Hello! I inherited dozens of coins from my grandfather, and I've spent most of yesterday looking them up on the internet. I have a bunch of seated liberties, but the one that interests me most right now is this 20 cent piece from 1875. Also, several of the coins have a slick look (including the seated liberty below, though it doesn't come across in the pics) as though they've been laminated. Is this some sort of coating to preserve the coins? Thanks!
Well, that slick look and damage on that coin is because it's been harshly cleaned. Hopefully your grandfather wasn't the one who cleaned them like that. Although, I think he probably did, because that looks like a dug coin to me. Was your grandfather a detectorist? EDIT: Even abrasively cleaned, like that, I'd still get some 2x2s or airtites or something to protect the coins from further damage.
Darn, that's a shame about the cleaned appearance. If it did happen it was many years ago. I haven't looked at these coins in over a decade, and before then they were only brought out once every few years to stare at. What makes you think this is a dug coin? My grandfather wasn't a detectorist. He chauffeured a rich coin hobbyist around New York in the 1920s, and every now and then he was given a few, probably duplicates or discards. He picked up the habit after then and kept an eye out for nice coins...there are over a hundred in his collection, mostly US, UK and Canadian. Thanks for the suggestion on protection, I'll look those up.
The coating you refer to on your coins may be lacquer. They used to use this to preserve coins. Though its just a guess
Cleaning and clear coating coins was somewhat more accepted back in the 50's when I started collecting. In fact, everyone I knew back then who collected cleaned their coins, often quite harshly. Grade meant very little in those days.
Well, it's obviously not a dug coin then, or if it is, it was a random find. The obverse in particular just looks to me like it used to have some caked on dirt. But it must be something else then. Regardless, it's a bummer, but it's value takes a big hit. It's still worth something to somebody, as it's a placeholder, or something along those lines. But I'm sure what. And jloring is probably right about the coating on the coins, I'd say.
