On one of the posts about unattractive coins or something like that, I noticed the Special Olympics Dollar...that has to be one of the worst portraits put on a coin. I said to myself, "Self you should get one of those", so I went on e-bay and one was closing in a short time, so I grabbed it. Of course I didn't look at the pictures as closely as I should and here is what I ended up with (seller's photo): That schmutz at the bottom was on the coin!!! Well, after receiving it, I decided I would try cleaning it. I washed my hands well and removed the coin from the plastic. I ran tap water till it was hot and held the coin under the water for several seconds. I then used a dropper to deposit a few drops of EZest dip on the wet coin. I could see the haze lift immediately. I rinsed the coin in hot running water for several seconds and then poured distilled (actually deionized) water over the coin to rinse it. I laid it on a soft towel and pressed part of the towel onto the top. Let it dry and popped it back into the plastic and: By George, I think it worked!
At first glance, it looked like a dime to me, and i know it's called that, i just didn't want to type it in.
OK, this is terrible, but I always thought the portrait was of a "special" olympic athlete. I just googled who she was, and now feel slightly embarrassed. That is a horrific portrait.
She was a great person......but I'm pretty sure the person on that coin is Isaac Newton with with slightly different hair style.
Cleaned or not that is still one ugly coin. I would store it all by its lonesome out of fear it would tarnish my other coins!
Good job on the cleaning. Diluted EZest works very well on that type of haze, but I would suggest not using the towel to dry the coin. If you already used distiled water, there should be no impurities that should remain after it dries. I usually just hold the coin by the edge and shake it vigorously until it is dry. It only takes a few seconds and it removes the risk of hairlines that can quickly ruin the luster (and grade).
