Before I ask my question, let me just state that I know there is no value in this coin and any time or money spent on it will be about love and not profit. Having said that, I love this coin. I love the chocolate brown color. I love that this is the first British coin with a written denomination. I love that it is circulated but only slightly. (I would grade it somewhere in XF45 - AU53 range, but I could be wrong about that. That may just be the love talking ... or grading.) On a close-up view, the coin has some gunk on the lettering and devices. Is this PVC? If it is, what can I/should I do to stabilize the coin? I don't want to clean it, just stop it from accruing future damage. Thanks
It's hard to say what's on the coins surface. I would give it a bath in acetone that will remove PVC and any oils that might be on the surface. It should not affect the coins color or affect the metal. I would soak the coin for 10 to 15 minutes so the acetone has a chance to breakdown what might be on the surface. After soaking the coin, normally you should rinse it with distilled water. However, if you have some bottled water that would be ok to. Pat the coin dry. If it did remove some of what's on the coin but not all of it, you can give it a repeat bath.
I agree with the love for the coin, but disagree on no value. This is a great looking coin. Full of history and surviving features. It may be a lowly denomination but that coin scores high in my book. You got great answers for soaking and preserving the coin from other eminent members so you can’t go wrong there. A coin with a lot going for it, and while it may not have a high traditional value it definitely deserves the love it’s going to get. Collecting is not always about value.
It's probably worth $20 to $30 so I'm not sure why you think it's worthless. I know some people think a coin is garbage if it's not uncirculated but many of us don't feel that way.
Thank you all! I have ordered some pure acetone and will try a soak. @Hiddendragon and @Spark1951 - I didn't mean to imply the coin was worthless, just more valuable to me than its monetary value might suggest. @Kentucky The history of the farthing is interesting to me. They were experimenting a lot at this time. The size is different for this issue compared to the farthing minted before and after. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_farthing
I was aware you didn’t mean worthless. I wanted to tell you there are many others who feel the way you do, and love certain coins as an art-form or just because they are attractive in a special way. I have dozens of coins that meet this criteria.
