Hey Iron, thanks for writing......Nothing is wrong with them as for cleaning, and my worry is just what you wrote. The one US large cent has a beautiful green patina and no way I want to lose it. I am worried about them trying to clean it up to their liking and wipe it off. One thing I also wonder is, what is the total gain of having a said coin graded and slabbed...other then an expert ruling and a pretty plastic case? If I were to write in and mention "no cleaning", still worry about them messing around with it. I have probably close to 300 dug older coins and tokens and just was thinking of grading a few of the better/ more valuable ones. Seems graded coins command a little higher price if ever sell, plus would get a "true" grade out of it.
As for sending them in, I remember a guy close by here sent a few to Toronto for grading but they never wrote who they were or if they cleaned and not just slabbed it. Wondering if be better off to take them to a well known dealer and see what they say as to their grade and if worth even sending them in.
I could also get a few picks of them and see what the experts think of their condition on here....wouldn't hurt really.
Iron Patch said:
You can send them in yourself. What exactly is wrong that you would suggest they need cleaning? For most dug coins you can do just about as much as any professional can... and not that long ago someone posted a key date 1877 Indian head he sent for grading/conservation/cleaning. It had a beautiful patina when he sent it in, but was returned with the surface stripped and an ugly brown color. It literally took hundreds off the value and I still to this day can't understand how anyone who considers them self as a professional would touch that coin with anything and not just mail it back... but boy they sure did, they killed it.