It's a topic that has been running through my head for a while.
This good little rant and discussion about freshness has inspired me to wonder in public:
Micro-Rant - on fresh coffee vs Good coffee

So I want to pick your collective brains; two related questions. Of course, tell me if this is a stupid idea because I'm going out on a limb here.

Has anyone ever successfully 'cured' a roasted coffee? One of the early replies in that thread talked about finding good characteristics developing right through a month post-roast. Curing, as is done with teas and tobaccos, is vital to the development of complex smells and flavors otherwise unattainable; vaguely like aging a wine. The difference in roasted coffee, for espresso at least, is that we need to preserve some CO2 content in the bean for crema and likely other reasons with which I am unfamiliar.

Secondly, as oxygen is the enemy of the complex aromatic oils in coffee, has anyone experimented with co2/inert gas storage? I know freezing is a favorite, but essentially it just slows oxidization.
As for pressure, I suspect a high vacuum would only succeed in removing all future crema potential. However I have a hunch that a pressurized oxygen-free vessel would create conditions conducive to the development of different and new flavor characteristics. Once the vessel was purged with gas, additional pressure would also minimize the ratio of residual oxygen present and act as a denser curing medium (as in pressure smoking).
I haven't the slightest clue what the flavor outcomes of this would be. Aging is a process that works very differently for different wines and I wouldn't think that it would work for all beans/roasts either.

If anyone has any ideas about flavor development, what sorts of initial characteristics and resultant positive flavor changes they have found in aging coffees, that would be a good place to start looking for experimental candidates.

As has been mentioned on this forum previously, the research on the order of preservation effectiveness from best to worst is something like: freezing, nitrogen flushing, one way valve...

Nitrogen flushed packing in one way valve bags is standard now. The escaping CO2 displaces the N2, and if the bag isn't opened, the coffee remains acceptable for about 2 weeks at room temperature.

My impression is that curing is an alternative dehydration process. Roasted coffee has virtually no water, so unless I'm missing something, I can't see how curing would help.

My limited experience with curing, is that it's a process whereby an optimum humidity is maintained and controlled. A good example of this would be a humidor.

Since we're dealing with a product where the humidity has been driven off completely by the roasting process, my thinking was that by pressurizing the storage environment instead of letting those gasses go, it might be possible to prevent and extend that two weeks for much much longer.

"Then you also have the dilemma of intensity. Opening the bag many times lets the fragrance escape. The fragrance is very important in the intensity of the flavor. Fragrance becomes aroma, and aroma becomes flavor. Coffees that have lost the fragrance are more insipid. If you were to freeze the beans after the roast (after they get room temp), then you stop CO2 from carrying away some of the fragrance (volatile particles; CO2 is stopped at freezing temps). That also counts.

If you age beans starting in a sealed vessel, then the flavor gets stronger, as it has no place to go. Aging coffee improves the body." - Arpi
Aging roasted coffee ?

This is sort of what I'm getting at. I'm curious which gas would be best, nitrogen is an obvious choice. Argon or other noble gasses also, because I have them laying around in conveniently regulated high pressure bottles But since the coffee is naturally gassing CO2, would it make more sense to saturate the beans in CO2?

There is no need for speculation on these questions. The coffee industry has invested many millions in the subject, and much of the research is available on line and on paper.