There is no really eloquent way of describing the 1886 Canadian Large Cent I happened upon a week or so ago. It came in the mail, I opened the envelope, I noticed the grungy old 2X2 flip and the cent which appeared to be "stuck" to the inside of the viewing window. After twisting it around some it did "break free" and begin to move inside this flip designed to hold a much larger coin. I tossed it in the backseat and forgot about it. Just got back from feeding and breaking ice (cows) and noticed the mail in the backseat of the jeep and figured I'd better bring it into the house, albeit a week or 10 days after the fact (got some explaining to do, birthday card for wife from PaPa) Well this coin is in the envelope and it's now not just sticky but it's frozen. LOL with the consistency of old sticky coke. I took it into the house and removed it from the holder and proceeded to use my q-tip method with alcohol to remove the sticky flip gunk. It's in VF condition so I really didn't knock it down too much with an abrasive compound scrubbing method. My question is did the old flips have a makeup which contributed to this stickiness or was the seller extremely careless or Have A Sinister Ulterior Motive? Bone
Three words: P V C Very often before the stuff turns green, there will be a sticky residue. Probably just very ignorant. A quick rinse in pure acetone followed by another in distilled or de-ionized water, and air drying on a soft cloth is a much better way to remove PCV residue IMHO.
