I am wondering if it’s worth trying to conserve this half dollar . It fairly nice in hand but has some really ugly gunk
I'd be tempted to try electrolysis on it. It might be too far gone, but on the other hand, since it's already rather ugly, some careful tinkering with it may be possible. If you don't have (or feel like putting together) an electrolysis rig, there is another trick I have used on metal detector finds, with mixed results. Simply take a small bowl and pour a little bit of household first aid strength hydrogen peroxide solution into the bottom of the bowl. Heat it in the microwave to just short of boiling. Remove the bowl (taking care not to scald yourself) and drop the crusty coin into the hot peroxide, then watch as it fizzes away the surface deposits. Remove the coin carefully and repeat the process for the other side, since only the the side that was face up in the bowl will have gotten "fizzed". Work at any stubborn deposits with a toothpick or bamboo skewer. It's kind of a drastic step, but I think a big silver coin can take it. Caveat: I've never tried it on a big silver coin with deposits like that. I have, however, used it on dug Wheat cents and a silver dime or two that I found. Your're left with somewhat dull looking silver, just as you would be if you had dipped the coin in commercial coin dip solution, but the hot peroxide method performs similarly to electrolysis in fizzing away the crud. (Maybe not quite as effectively.) So in the end you'll have a cleaned coin, and it will always be a "problem" coin regardless- it's too far gone not to be, now. But you might be able to improve its appearance somewhat.
I sent three CC gold coins into NGC for conservation and it worked out good for me. The eye appeal was better and one went up a grade. The third was returned to me, at no cost other than shipping, as not being economically worth conservation. Just for your info. Hope it works out for you.
That is most certainly the case with this 1933-S half dollar, which is not going to economically be worth (professional) conservation. Do-it-yourself conservation is a different matter.
That particular coin has little collector value, so have at it - a good subject for some experimentation - go slowly and carefully, do no harm & good luck with your resto-project - post some photos along the way so we can follow your progress and see what works or not
I got it a big lot of stuff from an auction it was overall a good deal so no loss to me Thanks everyone I may try something but will pick up a nicer walker for my collection
I agree, that coin is worth about $6.50 in the retail world. So whatcha got to lose? Trying all your experiments on this one will shed much light on your research and knowledge of Coin cleaning.
Took it out of the flip yep that corrosion(powdery feel) all along the rim. Might play around with or give it to my friend who is a sliver stacker
Some of the Ancient Coin members may have methods to deal with horn silver, which your coin potentially has
This coin has already been cleaned. It's a decent year, although not much premium. I would tread lightly. Perhaps something can be done to conserve the reverse. It may be too much trouble/ too costly compared to the value. Let it soak in acetone for a couple of days and then rinse it off. Who knows?
