Hello all, I am an unexperienced collector with a small collection, amongst my silver coins in my collection I have noticed that a couple of my older coins (Morgans specifically) have begun to brown around the edges (this may have happened any time within 5 years as I do not frequently observe them.) Within my safe I also store a handgun, I am not sure if this is relevant information. My question to the community is how can I stop this tarnish from eventually destroying these coins? Can this tarnish be happening from my storage of a handgun? (it was not there in prior years in which I don't believe I saw the tarnish) I apologize I am having difficulties posting my coin within my post directly, see my attached image for my issue. Edit: I will also note that other coins in my collection seem very much the same and tarnish free as I had left them, although both of my 10 ounce silver rounds may also have a slight brownish tone to them aswell.
If you want to prevent further toning, the simplest way is to put them into Intercept holders. You can also seal them inside plastic bags with some sacrificial red copper cents and some silica gel desiccant canisters. But, really, I wouldn't worry about what's happened to them so far. It's not "wow" toning, but it's not ugly by any means. I'm not sure if firearms and coins in the same safe are a good thing for the preservation of the coins. Anyone have thoughts?
Welcome to the neighborhood @mjoss08 ! It really isn't a good idea to put your coins and guns together in an enclosed space because of the lubricants and solvents used to care for the guns. Silver is a fairly reactive metal. Chris
Most everything you put in a safe is going to put off gasses. Paper, wood, guns and most anything painted are some of the worst. Silver is going to tone. All you can do is try to slow it down. Swings in temperature and humidity are also bad. With the two Morgans, I have to wonder if the plastic holders helped the toning along. Welcome to CT.
I would not do anything, toned coins today do take on a premium. Some collectors like blast white - some like toning. No concern here IMO. JPL
......and if the silver dollars turn black, you'll be able to get a little more than melt value for them. Chris
I agree with many of the posts. As the Morgan's "sit" now, I think the toning is attractive. Leaving them with a gun in the same safe will not be beneficial to the coins in the long run. There are a few ways to better protect the coins from the atmosphere while still leaving it in the case with the gun. It's preferable to store it in another fashion, but if this is your only choice, use intercept bags, airtite capsules, desiccant bags and the aforementioned sacrificial copper cent.
Thanks all for the welcome. I will store the handgun elsewhere, the sense I get from the above posters is that silver is sensitive to other items and may have indeed caused this as I had suspected. Also as someone else noted, clash marks around the neck? Is this a particularly strong feature of the coin? Is it a common wear point? Forgive my ignorance.
Atmosphere - both the oxygen and the trace elements of pollutants it holds - is the enemy of a pure silver coin. If you store your coins in non-airtight containers, there will always be the chance of oxidation affecting them. There are airtight containers available for coins, and you can minimize the chance of "bad" atmosphere affecting them by (for instance) keeping them away from situations where outgassed chemicals are in the environment. Like storing them with a gun. "Clashing" is a strike event where two dies come together without a planchet to be struck between them. When it happens, some of the design elements on the one die get impressed onto the other, and that die then strikes those transferred elements onto future planchets. Here's a Morgan Dollar clashing overlay: The reverse die would have struck the obverse looking like that. See the line of the top of the wing intersecting with the neck? That line has been struck onto the obverse die of your coin, and then onto the coin itself. You can see the line extending down and left of the neck on your coin, and that's what people are talking about.
Chemically, I would suspect the primers in ammunition stored with coins to be more of a problem of corrosive outgasing over time than any oils or solvents. I saw someone's gun safe where you couldn't see the guns for the stacks of ammo. He didn't shoot much, so I guess it was for the upcoming zombie outbreak. Those darn revenuers!!
