What's This Dot On This Half?

Any ideas as to what this dot is on this half? It's not a hole, just a spot. How does this affect the grade and value?

 

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tarnish?, honestly it looks like some kind of post mint damage

 

Joe, if you take it out of the holder, is the center of the spot raised? I have seen similar on copper and silver coins where some organic deposit produced an acidic component which migrated outward to cause the tarnish. I swear sometimes it is insect debris. If it was long enough, the debris has decomposed, so just the tarnish is left.

Jim

 

Looks to me like it was hit with a nail punch.

 

If the spot is not incuse (as in it has eaten into the surface of the coin), you might try dabbing the spot with Acetone to see if the Acetone will remove it! It is an eyesore to an otherwise, honestly worn and problem free Bust Half Dollar.


Frank

 

Judging from the inner ring and the upraised center divot, I'd bet it's the result of a drill bit and a bored kid. See it all the time.
Guy~

 

I just tried the finger nail polish remover and q-tip approach (I know, I know, this isn't the Mona Lisa I'm trying to fix). The result was - no change. I examined the coin very closely and the spot is even with the surface of the coin. That surprised me, and I'm even more baffled now as to what the problem is.

 

It kind of reminds me of when some pushes down real hard with a ballpoint ink pin. Have you ever seen a jailhouse tatoo where they just heated a ink pen and burned themselves. Someone I know did this and you could see a couple of spots that looked like that.

 

A pin hole in a 2 x 2 flip can cause the coin to tarnish in the area of the hole. The hole could have been cause by a staple from another 2 x 2 flip.

Lou

 

Thats exactly what it is, from a staple, it has 2 tarnish spots. get a staple and see if it fits within the two spots....

 

I've never noticed the other spot because my eyes get drawn to the big one. It's possible that the rounded, bent part (back side of a used staple) could be this distance apart. If that's the case, any idea how to fix it.

By the way, thanks to everyone for their input, this spot has bothered me for some time even though this isn't a valuable piece.

 

The spot is even with the surface of the coin so that would leave out drill holes, staple dents, punches or other similar things. If that spot is really even with the surface it might well be even paint, varnish or something similar.
Also, finger nail polish remover is normally an Acetone based solution and contains many other ingredients but should have worked if that spot was easily removable.
In the past I had a Dime with green paint on it. Not sure what kind of paint but Acetone, Paint thinner, lemon juice, Mineral spirits and lots and lots of other things just didn't work. Finally a mixture of baking soda and water solution did take off most of that but not all. I suspect it is some super paint like the stuff they use on highways.
Your spot is a real mistery. As long as your experimenting, try some Olive Oil. I've never tried it on a coin but I've read posts where people say it works miracles.
Look really close with a strong magnifier to see if that spot is in fact level with the coins surface.

 

It looks like carbon spots I have seen on morgans.

 

Joe,

While most Finger Nail Polishes contain a certain amount of Acetone, they also contain many additives which would negate the effects it would have on most spotting, Vedigris or in the use at removing glue, tape or tapr residue on coins. I can't guarantee that Acetone will remove the spot on the coin but if anything will, then pure Acetone is what you need to use.


Frank