Hello all! I'm hoping to further my understanding of coin conditions with your help. I am looking for 2 things- 1st.... Can anyone recommend any good reference materials (books/ web sites..etc) pertaining to: corrosion, toning or stages of coin condition(with visuals)? Is there possibly something that touches on varieties of metal and preservation methods....all in one marvelous place? & 2nd... I have been obsessed today at trying to fully understand what is going on with these 2 attached coins....and what to do about them. I would love to hear your opinions about what is you'd do to them... if anything? My thoughts have been all over the map: acetone, airtights, leave them alone....or skip them down the river. I see grime, bad toning and corrosion....but there still is some beauty there. So, what do you think? Thanks in advance!- Josh
Don't do anything to that 57 cent. I'm almost sure from the image that it is an S8 multi-denominational clashed die coin. It has problems but may have more value than you know. I'll find an image.
This is a link to Rick Snow's site. Notice the line going from the N to the E in the word ONE. It's a rare coin but as I said it has problems that really hurt the value. http://indiancent.wikispaces.com/1857+S8
It's a good thing you have a keen eye and that I'm a bad picture taker....with the proper lighting you probably never would have seen that through the funk. Not an easy catch with coin in hand but I do believe you are very correct! Thanks for the insight and the link! Had a brief thought of sending it to NCS.....but thats kinda like keeping someone in vegetative state on life support ....probably better off just loving it for what it is as mikenoodle said.
From what I see I think they are counterfeit coins. I have a 1875S Trade dollar that I got at the 127 garage sale, and it has the same look as the Nickle. I felt at first it was a matte Proof coin, because of the tiny bumps on the surfaces. Weight the coins and see if it matches the grams listed in the "Red Book". Let us know what the weights are. I hope I am not correct. -O)
Sorry to here you got taken on the trade. With these two I don't really get that counterfeit feeling at all.....I just think they've been through a lot. Then again....I've been wrong before. I know it happens all the time, but it's hard for me to imagine someone putting that much energy into something without a whole lot of value...unlike the 1875 Trade which gets up to the low thousands this Barber only gets up to the low hundreds. We'll have to wait on the weight....no scale where I'm at.
If I had to guess at the history........I'd say the Barber spent about 50 yrs at the bottom of an old coal mine and the Flying Eagle spent the last 30 yrs at the bottom of the oil change pit at the nearby Jiffy Lube.
What you're seeing on these is corrosion, not casting bubbles. They were probably ground finds. Furthermore, if they are corroded, they are less likely to match the original weight.
Something I've noticed....in the same regional area as you are, though upstate NY covers a big area....that there are a lot of really, really nasty V nickels out there. I have my share of them, too, and I think I was given all of them. Damaged, turned nasty colors, have funky textures....I don't know what their history is, but it couldn't have been much fun for the coins. To me there seem to be more nasty V nickels than buffalos or Jeffersons....Shields are nearly nonexiststant around here. Here are some of my nasty Vs 1888 1902 1912 All three examples shown here are considered part of my permanent collection until better examples can be found. The 1912 looks much worse in person, too.
Now that you mention it- I would absolutely agree with you. I'm pretty sure that I've seen more V's looking like your's and mine then I have in decent shape around these parts. I wonder why that is. Thanks everyone for the input.
