I recently purchased a mixed lot of coins from an individual on ebay that claimed to know nothing about any of them. Most of the coins were in pretty bad shape (didnt pay much so no worries), with a few decent ones mixed in. Naturally, this 1838 seated liberty dime caught my eye. The obverse looks to be in decent shape, but when I turned it over I was dissapointed to see that the reverse was covered in a layed of what looked like old glue. I dont know who would do such a thing to a nice old coin. Anyway, I know most of your thoughts on cleaning but does anyone know how iI should attempt to remove it? Its relatively hard, so I cant just peel it off. Is there a chemical that I could use that would effect the coin minimally? Any thoughts on the matter are appriciated. Also wanted to get some oppinions on the grade of the obverse. Are the stars the large or small variety for this year. Thanks all.
Considering it's already contaminated with dried glue, I wouldn't see a problem cleaning it to rid it of the glue. I imagine pure acitone would work. You cant mess it up much worse than someone already has, so go for it. Guy~
1838 lib dime TRY mineral spirits. It softens up adhesives like old duct tape which was pulled off and dried up for years.. I think it is very gentle and leaves no residue. Water will remove any if there is some. The glue has been on there a long time so give the mineral spirits a long time to do its job. Use something very very soft to remove softened glue. zg
It looks like a large star to me. Acetone is the best bet but I don't feel it will help the obverse much if any. It will remove the glue without any help if done properly. The coin looks like it has been worked on in the past.
