Ladies and gentlemen, I have Morgan's (27 of them) that are totally encased in epoxy or something!!! I don't know if these were cleaned prior to being encased or not. Has anybody ever seen anything like this? To extricate these Morgans from their home, they would have to be melted! The coins appear to be in fantastic shape with a high mirror finish. My question is...do you think these coins have value beyond their silver content? Would I be able to auction these off to a collector? Any discussion on the matter would greatly be appreciated, thank you.
Encasing coins in acrylic or lucite has been around a lomg time, and usually sold as a novelty item. Here's an older thread that has some good info about removing them, along with some humor... http://www.cointalk.com/t58247/
If they are authentic, which could be in doubt, they would only be worth melt value if this one is indicative of how the others look. It does look like this one has been polished, and probably the only person who might pay a slight premium over melt would be a bidiot on FleaBay. Chris
They're probably worth more, at this point, staying encased as a novelty. Heck, I'd use them if I had them. Guy
Thank you jloring,This was quite informative, funny, and heartbreaking the same time. Coins in a toilet seat, really? Is this supposed to be some kind of money down the drain reference? Wow, this really seems tacky and what a tragic fate for those coins. The US Mint produces the most beautiful currency of any nation in history! Putting coins in a toilet seat is just as mortifying to me as using the American flag as a bed-sheet.
I'd just leave them in the plastic The coin depicted appears to be worth bullion & without numismatic premium for the date or condition. Your coin coasters might fall into the collecting classification known as "exonumia". There are several collectors of exonumia. Exonumia items include coins made into cuff links, spoons, jewelry, set in plastic, etc. Also included within the realm of exonumia would be encased postage (which I recently acquired for my own collection). You may want to search for previous threads that include the word "exonumia" in the title. Here are a couple pieces that are on my desk today.
The coin appears to have been heavily polished. They are likely worth more in the acrylic than if removed and definitely worth more if you value your time and effort.
Seem to small to be coasters, they are 2" in diameter. This is the only "odd ball" thing in my collection. I have 27 of these, all 1896 Philadelphia. I just had them locked away all this time. I guess that is why there are no signs of UV damage to the plastic.
Yes, I am aware of the term. I guess I just didn't think coins from dating from 1896 would be included in exonumia, but if it's in plastic - it fits the category, I guess.
I have no desire to try and remove these coins from their plastic prison. I guess I am just trying to see if someone else sees value in these, and from what people here are saying, it sounds like yes...to the right collector.
