Should I certify a Lincoln cent with big black carbon spot on the obverse?

fivecents

The spects and wishbone scratch are on the mylar flip.

Certify or put it in a cardboard 2x2?

merz2

Paul
I'd send it to NCS and see what they can do,then decide.

fivecents

Don...Can NCS remove a dark carbon spot like this one?

RGL

Nice toning, pretty coin but for the carbon ... I would save the slabbing fee for another coin.

fivecents

Yep.. that carbon spot is in the worst focal area....the center of the coin. Also has a nice "1970-S" toning.

How can a coin be gorgeous and ugly all at the same time?

coppercoins

Your problem isn't centered around one carbon spot...I see a few of them, and given the nature of carbon spots if you don't have them all removed, the others will grow in the slab. Just a heads up.

fivecents

Thanks for the heads up C.D. and everyone else. This coin is not worth the money to run thru NCS and then NGC. Looks like it will be put in a cardboard 2x2.

291fifth

Cardboard 2x2. Don't throw good money after bad.

GoYankees

For the toning, yes. Might make "star" at NGC.

BillJones

My, my how times have changed!

Back in the 1970s when an unusually high number of Proof 1970-S cents started toning like this with some regularity, this was classified as the classic "bad penny Proof set." It always lowered the value and made the set harder to sell. Quite often sets like this were broken up and sold as single coins, and the owner of a cent like this would be happy if he got 5 or 10 cents for it.

Now this toning is considered desirable? Who knows? If the trend continues maybe even the black spot, which is now center of discussion, will be considered desirable.

The thing to remember about spot removal, especially on copper is that the black might be induced to go away, but another tell-tale spots might be left behind to take its place. Also I see other spots on this coin that could not be removed without disturbing the toning. Spots like this are usually what lower the grade of Proof buffalo nickels. If a buffalo nickel with a few minor spots gets lowered to PR-65 or 64, what should a coin like this grade?

Steve

Bottom line. You either like your coin or you don't. Toning is a matter of opinion. My 1937 Lincoln proof has a beautiful iridescent toning of red, purple, blue and green. I paid $130 for it raw back in 1988 because of its toning. It is a beautiful coin IN MY OPINION. PCGS graded it PR64RB in 2002. Does that make it worth less than my 1938 PR65RD? Not in MY mind. Steve

coppercoins

But "worth" isn't a matter of opinion on the owner's/seller's part. Worth is determined by whether the item would sell at the asking price, in other words the buyer. I personally would stay away from any copper that has carbon spotting on it, because its worth is detrimentally affected regardless of the colors.

For the record I agree with BillJones and still live by that motto. Anything that has turned oddly is worth a lot less to me. It simply means the copper has something on it that has chemically altered it and is likely not to stop turning colors with the "irridesence" it currently has. Other people might still buy it high because of the color, but not me.

dorkkarl

not going to comment on the "value" of this coin, which is by def'n 100% SUBJECTIVE, but i can tell you, that carbon spot cannot be removed w/out significantly changing the appearance of that coin.

K S

seanq

I asked the same question back when I acquired this coin, and got the same answers - even NCS can't help it without significantly altering the appearance of the coin, and with no guarantee the carbon won't grow back.




Sean Reynolds

BillJones

The nasty corrosion spot on that 1964 cameo Proof cent is a killer. If the coin did not have that it would be worth what, 50 to 100 times what it’s worth now? I’m not a market maker in this area of the market, but I now that contrast like that does not show up very often on those coins.

It also shows the risk that you assume when you pay very high prices for these coins. Yes proper storage can usually prevent spots like this, but copper is reactive the risk is always there, even when the coin is in a slab.

seanq

Bill, that coin isn't in a slab, it's in a 2x2. I bought it for the princely sum of $.25 at a show last August. I hoped at the time I could go the NCS route and resurrect it. Instead it's still in the original 2x2.

Sean Reynolds

BillJones

Given the nature of that spot, which has green corrosion in it, I don't know how great the NCS repair will look. The coin will also probably have a strange pale copper cast to it, which to an experieced collector or dealer with shout. "I've been NCS't!!!"

But for 25 cents, how could you go wrong? Even with the spot it's got to be worth a couple of bucks, easily.

littlebear329

I say send it to sgs, they certify everything proof 70