Removing sticker from a coin.

I have what appears to be a BU 1969 40% Silver Half Dollar.

However it's "colorized".

Upon further inspection, it's not coloring, but a sticker.

Anyway to remove this sticker, without damaging the coin?

 

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peel it away and remove the residue with acetone. should do the trick.

 

Any pics Tim?

 

Making a little headway with acetone.

 

Try the rock tumbler!!!
:yes:

 

See, now, what you've brought upon yourself, Tim?

 

Either the acetone, or xylene or water. Glues are either water based or should be soluble in an organic solvent.

 

Actually it appears the glue ruined the luster of the coin. Somehow the goo in the glue reacted with the silver in the half.

I will let it soak in acetone over night.

If that won't work, I will actually use the rock tumbler. The luster is ruined any way, the tumbler will remove the sticker, but won't harm the coin more than that, it's only worth melt anyway.

 

You are not actually gonna put it in there, are you?

 

I have a full set of uncirculated war nickels. They were in a display case however, whoever owned them put white duct tape on the back from keeping them from falling out. After years and years stuck to that tape I carefully peeled them out and soaked them in acetone. The only downfall was some of the mint marks on the back became faded. Most were not. How does this affect the value of the coin if any?

 

I sure hope the rock tumbler was a joke.

Acetone will do all that can be done. Stop there.
Lance.

 

I don't think it was.

For some reason I feel the need to post a picture of a cat right now. (end it please...)

 

Luster, original Mint luster, is a criteria for grading coins, and will be the difference between an uncirculated grade or a circulated grade.

 

Well do us a favor and start your own thread and post cat pics on it. Not here please.

 

I think you'd be further ahead with just using the acetone and remove as much of the glue as you can with that.

Just an FYI for you, but most colorized coins are a colored sticker placed on the coin for the effect. These were sold as a novelty, and can still be found in what I call t.v. guide ads(ads which sell everything under the sun to the public including miracle cure pills that do nothing for you) for stupid amounts of money. I avoid these coins as they are generally circulated, common, and with the sticker on them, junk IMO.

EDIT: On the flip side, you have a 40% clad worth melt, but I hope you didn't pay too much for this one.

 

I vote tumbler, with before and after pics! :yes:

 

Guys, I would strongly suggest that we keep this thread on topic. I don't want to see it get hijacked with pictures of non-related things or see a repeat of the rock tumbler thread. Stay on topic and behave...consider yourself warned.

As for the coin...those sticker coins were sold as novelty items. If you want to remove the sticker and soak the coin in acetone go right ahead. I doubt it will fully solve the problem as over time the glue from those stickers can (and will) permanently damage the coin. Odds are, the coin will only ever be worth melt...but since it is a silver half it does have some value there. I wouldn't put the coin in the rock tumbler as that will make it only worth melt for sure. Once the acetone has done it's job...that is as good as the coin will ever be. Nothing else can be done to improve. I would leave it at that.

 

Another possibility is that they etched the surface of the coin so the sticker would adhere better.

 

That is a really good point. I'll bet that's exactly what they did.

 

I'm thinking that as well.

I only paid a like 50 cents for it, because it was part of an eBay bucks purchase.

I soaked it overnight in acetone, and it still looks horrible. The sticker itself is gone, but the glue is not. The acetone did lift some of it off, but not all.

It's only worth melt anyway, since whatever glue they used ruined the luster.

I was thinking of rock tumbling it, but why bother. I can still get melt for it as-is.