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TomI soaked about (600) 19th century cards from an album that was created in the 1920's/1930's. There were about 30-40 Skinned Old Judges, a S.F. Hess card, 12 Buchner Gold Coins from the ad piece (with the black writing top and bottom), and (10) N162 Goodwin Champs and miscellaneous other non-sport issues.
The way I was 'taught' or told to do it was to fully submerse the cards in distilled water until they float away from the surface that they're adhered to. After that, pat them dry and then put them between white typing paper (multiple sheets), changing the paper every 10 minutes or so until they are fully dry. I also added putting them between two 2x4 blocks and clamping them tight so they would not warp.
Results........I was able to get 5 of the N162's graded by SGC and they brought SGC50's through SGC80. The OJ cards had been skinned and not a candidate for grading and the Buchners had been cut from the ad sheet and also not a candidate (although I did send one in to see what they'd say). These grades are basically the same as if they'd not been soaked out. I think it depends on the type of card and what it's made of as to the success rate. You couldn't soak Old Judges that still had the cardboard backing on them as the albumen photo would pull away from the cardboard backing as well.
As for 1950's Topps hockey cards.......no idea. I like the idea of trying similar (less valuable) cards before going with the higher dollar cards. It also depends on the type of glue that was used to put the cards into the album. 19th century glue is often black (like what you see on the back of Scrapps) but the early 20th century glue soaks off pretty well. I don't think any of the 1950's Topps cards were printed on as good of paper as the N162's, so it might be a crap shoot.
I was a little nervous soaking those N162's off......but they turned out great and they're in my collection graded now.
What does everyone think about if they should have been graded or not?
Should I have disclosed prior to or after grading that they'd been soaked?
Should I disclose this prior to selling them in the future if I decide to?