What to do with this buffalo nickel? It's growing something

It has a nice satiny finish to it, but as you can see... it is growing something as well.

It's a poor strike, only about a half horn, but still... a very nice looking coin; at least to me it is.

I wish to at least stop it from spreading, if not get rid of this rusty stuff.

I have looked at it under maginification, but can't really tell if it is just surface or is eating a pit.

The substance is very hard, I tried picking at it a bit with a ss dental pick, and I don't think I even scratched it.

The folks over at the ancient coin forum thought that something like clr might clear it up... just wanted to see if anyone here that has a bit more knowledge with modern coins, their compositions, and their ailments might have a better solution.

Nickels are a bit out of their jurisdiction, but they sure know their bronzes

Any help would be much appreciated

 

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Oops, it's a 1929 s, if it matters.

And there is no growth on the reverse at all.

 

Jengebreton; To be quite honest with you, I haven't seen a coin look this bad before. Not even the ones they retreived from the old spitoons looked any more discusting. I blieve it is the end stage of PVC damage and has dried up and possibly quit spreading. I also believe you will find that it has already "eaten several pits" into the surface of the coin. Any thing you want to try would be an improvement so go ahead and give it a dip in any thing you want to use. Good luck.
If you end up throwing it out of your collection, I believe you can replace it with a coin of equal quality for no more than $10, so we aren't talking of a huge loss. Again good luck and keep us posted on the results.

 

Alrighty; I'll give it a few experiments.

The back is pretty!

Are there any contests for ugly disgusting coins, I want to enter!

thanks for your input.

I figured this guy was a lost cause, but thought I'd give it a chance.

I received it in a grab bag lot that I bought from an internet dealer for 50 dollars or so. It had around $10 face in silver coinage, a gorgeous 1900 Morgan with full luster and only a small ding on the rim, some nice SLQ's and a beautiful red 1919 wheat. Not to mention about another $7 face in wheats, buffaloes, v nickels, Indians and some Ikes for some reason.

Even if I can't do anything with the buffalo, I'm more than pleased with that order.

Thanks for your response and input!

 

well...the current standard for PVC removal (current meaning the wisdom of today is tomorrows folly), is to soak the coin pure acetone (from your local hardware store). I guess if your careful, you could find a way to dip/soad only the face of the coin.

As it sounds like your coin has been deemed an unfortunate junker/tester, I'll be curious to hear what you try and what the results are