Is the filmy residue on the right side of the obverse due to the coin being dipped? tipped at different angles it has a oil like toned appearence. I bought this and another quarter (1899) from a guy on ebay. They were auctioned as one lot and he had graded them AU/BU. I suspected cleaning or dipping of some sort and put in a $80 bid. I woke up the next day and found that I had won the auction. I recently sold the 1899 for $73 so I guess I'll keep this one at a cost of only $7. Not a bad deal for a suspect coin.
Can't really see much in the pics, at least not what you are talking about. But it could be dip residue, it could be leftover lacquer, shellac - it could even be oil. In the old days people coated their coins will all sorts of stuff.
Can you take some pictures with the coin at a more oblique angle so we can see the residue. It'd be easier to tell that way.
Looks to me like some sort of dipping residue that contains oil. Before you ask, I have not been weeding out the garden with my coin gloves. Just waiting on my new sets to arrive. The old ones have been through lots of cent rolls. Would a proper re-dip cure the problem ( if there is such a word to describe cleaning the natural luster off a coin that should have never been touched in the first place ). Chuck
Just a guess, but I suspect the coin was coated with something and then somebody tried to remove it. Were it me, I'd trade it in on another problem free coin.
I think back at the 1899 I purchased with this coin and believe both were someones experiment in coin cleaning. The 1899 looked dipped and then put into a hot iron skillet to darken the coin somewhat. The 1897 still is a higher grade coin with the cleaning ( only a trace of hairlines in one or two spots ). I graded it as a "Cleaned AU55". Still the spot bug's me everytime I look at it. I may sell it to help fund a show I'm attending in may. Thanks for the input Chuck
Hi Chuck, looks like the coin has some very nice detail, apart from the residue that you say is on it. I really cant tell anything either from the pics, may just be my color blindness.
Doug, I agree, I had a similar coin years ago that had fingernail polish on it. It was removed with acetone and thats how it looked underneath. Almost looked like it had burnt the coin for a lack of a better way of putting it. Mine was a Morgan Dollar.
