skipau said:
I was going through some coins on the weekend and I opened up (for the first time) one from the Singapore coin fair that I purchased awhile and I discovered the following...
http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/2742_coin1.jpg
Yes - they are on the coin itself.... Not happy Jan.... but oh well.. that is life.
I should have checked it out when I got it in, but was so flat out earlier in the year that I have only just started looking at things I got in 6 months ago.
So what to do?
If i send this for conservation/cleaning at NCS do you reckon that will be the only real method of sorting out this coin without any damage etc?
Any tips from the pros?
Thanks!
skipau,
Although my experience with NCS and silver coins with spots is more limited, in the past I've sent several gold coins with copper spots through NCS and they removed the spots very nicely. One thing to keep in mind with the fees is that they are no longer a flat rate for all coins (as they used to be). There is a flat rate for modern coins less than <$300 in value (a $26.50) fee (minimum of 5 coins submitted), but the fee for conservation and grading for coins above $300 works out to about 5% of the value of the coin.
http://www.ncscoin.com/conservation/services_and_fees.asp
Thus, instead of a $26.50 flat fee, a $3000 gold or silver coin would cost $150 to conserve. Yikes!
If you've got some high value coins that you'd like to conserve, one way to do so for less money is to sign up for NGC Premium Plus membership.
http://www.ngccoin.com/MemberPortal/Login.aspx
That does cost $250 for a year's membership, but you do get 5 coupons for free NCS conservation and NGC grading of coins up to $3000. Thus, instead of 5 x ($3000 x 0.05) = $750 in conservation and grading fees, it would be $250, plus you'd have the NGC membership for a year. I just signed up for that membership to send in the five higher value coins I have. The coupons should be coming in the mail.
The high fees are unfortunate, but I am convinced that the coins receive a higher grade if they have been conserved first and have a higher eye appeal. Accordingly, I won't spend the $ for a common date gold panda, but I will for a few of the uncommon ones I have that do not yet have any MS70s for the year.
Good luck!
Birdman