New 1916 slq cherried. Grade and Advice

johnny54321

I recently cherried this 916 slq from a lot. It by far has the strongest details of any one I've found yet, but it has some issues. Most notably, the black residue on the obverse. I'm not sure if it's corrosion, there is not even the slightest bit of pitting or porosity, but it probably is a form of it and it definitely is unattractive. I tried an acetone dip, with little success. It is also bent slightly, but only obvious when looking at it from the side. Anyways, is it worth sending to NCS, or should I just have it slabbed as is? Any other suggestions for removing the black death?
Grade opinions are welcome too.

RichieURich

If I owned the coin, I would send it to NCS for conservation. They have a lot of experience removing all kinds of contaminants from coins.

coindeuce

This latest find has much more remaining detail than the previous 5 that you found. The foreign matter on the surface looks like base metal that was fused to the coin as a result of exposure to fire. NCS may be your only hope to remove that.

Twinturbo

Congrats on the 6th find.
Have to say that NCS is your best bet. Regardless she's a nice 1916, better than the previous 5 you located.

droopyd

<< <i>This latest find has much more remaining detail than the previous 5 that you found. The foreign matter on the surface looks like base metal that was fused to the coin as a result of exposure to fire. NCS may be your only hope to remove that. >>



I was going to say it looks more "charred" than "cherried"

SereneDude

That black crud is, indeed, unattractive.
NCS? Do you think the fee charged by them will exceed the value of the conserved coin? If not, then that may be one way to go.

johnny54321

Thanks for the comments. Fire damage never occurred to me, but seems entirely possible.

joebb21

I think its cool you keep cherrying 2k+ coins for <$10

SanctionII

Congrats on your newest cherrypick.

It has the most detail of any of your 6 cherries. Too bad about the dark spots/areas on the obverse and reverse.

I really like the look of the reverse. Very crusty and original looking with eye appeal [a circulated cameo look]. If the black spots on the reverse were not present, it would be gorgeous.

As far as the obverse goes, I simply could not leave it like it is. An attempt to remove the black areas on the reverse will result in:

1. success with the coin being improved significantly [and saved from further damage from the removed substances]; or

2. no success [but likely not a coin in a more damaged condition than it is now] and a coin still worth what is worth now.

I say send it in to NCS and keep your fingers crossed.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>That black crud is, indeed, unattractive. >>

OK, yeah, but... hey... it's a freakin' 1916 SLQ cherrypick, fer cryin' out loud!

If it weren't low grade and ugly, it would've been picked long, long ago!

I for one must applaud. Man... half a dozen. You should change your name to "1916SLQsleuth" or somethin'.

As far as the deposits go, I've dug silver coins while out detecting that had similar issues. It's tough to get off.

My recommendation would be electrolysis. It's often a good, nonabrasive way to get hard-set crud off a coin.

You'll have a shinier coin afterward that will look cleaned, because it will have been cleaned. But I think the crud will come off, given time. You have to watch out for electrolysis on unstable, corroded coins- I accidentally "burnt up" the first Draped Bust cent I ever dug- but silver is usually pretty stable and does OK. I cleaned a 1787 Spanish half-real I found once with excellent results. (Of course it wasn't that crusty.) It has since retoned beautifully over the past decade in my detector finds album.

yellowjacket

Since it is bent and the 'dateless" condition already defines its value, I would leave it au naturale. Any conservation NCS has to offer on those dark stains will be readily evident when they are finished. What's wrong with a little character in the coin?

Congrats! I've been looking for years and haven't found one yet.
Garrow

lordmarcovan

PS- it can't hurt to try a longterm mineral oil soak and work at the affected areas with a toothpick or hardened rose thorn. I don't know how well the oil would soften up and loosen those deposits, if at all, but it's worth a try and is relatively low-risk. I still think electrolysis might be the way to go if you're gonna do it yourself, but if you're not into setting up a simple rig to do that, then go with the oil soak. THEN if that fails, ask around for somebody to electrolysize it, or perhaps have a jeweler do an ultrasonic bath on it.

johnny54321

I remember a friend of mine sent an AG 1916 into NGC and they decided that it was unidentifiable because of the lack of date. He then got it into an AG slab with ANACS. Since NCS is a branch of NGC, they may look at my example the same way.I ended up getting this one certified at ANACS...AG3 details corroded/bent. I was a little bummed with that, but it still sold quickly on ebay for a reasonable amount...and I put that towards my VG example. Thank you all for your comments! And I am inclined to agree that it's more likely from fire damage then corrosion.

crypto79

I think it looks like road tar, that isn't a bad amount of detail. I think you have found a pretty cool niche which these.

astrorat

Haven't you set some kind of cherry-picking record yet?

Well done!

ricko

Well done... you are certainly finding the goodies lately.... Cheers, RickO