This is a picture of a Straits Settlement 50 cent coin that I recently picked up from a Scrap Gold Shop!
Yep Straights Settlements was a British Colony in Malaysia and Brunei. They are good silver coins, I collect them too, you have a nice example,
What do you need to know about it? It's obviously from the Straits, 1894 50 cents, 80% silver, 13.57 grams, KM#13, mintage of 52k, good and valuable coin, looks genuine but weigh it to make sure, nice toning too bad for that rim problem but still a few hundred dollar coin. NGC list it at $2300,00 MS60 / $850 XF40 / $400 VF20. There are known fakes for that coin please take better pictures
Thanks for the reply! I looked up the history and they are from Southeast Asia,didn't know it at the time but that's where I was stationed. Singapore had a large British Air Base on the Island. I think I will send this one in for conservation. I think that is amusing,the third party grading services call it Conservation but if I do it it's called cleaning!!
Sorry I'm not a code talker, I just got the coin and had never seen one and had never heard of Straits Settlement. No it goes in my collection after some Conservation work by NCS. Not for Sale! I knew the NGC values I just didn't know the complete history behind this coin!
yeah I know it won't get a clean slab but the area you are looking at as toning is an area that actually has something on it that resembles shellac,but thanks for all the info I like to know the history of the coins I get if they are unusual.
OP, Wikipedia is your friend. Read the article on Straits Settlements and you'll know more than 99% of the population. There's also a surprising number of articles on coins and currency.
That is a very nice coin! Amazing I had never heard of a Straits Settlement coin before but I have gained a lot of info !
I don't know what NCS charges for conservation, but if cost is an issue, you might try giving it an acetone bath, followed by a distilled water rinse. I've managed to dissolve gunky deposits that way - most of them have been some sort of tape residue.
No cost is not an issue and I use Windex Glass cleaner with Dawn liquid dish detergent and then rinse with hot water and pat dry on some silver coins of minimal value and it does a great job! I actually got an 1879 Morgan dollar past NGC using this solution. It came back as an MS67PL! but I have been caught also!!!
I'd be afraid Windex and dish soap would leave chemical deposits that would eventually react with the metal, but I've never tried it, so that's pure conjecture.
Thanks for that info! I have been collecting coins & currency for quite some time. I will be 68 years old soon so I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!!
I have some coins that I treated that way and they are now several years old and don't show any harmful effects but I'm not saying it couldn't!! You only have to leave the coins in it for less than 20 minutes and rinse them thoroughly with hot water and pat dry, works good but would not dare use it on a valuable coin!!
Yes I have used Acetone and if used in a room the fumes will get you, you have to use it outside for sure!!
