I have this 1861 Half dollar i have had this in my collection for over three years and today i noticed for the first time that the lines of the eagles wings went right across the lumps that look lik (and i thought were) added metal on the surface of the coin. now i am uncertain of the coins damage i would love to here some opinions?? i cannot think of a valid cause for this condition.
It's simply a damaged coin. I don't know how but what I DO KNOW is that such a thing could not occur during the minting process.
I remember someone posting something with bumps on it similar but not exactly like this. Someone said it was done with a torch if I remember correctly. May or may not be the culprit here.
Yes i understamd it is damaged (altered) in some way ,Thanks. Also i agree there is nothing, to my knowledge, in the process of striking a coin that would cause such a change. In the research i did i came across "Heat blistered" Coins. From what i gathered heat blisters are caused by minute gas bubbles caught between the layers of Clad coins, in a coin made of a single metal a blister is extremely unlikely, i would assume if a single blister is unlikely then this type of blistering would be nearly impossible and on a coin that is not clad it should be impossible. I do agree that it does fit the description of an alteration caused by heat though, i would have to say though that it would also require some serious deviation from the purity of a standard seated half, either a counterfeit made from a substandard metal or a substandard planchet at the mint for some reason. In my personal experience i have melted many types of metals and have never seen a metal (a consistent alloy) blister, not even a single small blister. I Guess if we assume it is a heat damaged coin then i would like to know what conditions would the metal need to meet in order for this extreme blistering to happen? Or, did the seated half ever get made from any type of "clad" planchet's? Also i am new here and i hope no one thinks i am being rude or offensive i know it can take a bit before a group can adjust to a persons "tone" in their posts... i really appreciate any help
This is hugely interesting. I agree that heat blistering is unlikely on a 90% silver coin. But the anomoly is very similar in appearance. I'd be interested to hear what it weighs. For now here's a guess: After spending decades circulating around one of the old colonies, it was inevitable that this coin developed leprosy! :goofer:
When metal is melted and in the liquid state it can contain dissolved gases. When the liquid is poured into the ingot mold it can contain many tiny bubbles if it was over heated, not maintained in a liquid state long enough for the gas bubbles to escape, or if it was agitated to vigorously while liquid. If the ingot has these bubbles in it so will strip rolled for the ingot and planchets punched from it. If a coin with these tiny bubble inclusions in it is heated enough the metal reaches a "plastic" state. When that happens the bubbles can expand and create these bumps/blisters on the coin. In short a solid piece of metal can have tiny bubbles inside it that will expand and "blow bubbles" if it is heated enough. It does not have to have clad layering.
What Conder said makes sense, and judging from the blackened appearance, it's possible that this coin was in a fire. Chris
12.36 Grams i believe that is close enough to call it "the correct weight" it sure would be nice to find some other examples of extreme heat damage to compare it to.... The leprosy idea.... that sounds legit
this coin looks as if it may have been in a house fire . I know a guy that found a big lump of silver coins where a home had burned and some of them were bumpy looking like this one.
At the Chicago Historical Museum they have several coins from the Great Chicago Fire which have simular surfaces as this coin. Most appear somewhat blackend as well. That could be a charcoal residue on the coins since all the buildings from the fire were wood that burned. Did you clean your coin or was this it's condition when you found it?
The coin came to me in the condition pictured, i would not clean a coin until i was sure it was worth scrap only I do believe the former owner likely did clean this coin though and it does appear to be soot or similar.
