buffalo nickel experts : need your help

deltadimeman

can anyone give me an idea what causes the spots that is on this buff ? do you think they can be removed by restoration or is it environmental damage and pcgs will not grade ? Thanks for your help !

joeykoins

Don't really know the cause but maybe Acetone will remove the spots and not harm the coin. Nice buffs!

david3142

They look like carbon spots to me. I think it should still grade. I have a coin in a PCGS66 holder that has a noticeable carbon spot so unless it is some other kind of damage, it will not prevent a straight grade.

DollarAfterDollar

Definitely try acetone first.

drei3ree

Acetone won't touch it.

Walkerguy21D

My guess is someone already cleaned (dipped) it, and those spots remained.
I also don't think acetone will touch them, but it won't hurt the coin either if you want to try.
Given that the coin is relatively valuable, it may well be worth getting an opinion from the professional restoration experts.

ricko

I agree with the recommendation for professional evaluation. Certainly an acetone bath will not hurt the coin - on the off chance that the spots (particularly the reverse) are surface contamination. If carbon spots, likely they will remain. Try the acetone first, if not, send it in for evaluation. Cheers, RickO

jesbroken

I have seen many Buffs with carbon spots. According to NCS they can be removed. Read this article from their site. Good luck.

Jim



NCS

thebeav

I just looked at the NCS link. At the bottom of that page is a link to an 1875 'conserved' Indian cent.
I like the 'before' pictured coin SOOooo much better than the 'after'.

MICHAELDIXON

I would have the coin professionally evaluated and conserved. The cost isn't astronomical and the results (normally) are excellent. I had a proof Mercury dime conserved and received it back this week and I am very pleased. I have had nickels done very successfully.

Insider2

Just my 5c...IMHO...



Although both are forms of environmental damage there is a long held difference by "old time professionals" between carbon spots and fly specks. Carbon spots are black corrosion products. They are not affected by acetone. They may be lightened or removed by mechanical or chemical processes, however, in virtually every case there is damage done to the underlying surface causing an "etched" patch or change of color. Professional conservation methods or some coin doctors know how to "disguise' these effects in many cases. Nickel is the easiest metal to work on. Copper is virtually impossible although I have heard that lasers are being tried as they do wonders on repairing gold coins.



Fly specks are tiny imperfections that have a microscopic foilated pattern that has "eaten" into the surface. Usually found on nickel coins. These can be lightened but not removed w/o abrasion.



I need to go out, will post more later if needed.

abcde12345

I quick dip in olive oil should fix that one up right away.

Insider2

More opinion...



Olive oil will loosen corrosion but is not very effective and takes too long . You'll still have the black spots. There are faster methods to remove them.



Also, I forgot to add that acetone will remove the skin. Professionals often do time-consuming "spot" conservation leaving much of the coin untouched. Depends or the coin.



Finally, the corrosion on that nickel can be "fixed" in less than three minutes. Hiding the etched surface (when possible) takes longer.



The most important part of professional conservation is the evaluation - knowing what coins to touch and which to leave alone. Your coin should be "touched."