Some before/after pics of NCS work (not mine) with commentary
kranky
Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭
Got this from a mailing list and got the author's permission to repost it here, since he did before/after pictures. What follows is his words.
About a month ago I sent seven coins and tokens to NCS for curation - I also
took before and after images as I thought y'all would be interested. I
requested that they slab everything - unimpaired coins by NGC, and impaired
ones themselves.
This Civil War token had dark accumulation of material around the legends and
denticles. They managed to remove some of it, though I presume what they left
is nonreactive - the greenish areas are gone and only the black remains. It
had already been damaged however - it was returned in an NCS slab labelled
"1863 OH F-74A-1A / D.E. STEARNS / XF DETAILS / ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE". This
token is a Rarity 9, which is why I wanted it conserved.
This Civil War token had a number of bright greenish-white spots on both faces,
mostly on the obverse. They were able to remove all of the green, and I think
the coin overall is lighter - I don't think its just a difference in lighting
in the images. It had been cleaned incorrectly in the past, however, so it was
put in an NCS slab which reads "(1861-65) OH F-13D-3A / HAHN & RIDDLE / AU
DETAILS / IMPROPERLY CLEANED". This token is an R8, so I wanted this protected
too.
This Civil War token had a dark spot and a little green in the center of the
obverse, and more green in the legend on the reverse. Not only did they remove
the dark spot and all the green, it wasn't damaged by the material. This was
returned in an NGC slab which reads "(1861-65) NY F-630M-12A CLIP / BROAS PIE
BAKERS / TOKEN MS62 BN". Its neat as it has the clash and cud, which is normal
for the type, but its also clipped, making it rarer than the R6 its type
suggests.
I wasn't sure if there was anything actually wrong with this Civil War token,
but it was very dark. In case it had problems, I sent it along. Its visually
not much different now, though it does appear to be a bit lighter. It was
considered damaged however, and returned in an NCS slab which reads "1863 NY
F-630I01A / WILLIAM HASTINGS / UNC DETAILS / ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE". Still, UNC
details on a Rarity 9. I'll take that.
This Civil War token had a few green spots and a big red one on the reverse,
even though its brass rather than copper, so I was concerned. It was returned
in an NCS slab reading "1864 F-46/339 B 1C / LIBERTY-SHIELD / UNC DETAILS /
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE". I'm not sure if they really did much to this one,
though in hand the red spot and greenness is less pronounced than the camera
shows. This one is an R7, so one to preserve as well.
This coin is an Indian proof rupee from one of the provinces. This coin had
toned very darkly, and the reverse was fairly matte although it was still
somewhat reflective as a proof should be, plus had a fairly blotchy surface. I
had feared that the reverse was experiencing some sort of contamination, so sent
it along. The reverse looks about the same in the image and the tone unchanged,
though it looks more even in hand. They thought this coin was fine and NGC
slabbed it as "1897 INDIA RUPEE / BIKANIR KM-72 / PF 63". I'm pleased.
This one was the most dramatic of them all. This one also had a dark surface,
though it was reflective. It was also somewhat blotchy, and there appeared to
be contamination between the I and N of INDIA. The obverse also had a very
dark spot in the field to the right of the bust. Both of these coins had been
stored for a long time in flips, so I sent this one along too in case it was
being adversely affected. The coin now looks like a modern non-cameo proof -
its bright silver without any tone at all - the brilliance of the coin is hard
to convey in the image. While the coin previously was somewhat reflective, the
toning made it not very mirrorlike at all - now I can see my reflection clearly
in it. This was also slabbed by NGC as "1878(C) INDIA RUPEE / BRITISH KM-492 /
PF 63". Its now a very attractive coin, where it was less so before.
So, I'm pleased. It would have been nice if more were NGC rather than NCS
slabbed (that more were unimpaired) but as long as they were happy with the
proofs the rest in my mind were gravy. Having that clashed/cud/clipped one
come back MS62 is a bonus. Good stuff.
About a month ago I sent seven coins and tokens to NCS for curation - I also
took before and after images as I thought y'all would be interested. I
requested that they slab everything - unimpaired coins by NGC, and impaired
ones themselves.
This Civil War token had dark accumulation of material around the legends and
denticles. They managed to remove some of it, though I presume what they left
is nonreactive - the greenish areas are gone and only the black remains. It
had already been damaged however - it was returned in an NCS slab labelled
"1863 OH F-74A-1A / D.E. STEARNS / XF DETAILS / ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE". This
token is a Rarity 9, which is why I wanted it conserved.
This Civil War token had a number of bright greenish-white spots on both faces,
mostly on the obverse. They were able to remove all of the green, and I think
the coin overall is lighter - I don't think its just a difference in lighting
in the images. It had been cleaned incorrectly in the past, however, so it was
put in an NCS slab which reads "(1861-65) OH F-13D-3A / HAHN & RIDDLE / AU
DETAILS / IMPROPERLY CLEANED". This token is an R8, so I wanted this protected
too.
This Civil War token had a dark spot and a little green in the center of the
obverse, and more green in the legend on the reverse. Not only did they remove
the dark spot and all the green, it wasn't damaged by the material. This was
returned in an NGC slab which reads "(1861-65) NY F-630M-12A CLIP / BROAS PIE
BAKERS / TOKEN MS62 BN". Its neat as it has the clash and cud, which is normal
for the type, but its also clipped, making it rarer than the R6 its type
suggests.
I wasn't sure if there was anything actually wrong with this Civil War token,
but it was very dark. In case it had problems, I sent it along. Its visually
not much different now, though it does appear to be a bit lighter. It was
considered damaged however, and returned in an NCS slab which reads "1863 NY
F-630I01A / WILLIAM HASTINGS / UNC DETAILS / ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE". Still, UNC
details on a Rarity 9. I'll take that.
This Civil War token had a few green spots and a big red one on the reverse,
even though its brass rather than copper, so I was concerned. It was returned
in an NCS slab reading "1864 F-46/339 B 1C / LIBERTY-SHIELD / UNC DETAILS /
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE". I'm not sure if they really did much to this one,
though in hand the red spot and greenness is less pronounced than the camera
shows. This one is an R7, so one to preserve as well.
This coin is an Indian proof rupee from one of the provinces. This coin had
toned very darkly, and the reverse was fairly matte although it was still
somewhat reflective as a proof should be, plus had a fairly blotchy surface. I
had feared that the reverse was experiencing some sort of contamination, so sent
it along. The reverse looks about the same in the image and the tone unchanged,
though it looks more even in hand. They thought this coin was fine and NGC
slabbed it as "1897 INDIA RUPEE / BIKANIR KM-72 / PF 63". I'm pleased.
This one was the most dramatic of them all. This one also had a dark surface,
though it was reflective. It was also somewhat blotchy, and there appeared to
be contamination between the I and N of INDIA. The obverse also had a very
dark spot in the field to the right of the bust. Both of these coins had been
stored for a long time in flips, so I sent this one along too in case it was
being adversely affected. The coin now looks like a modern non-cameo proof -
its bright silver without any tone at all - the brilliance of the coin is hard
to convey in the image. While the coin previously was somewhat reflective, the
toning made it not very mirrorlike at all - now I can see my reflection clearly
in it. This was also slabbed by NGC as "1878(C) INDIA RUPEE / BRITISH KM-492 /
PF 63". Its now a very attractive coin, where it was less so before.
So, I'm pleased. It would have been nice if more were NGC rather than NCS
slabbed (that more were unimpaired) but as long as they were happy with the
proofs the rest in my mind were gravy. Having that clashed/cud/clipped one
come back MS62 is a bonus. Good stuff.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
0
Comments
Good post. Very interesting to see the work of NCS through the experience of others. Thanks for sharing.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
The reverse on that last one now looks insane. NCS did a fantastic job on that one.
I'm surprised at how nice the copper came out with regards to color. The brass token looks a little goofy, but the clipped token looks great.
Thank you for taking the time to photograph and to share with all of us.
Camelot
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
peacockcoins
kranky reposted my message from another forum - wanted to offer a few comments...
airplainenut, Shamika - Yeah, that second proof was definitely the star of the batch. I had asked beforehand if in general they try to preserve existing toning on a coin, or if they try to make the coin look "pretty". They said it depends on the coin, and they took both approaches here - the first proof was pretty much left alone (though in person the surface is more even than the photo suggests), while the second was changed completely and is now untoned.
DHeath - True, the worst off copper CWTs do look less "rich" than the unimpaired parts before curation. In person they don't look as dramatically bad as other CWTs I've seen that have been cleaned. I have a few that I purchased because they are rare, but have a pink surface - NCS did a much better job on these than whomever had on those. The brass CWT also looks more even in person - the camera seems to have accentuated color differences more than is obvious in hand. As I mentioned I can't really tell if they did anything to it, but the odd colors made me want to send it to them anyway to see.
braddick - I'm thinking the "improperly cleaned" on the slab was just a revealing of an old, bad cleaning after the existing problems were corrected. I have a couple of US coins that had been rejected by PCGS that I sent to them for being improperly cleaned - one became NGC slabbed after NCS looked at it, but the others were returned in NCS holders marked "improperly cleaned".
C.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Ken
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series