I found this at my local Walmart CoinStar and didn't realize it was silver at first. When I finally got it home and saw it was dated 1944, I still wasn't convinced it was silver. What finally convinced me was the sound it made when dropped on top of my safe, along with another 1944 quarter I took from my 90% bag of quarters. Any thoughts as to how it acquired this color?
It somehow survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki or it was a ground find from spending years under the dirt.
Any chance you were in Austin? I was in line at a bank in Walmart when a guy walked past and stopped to get a coin out of the rejection slot on the CoinStar. He stood there studying it for a minute, then walked back by. When he was even with me, he flipped the coin in the air and missed catching it. When it his the floor it looked copper but had a ring like silver. He chased it down and put his foot on it.
I've been to Austin a few times and think it's a great city, but I live in a smallish town a couple of states over.
Environmental damage. What type? Who knows, unless you can track down the person that found it. It could be from metal detecting, having been buried in the ground, or spent way too much time in the men's urinal. For fun, let it soak in acetone for a day or two, then wash it off using a Q-tip to help remove the scuzz. Let us know how it comes out.
Well, I soaked the coin in acetone for several days and employed a cue tip to both the obverse and reverse but can't see much difference from the original photos. Other suggestions? Or do y'all think there's a difference? I reposted the originals for comparison.
What about a coin dip? What do you think that would do? It's already ugly. Would it hurt it if it just looked cleaned?
