heyimderrick
Active Member
tamo42 said:
I believe it can be worth the effort under certain circumstances (value/condition of the coin, correct use, cautious handling, etc.).
Excluding submission form fees, NGC World Modern is $16.50 per coin. NCS World Modern is $26.50 per coin, and there is no guarantee that they will actually do any work to conserve your coin. It's at their discretion based on their evaluation. So anyone sending in a nice silver coin that doesn't show signs of surface contaminants yet thinking that it will be conserved in some way may actually be throwing away $10 per coin. That can quickly add up. A lot of people send coins to NCS because of some very minor tarnishing because they don't like toned coins. This stuff removes tarnish in 1-2 seconds. Depending on the person, taking this step could save them hundreds of dollars annually that can be reinvested in better ways.
For minor environmental/surface contaminants, I think those who take the time to use this stuff the right way and handle their coins carefully can benefit from its use. That said, I also wouldn't advocate it for every coin, especially the really high-value ones that you wouldn't want to chance mishandling.
This experiment wasn't just about grading, though. I chose the 2003 because I bought it loose at a local coin show in a dirty flip. It had some nicks and dirt and hazing and I felt comfortable gambling with it in that state. I didn't think it was worth grading at all to be honest with all of you; and I definitely wouldn't have paid to send it to NCS, because even after their work I didn't expect it to get a MS68/69. Then I decided to give this stuff a try, just to see if it could help remedy some of the issues. I used the solution as recommended; I didn't leave the coin in for a prolonged period, scrub or rub it because I know that can lead to severe damage and would obviously show signs of 'improper cleaning'. After seeing the improvement in the coin, that is when I started thinking that it would be interesting to see if it grades. I've read many threads about coins being 'body bagged' by the TPGs due to surface contaminants and improper cleaning. Thankfully that wasn't the case here. However, I DO think that would be the case for people who try to take this step to extremes, because it is very very easy to ruin a coin with any type of mishandling or long exposure to any number of substances.
I understand that some people may find this experiment wrong, questionable, controversial, etc. I simply say to that, everyone is free to their own opinions, and they should do what they think is right and what they're comfortable doing (I don't want some heated debate with people questioning each others integrity because of this experiment). On a side, I think JC and I both have earned solid reputations here, so we aren't going to be pushing out misinformation, promising the same results for any one, or secretly scrubbing our coins to take advantage of others unknowing in any way.
, do you think NGC has some magic juice ??
