it qualifies as being a coin doctor.

 

Which simply goes to prove that "coin doctor" is not a bad thing. It's how coin doctoring techniques are used that can be good or bad.

 

James

[RGT]

I thought that I had updated this thread, but I apparently didn't. I sent this coin to ANACS last year and it came back CLEANED. While it's true that the coin appears to have been dipped, I thought that it would be "market acceptable".

 

It really didn't bother me too much and I keep meaning to crack it out and put it in my new Dansco 7070. What has started to bother me though is the number of coins that I see that appear to be cleaned showing up in the new ANACS holders. I have had a few come back from the new ANACS marked as cleaned that I really have trouble seeing any signs of cleaning. Yet I see others on eBay that look to have been scrubbed white in these new holders.

 

I just came across this one today that reminded me of this thread. I have seen worse than this but this is also an 1837 Reeded Edge Half. I wonder how he got the tone to move around from the top rim to the bottom rim?

 

[MikeKing]

it seems to me that it's very hard to find Reeded edge Bust Halves that haven't been wiped or cleaned in some way producing hairlines, and if the photo is taken with the light at a certain angle, you won't see these hairlines, sometimes.

[RGT]

Bruce's Taco Bell thread prompted me to update this one. As I mentioned in the other thread this coin continued to tone after I took it out of the tissue. It is slabbed ANACS AU55 CLEANED but I keep meaning to crack it out and put it in my Dansco 7070. The luster is very nice and easily enough for the AU55 grade. I can see no hairlines or evidence of cleaning though I'm sure the coin was dipped at one time.

 

Here is my original picture from the first post followed by the current picture I took today. The color is stable now as far as I can tell. The color near the rims is fairly uniform all the way around but changes with the light angle so it was difficult to get it to show all the way around.

 

 

[Conder101]

I really like the final picture. A lot of pople say they would never have a problem coin in their collaection but this is a case where a problem coin has, by careful long term work (four and a half years), been restored to what I consider an acceptable coin that I would be proud to own. It may still show evidence of cleaning if seen in person, but it has made a wonderful recovery.

[EZ_E]

Howdy, Randy. I can only see positive results with your half. I actually think that it does the hobby justice to turn a less than desirable coin into something nice for future generations. However, I much prefer the AU58 example I got from you. I love that coin and consider myself fortunate to acquire it. Thanks again!

[RGT]

Thanks for the comments Conder and Victor. I can't see any signs of a harsh cleaning on this coin but it still looks dipped and retoned to me. But many coins in first tier TPGs have that look and probably have been through a similar process. I can't control what someone did to the coin before I owned it but I can try to let it acquire a more natural look. While this coin will never look original to my eye it does have a much more attractive look to me now.

 

Victor, I started off trying to put a raw type set together and bought this coin for it. Later I decided to switch over to slabbed coins for my type set. That's when I bought that AU58 that you now have. A couple of years ago I flip-flopped again and started working on a 7070. Unfortunately I had already sold many of my raw coins from my first set and even had a few of them slabbed. I still have this coin and a raw 1838 RE Half so I decided to part with that AU58. I hated to see it go because it was a much more original looking coin than this one. But I knew it would be appreciated and you would give it a good home.

[EZ_E]

But I knew it would be appreciated and you would give it a good home.

 

Yes sir! It is a coin that continues to grow on ya every time you view it. I definitely consider myself fortunate, Randy!