Your experiences with NCS Conservation

Ed62

I have seen a number of coins that have been 'conserved' by NCS. My impressions are as follows: A.) Nickel and CN coins are substantially improved; B.) Silver coins are brighter, probably too brignt, but are some improvement over unattractive toning; C.) Gold - to my knowledge I have not seen any; and C.) Bronze/Copper (RB or BR only) end up slightly lighter but with a distinctive blue tint.

I have not seen, nor am I aware of any reports of Aluminum (patterns), Pewter (Continental Dollars) or coins of other fringe metals receiving NCS conservation treatments.

My overall observation is that this treatment has become fairly widespread and PCGS does not reject obviously 'conserved' coins, so it is definitely now accepted by the hobby/industry.

Does anyone else care to relate their own experiences, opinions and/or advice relating to NCS conservation of the various metals?

JrGMan2004

Marty pretty much sends all of his Proof coins in to NGC through NCS... and that's Copper, Nickel, Silver, and Clad proofs... I don't think he's had any mishaps yet, and even if there were, they would pay up for it... I've also sent in a few coins with Marty through NCS first, and they've come out nice, with all the haze and gunk removed

Smittys

I sent a few early proof 39-42 that we're spotted black, i feel the did a great
job. Just my opinion though.

Smitty

klorineforbrains

how do they "blacken" the mirrors?

KlectorKid

I like what they do for some coins but they also ruin some nice original coins as well.
"Conserved" Coin Gallery

coinguy1

As I noted in another thread some time ago:

I think that in many cases, conservation can be a good thing.

Sadly and disturbingly, however, I also think that conservation is being widely over-used and even abused, causing many perfectly fine/nice coins to be ruined (forever).

Finally, in my opinion, many of the "conserved" coins are either being graded higher than they deserve to be, or are being assigned grades, when they should be receiving "no-grades".

In a multitude of cases, unnatural looking "conserved" coins are being rewarded, rather than penalized in grade - I think that is backwards, not to mention wrong.

I know many other dealers who feel the same way, but for various reasons, some of them are hesitant or afraid to speak out publicly on this subject. That is their right, but I sure wish more of them would stick their necks out alongside mine.

In case it wasn't already obvious, I'm well beyond "uneasy" on this subject.

KlectorKid

I am not aware of them "blackening" mirrors. They can remove haze and toning which could show the mirrors depth better but I have not heard of them actually putting something on the coin to make the mirrors deeper.

MORGANHUNTER2

Mark:

Just for my info, I have a beautiful 85 cc that grades at an easy 65 if it were not for 2 spots onthe obverse that are in no way 'toning', this is going to be sent in for conserving, and possibly for grade- why would you think it is not good to properly conserve a coin that has the grade, but an unsightly blemish?
Here is a link to the obverse of the pic.

Fairlaneman

NCS was used one time for a classic coin that had ugly tone IMO. When the coin came back it was a unnatural bright white color. Also, IMO, the coin was uglier than when it was sent in. Never again. Once you have seen one you can spot it from a mile away.

I agree that they are completely wrecking some other wise nice coins.

Ken

morgannut2

I wish that "the collectors friend" would post a Hot Topics opinion on this subject instead of wannabes. I think the NGC

conservation started as a good idea, but degenerated into part of the crackout game--ruining many lovely, historic, original
coins.

Russ

My only real complaint with NCS is that they keep charging the wrong damned card. I've told them repeatedly not to use the card on file, (I've switched the cards I use for coin stuff), and they still charge it every time and ignore the card I put on the submission form.

Russ, NCNE

CarlWohlforth

I sent one coin to NCS. It was a 1950 Cameo proof Jefferson nickel graded PCGS 67 Cam. I thought the coin should be DCAM but it was graded cam and had toning. It wasn't terrible but I was thinking it should DCAM and maybe conservation would help. Anyway the coin came back in a NGC holder, same grade (67 Cam). Hmmm. I sent it to PCGS to cross back and it did at the same grade, 67 Cam.

Oh, well. They did a good job, the coin looked nice but it didn't get the bump. I guess the toning wasn't keeping that coin out of a DCAM holder. So I never bothered again as I prefer a bit of toning.

airplanenut

<< <i>Mark:

Just for my info, I have a beautiful 85 cc that grades at an easy 65 if it were not for 2 spots onthe obverse that are in no way 'toning', this is going to be sent in for conserving, and possibly for grade- why would you think it is not good to properly conserve a coin that has the grade, but an unsightly blemish?
Here is a link to the obverse of the pic. >>

I think (and I could be completely wrong) that Mark is fine with the conservation you're describing--a slight detraction is being removed. What I don't think he condones is simply dipping out a lightly toned, original piece in hopes of bumping the grade by revealing a little more lustre or making the coin simply brighter--it's lost its originality. A perfect example was a seated dollar last year. It auctioned twice as a PF68 (I think that was the grade). The first time, it was a pretty orange... not monster color, not really even color worth a premium. But original, and nice. It came back on the block completely white--never again would it be original (not to mention, it looked worse). It is that trend, where people do that in hopes of a grade bump, that is not good for the hobby.

Jeremy

MORGANHUNTER2

Jeremy

i have no intention on attempting to make my morgan any better for the grade- if you can see the pic I posted there are 2 spots that appear in the hairline at 5 and almost dead center of the hair- they look like hot ash burns from a ciggy- I bought the coin this way on fleabay. I'm not in any fashion disappointed in the coin, but I want to bring it back to it's original look as much as possible. Too many folks have said - just dip it in acetone for a few seconds that'l take care of it. I'm sorry for what the value is I will experiment my dipping process on real crappy looking coins from this era- not a 1,000.00 coin.

Manorcourtman

I've been extremely happy with everything but Copper. The two coppers ended up toning a dark red. They've done an amazing job on silver in every instance in my experience. As far as grade bumps go I have not seen it. I was extremely upset with my last 2 coins. Maybe I'm just adding to the current urban myth but they are/were tighter than tight on my submission. I wouldn't hestitate the use them. Chris

coinguy1

MORGANHUNTER2, I am not opposed to the type of conservation you described.

Barry

<< <i>My only real complaint with NCS is that they keep charging the wrong damned card. I've told them repeatedly not to use the card on file, (I've switched the cards I use for coin stuff), and they still charge it every time and ignore the card I put on the submission form.

Russ, NCNE >>


Cancel the card on file. That will bring it to their attention quickly.

FatMan

<< <i>I like what they do for some coins but they also ruin some nice original coins as well. "Conserved" Coin Gallery >>

You got that right. I can't believe how much they ruined the 1841-D Half Eagle in the gallery you linked. There were only a few in the gallery that were helped. Most were ruined forever.

islemangu

Morganhunter2, your ash/carbon spots in the hair sounds identical to my below coin that I also considered NCS to "fix" but decided not to after receiving advice from some experienced morgan guys here a while back. The jest of it was that the carbon spots are caused from imperfections in the metal alloy mix and will never go away, coming back after treatment. I'm glad you brought up your example as hopefully someone here in the know could confirm this or perhaps go the other way and actually have success with this type "problem" being corrected with conservation. Heck, maybe conservation technology has improved recently and it can now be treated successfully

dorkkarl

<< <i>C.) Gold - to my knowledge I have not seen any >>

i have, and the come out looking absurd. a gold coin should NOT be pink.

K S

darktone

The first time I used NCS I was happy with the coin- PVC removal. The next time I sent in gold(dirt in the denticles) and copper(carbon spots) and they came back very un-natural looking. I call this look the greasy NCS look and it's very easy to spot once you have seen it. I won't send them any more coins unless there is a problem that makes the coins worthless and it looks to have a chance of being saved to some degree. mike