I rec'd this coin from my mother in law a while back, it was stored in an old Whitman folder for many years. My question is, can the black tarnish on the obverse be removed to make this a bit more attractive, or should I leave it as is. How do you feel about it's looks?
You have a conundrum! If you clean it, that's your bad. Normally, I'd say leave it "as is". But it is butt ugly. So what to do? I'd put a little spitula between by thumb and forefinger, and give it a light rub, , moving both digits and checking frequently. That might help improve it without ruining it. Don't overdue it and, when done, rinse in water and pat dry with paper towel or soft towel.
I would not recommend rubbing your coin - with fingers, cloth or anything else. Rubbing a coin is a surefire way to cause hairlines.
Other than a soak in acetone, which might remove some folder crud, I wouldn't touch it. You could send it to NGC, if it looks 'conservable' NCS might be able to do something with it. That 's a scarce coin and always in demand, so keeping the surfaces free of hairlines is important.
That speckle toning is common to those albums, do not monkey with it, it is not nearly as bad as you say.
don't clean it yourself I would not clean this coin myself. It's not as bad as some say it is. The 1915-P is a scarce date, possibly worth up to $200 in your grade shown. So I wouldn't mess with it. It's a marginal call to send it to NCS, but it may be worth it. I think this coin should be professionally cleaned, if at all. An amateur cleaning could really ruin it. JMHO
First don't rub it with anything , even if it's this worn , the strongest I'd go is some acetone , but I would probably leave it alone , especially if you've never cleaned a coin before , most come out looking worse than they originally did . rzage
