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1997 Britannia Proof Set...should I conserve?


JohnA

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I'm not sure if I can get coins conserved without having them also graded. I like them in the box. Tagging @Numistacker if I can ask his opinion and also help if I decide to get them conserved at NGC.

Opinions welcome. Would you get them conserved, graded or not? Or just leave them as is? Does the tarnish take away a lot of value? I think tarnish in an 1897 set would just improve the value, or at least not decrease it.

 

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I have a couple of these sets and the smallest coin has tarnished a lot to the point it looks awful.
This seems to be a common problem with these sets and I am not sure why the larger coins do not tarnish at the same rate if indeed at all.
Perhaps it is because the smaller coins are held in a black plastic ring inside the capsule and I suspect there is a chemical that leeches out.
The usual suspects that cause darkening are sulphides and chlorides that react with silver and blacken over time.
I would leave alone and admire your set of coins.


I've never tried this but I did watch a video of someone dipping a proof coin into e-Z-est for a few seconds and it removed all the tarnish restoring the coin to shiny new looking.
I have dipped bullion silver and the results were amazingly good but do not plan to test the dip on any of my proof set coins.

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54 minutes ago, Pete said:

Perhaps it is because the smaller coins are held in a black plastic ring inside the capsule and I suspect there is a chemical that leeches out.  

Oh...makes sense. And the 1 oz also gets a smaller effect just being in the box with the other coins.

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1 hour ago, Kman said:

What would the cost be? they aren't massively valuable coins are they? 

This is a good point. Having them just conserved would not be cost effective. But if I also got them graded Pr 69, for example, then they are much more valuable.

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8 minutes ago, JohnAnsink said:

This is a good point. Having them just conserved would not be cost effective. But if I also got them graded Pr 69, for example, then they are much more valuable.

I wouldn’t think this would be a wise decision unless it’s something you would like for your own collection as I dont think you would get your money back out of them - possibly £10 plus per coin to grade plus conservation on a set I have seen sold for £100 to £110 a while back.

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22 minutes ago, JohnAnsink said:

This is a good point. Having them just conserved would not be cost effective. But if I also got them graded Pr 69, for example, then they are much more valuable.

Maybe book price, but not in reality.  I'm not aware of a single collector of slabbed Proof Britannias (who is openly collecting and posting online) - I think the added value would be purely nominal.

If you're going for British coins, the silver proof Britannias are generally a very slow-burner of a series.  A couple of distinctive highlights, but not a massive amount of interest here in the UK from serious collectors.

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1 hour ago, mondy41 said:

I wouldn’t think this would be a wise decision unless it’s something you would like for your own collection as I dont think you would get your money back out of them - possibly £10 plus per coin to grade plus conservation on a set I have seen sold for £100 to £110 a while back.

Generally these proof 4 coin Brit sets sell for around the ÂŁ140-160 mark on the Bay, some are listed much higher and there is the occasional set sold at a bargain price below ÂŁ120.
I had a couple of bad experiences buying so called immaculate condition untouched sets only to find greasy fingerprints and scratches on the coins. It is also interesting to see some sellers listing just the one ounce proof at a price comparable to the 4 coins set that includes the one ounce coin. I also believe the majority of Britannia proofs by definition are perfect coins when issued so unless the owner has mistreated their coins they do not require grading and the market knows this so getting a popular perfect coin graded is not worth the expense. Only my thoughts though as I have no experience of grading coins other than the MS-70 First Release American slabbed Eagles I bought at bullion prices plus the grading costs so no gains for the sellers.

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7 hours ago, Pete said:

I've never tried this but I did watch a video of someone dipping a proof coin into e-Z-est for a few seconds and it removed all the tarnish restoring the coin to shiny new looking.

I've tried this on some lower cost proof silver coins.  The result (for me) was very good, but this stuff is acid and you have to dip it for only a second and immediately rinse (running water worked for me).  I had much less success on BU coins, it removed some luster and made the coin look a bit dull.  Its a gamble unless you really know what you're doing. (tip: wear rubber/latex gloves)

If you really like them and don't mind spending the extra money, you could pay about $100 to conserve them via NCS (+ another 80 or so to grade/slab) or send in to NGC directly and ask them to decide if sending to NCS would help (they might refer none, or only 1 or 2, or all, depends).  I've used NCS on gold and the results were impressive (your mileage may vary of course)

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@JohnAnsinkI skipped through your video and your coin set does look in pretty good condition.
As I stated previously the 1/10 coin always seems to tarnish all over and the mirror finish can be lost.
Having just received today a coin less than a few years old but inside a capsule containing the black foam ring, it is already showing discolouration so it makes me think that the ring is contaminating the smaller coins in this set and less so the larger coins but they are not immune because the chemicals are in the air in the box. This has me concerned now because my 2oz new Queens Beast coins are in ringed caps so they too may start to discolour in time. Some people admire toning but to me it is like black soot on city buildings that need sandblasting.

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8 minutes ago, Pete said:

 .... it makes me think that the ring is contaminating the smaller coins in this set and less so the larger coins but they are not immune because the chemicals are in the air in the box.  

Yeah...I think the gas is settling to the bottom of the holders so the portrait is the most affected. And the gas also seeps into the 1 oz holder. So no matter what I should remove the foam. But I'm still leaning towards the NCS & NGC route. If I'm going to have them conserved I might as well put them in a good holder with grading to preserve them 

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