Before and After
ColonialCoinUnion
Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭
This is one of my favorite set of 'before and after' images:
The before pic is a plate photo of a 1652 Willow Trree Sixpence from Sydney Noe's "The Silver Coinage of Massachusetts" published in 1943:
The after pic is the same coin as it looks today:
The before pic is a plate photo of a 1652 Willow Trree Sixpence from Sydney Noe's "The Silver Coinage of Massachusetts" published in 1943:
The after pic is the same coin as it looks today:
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Comments
<< <i>
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>Nice repair job. Is it in an NCS holder? >>
It is, last sold by Heritage and described as holed and plugged.
Still, if I hadn't seen that 'before' photo I would not have believed that a hole that big (as a percentage of the original surface area, it might just be the biggest plugged hole in numismatic history) could have been repaired so well.
Who's the coin doc who did that reconstructive surgery?
-lower S and circles above it
<< <i>it looks like they also tooled it some to make it higher graded
-lower S and circles above it >>
It doesn't look like much is original aside from the silver (not counting the plug).
I'd like to think that I'd learn enough about Massachusetts silver to spot the work before spending my money. As it is, I would not have properly evaluated the coin based on the picture, and I doubt that I would have done much better looking at the coin in person.
Amazing restoration... it is done with paintings.. why not rare coins? Cheers, RickO
I worked on a dairy farm one summer while I was in high school. Old Mr. Fairchild, the owner of the farm, could repair anything and everything. He was proud of his ability and his tools. One day he showed me a hammer that his grandfather had owned. He told me about the amount of work that three generations had done with that tool. To emphasize his point, he raised the hammer to point toward the family farmhouse that his grandfather had built.
I was really impressed. "There's a lot of history in that hammer," I said.
"Yes, Mr. Fairchild responded. "And for that reason I've kept it in good shape over all these years of use. I've replaced the handle two times and the head just once."
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
It is Not harshly cleaned, Not altered, Not Tooled, it is called gently "restored"
I swear this Hobby and its contradictions (as long as the 'right' people are doing it) just kill me!
<< <i>It looks like there was some re-engraving done, as well, John, on the pellets near the hole and the A next to the hole. Do you agree? >>
I am loathe to draw any conclusions about some of the smaller details based on what we 'see' in a scan of the 1940s era 'before' photograph, but I assume that anyone skillful enough to plug a hole that large probably would have taken the opportunity to fix a few other things while he had his tools out. I would also assume that disguising the major repair might have been easier if other areas of the coin were tweaked so as to blend in - both literally and visually.
<< <i>
Classic.. Roids
<< <i>Amazing restoration... it is done with paintings.. why not rare coins? Cheers, RickO >>
That's insightful.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
I also note that nobody is saying that the coin should have been left alone.
<< <i>Very impressive.
I also note that nobody is saying that the coin should have been left alone.
The coin should have been left alone. Especially the shaving to make it look more round than a Willow Tree would be expected to be.
Edit: Sentence in italics retracted. See next two posts.
Ed. S.
(EJS)
<< <i>The coin should have been left alone. Especially the shaving to make it look more round than a Willow Tree would be expected to be. >>
Looks like it's in some type of holder that gives the impression that it's rounder that it actually is in its raw state.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>
<< <i>Very impressive.
I also note that nobody is saying that the coin should have been left alone.
The coin should have been left alone. Especially the shaving to make it look more round than a Willow Tree would be expected to be. >>
As Perry noted, the coin wasn't "shaved" to be made more round, the second photo was taken in an NCS holder.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Very impressive.
I also note that nobody is saying that the coin should have been left alone.
The coin should have been left alone. Especially the shaving to make it look more round than a Willow Tree would be expected to be. >>
As Perry noted, the coin wasn't "shaved" to be made more round, the second photo was taken in an NCS holder. >>
Ok, thanks.
Ed. S.
(EJS)