Deconstructing a doctored coin.

Teva

Years ago I came across a sweet MS looking 1847 large cent with color issues.I don't remember what I paid but no more than 15 or 20 dollars. Recently the coin started to display problems and I knew the coin had been colored so I decided to soak it in acetone to clean off what looked to be just a small amounts of crud in the devices.
I could not believe the extent of doctoring that this exposed.
The coin appears to have had three different foreign substances applied to the surface after what I think to have been a cyanide cleaning. There was some kind of malleable metal used to fill hits and a putty was used to fill scratch's pits and the like and then some kind of what I think was wax used to smooth it all out. Then after all that color was applied. The acetone took the putty off
I got the wax to come off by sticking the coin in the freezer and it crumbled right off but the metal is still stuck to the coin. I think its liquid solder or something like it?I have no old photos of the coin but it looked MS when I first got it. Here are the before and after the acetone bath photos.

USMoneylover

I'm seeing what appears to be all the hits on both sets of pictures...any way you could possibly edit the pictures and circle the spots where the alterations were made? I may just not be looking in the right spots?

TPRC

Wow! I, too, would like a little further explanation. I have certainly been fooled by copper in the past. To me, a little bit of dirt or crud is sometime an indicator of originality. I guess that assumption is wrong.

ricko

Did you try examination under UV light before the cleaning?? Just curious. Cheers, RickO

WaterSport

At least the "coloring" came off. I am not sure about the remaining stuff you think is metal. Will a rose thorn or tooth pick remove it?

WS

TomB

The first image shared does not make the coin look MS. There is obvious wear all over that coin that I doubt any amount of putty could have covered up.

EagleEye

The OP sure sounds like they know what is going on with the coin. I think it was just recolored and is not worth the trouble of the fixes he describes. Just get rid of it on eBay. It's a loser.

pmac

<< <i>The OP sure sounds like they know what is going on with the coin. I think it was just recolored and is not worth the trouble of the fixes he describes. Just get rid of it on eBay. It's a loser. >>


For the amount he spent on the coin originally, I think that he might keep it for a "teaching" too, either to himself or other collectors he runs into. To "get rid of it on eBay" is a sham because someone might "fix it up" and sell it otherwise.

coinkid855

Are you sure it's even real? The second set of photos show some seriously pitted surfaces, toothy denticles, and even some depressions...Although it could have just been corroded or something.



-Paul

BaseballAbs

Crazy someone go to that much work for that coin. Especially at a time when it was worth only 20 dollars. I think lots of copper out there has been colored.

Frankcoins

Many old copper pieces were waxed, oiled and regularly brushed to keep them glossy. It is always risky to mess with copper.

PTVETTER

There is not question about the coin beeing mint state ( at least one time in the past but not now).

The first picture shown clearly shows wear, and other problems.

Early copper should be left to those in the know.

This coin was clearly a problem from the get go.