A widowed friend asked me to tell her what some of her coins are worth. They were collected years ago by her deceased husband. I posted yesterday a damaged trade dollar, and I appreciate all the good advice. Today I'm asking about this 1879-CC silver dollar. It was stored in a pvc flip. I have tried to clean it with acetone soaking, but there is still some residue, as you can see from the pictures. There are some minor nicks on the edge, but they are not deep. As I said yesterday, she needs money for an operation (I know, sounds like an old line, but in this case it is true, she has cataracts) and I thought I'd offer to buy this from her. What do you think would be a fair price to offer? I don't really need the coin, but I want to help her. What do you think?
Acetone doesn't clean coins. It's a solvent that doesn't harm metal. It can remove organic deposits. Sometimes if it removes organic deposits, the area that is now exposed can look worse than it did before. As for value $200-$250. (Just a guess.)
Semantics. It doesn't improperly clean coins, but properly used the result is a cleaner coin. However, in this case, I'm afraid that after several soak and rinse (distilled water) cycles, the coin still has residue on it. Whether it was further cleaned before I was asked to look at it I, I can't say for sure. I don't see any hairline indications on it. Whoever had the bright idea to sell pcv flips to collectors decades ago has a lot to answer for! Thanks for looking at my post and for you estimate.
Looks to me to be about a VF30 or 35 and current prices according to realized auction prices, is between $445 to $550, but those aren't raw coins. On just eBay, raw in similar condition, they are anywhere from $150. to $300, so Mike's est. is in the ball park. I wish your friend well.
