Finally broke a coin

Gotta go with @TIF and @svessien here.
I have a few busted coins (not by my doing fortunately... nor an unwitting heavy thumbed lady. My heart goes out to you on that story @rrdenarius)
And having busted coins is a pain.
You did that to it. Now you must glue it.

 

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From the original image, I would not have suspected the coin to be so embrittled. An exceptionally nice example for this late type (Fishman M56, with an altar-base beneath the reverse legend).

Packaging (and impatience) does pose problems sometimes. I was once impatient opening one of those corrugated safety mailers and relized, to my horror, that I had torn, along with the mailer, the original (very old) collector tickets enclosed with the coins. I managed to tape the pieces back together but the accident haunts me to this day, reminding me to be very careful in removing coins from the packaging.

 

I've been fortunate and never broke an ancient/medieval coin (although my collection is small). However, broken pieces can also be a problem in one of my other collecting interests, German Porcelain Notgeld.

 

Ooooh, that hurts, @Oldhoopster. Condolences.

 

Ed, sell it on Etsy as a "Friendship Coin", you know, like those 2 piece charms they sell where 2 friends each keep half & they fit together like puzzle pieces! Etsy users will actually think it's a thing & you'll certainly get your money back & then some! Food for thought!...

 

Happened to me yesterday. Was checking my albums and noticed this coin

that wasn't even touched since I added it in the album had a mighty crack and it was in 2 pieces, like this


I was trying to remove it but right after I touched the foil, not the coin, it decided to go like this

The inside was plain white, so heavy crystallization i think.

I bought the coin thinking the flan was oddly shaped from minting phase, but it's clear that it suffered similar issues in the past.

Managed to glue the pieces back together.

I knew ancient silver can create situations like this, but I wasn't expecting it to be THAT fragile.

 

before:



dropped it , core is fragile.

solution:

 

I was reminded of your post today as I thought I would just press this coin through the cellophane membrane that held it, stapled into 2x2 flip - I didn't press that hard - really...

 

Partially related question, @Ed Snible …

what brand flip are we speaking? There’s a few, I have saflips with are sooo stiff that I have trouble removing coins. And yes, I use them for ancients occasionally.

if anyone has suggestions for a more pliable, but also PVC and other chemical safe flips I would appreciate it for the future.

sorry to see your broken coin. It looks nice, anyway, and now it’s a part of this history.

better than a mistake a saw in auction about a year ago. I’ll add it to this post when I’m back on my computer.

 

I am a golfer - and naturally I have fantastic rounds and absolutely embarrassing ones.

I got the advice once that it's ok to make mistakes, as long as you keep them small and manageable it is OK in the end.

Would you rather be this guy?

Im assuming you learned a bit form this experience and I trust you will do your best to never let this happen again.

 

I keep this one in a Cointain for extra protection. Despite the gnarly flan crack, it's structurally sound ... for now.

 

I use a pen tip to cut the membrane or remove the stables, or use scissors to cut the corner off and slide the coin out.

sorry this happened to you. That’s a lot of pieces!!

 

I broke a few dried butterfly specimens when my mounting techique failed. A friend of mine was too impatient in relaxing his prized Ornithoptera Alexandrae male. He broke the wing muscles in forcing them into position. End result a 10K butterfly was ruined
However, with coins/ thankfully no mounting is required/ basically there to look at and admire
Sometimes I do have to carefully remove auction coins from their flips into my SAFLIPS/ but I am super carefull not to touch them with my fingers (wearing coin gloves)
The O. paradisea males top are tough to mount/ the drab female below is easy.

 

To be sure, Ed Snible has nothing to worry about, aside from his broken coin:

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or

Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter17&edition=prelim)​

So you're off the hook, Ed! Last time I checked, ancient coins weren't current in the USA. :-D Sorry about the coin, though.

 

thanks Evan - a surprisingly brittle coin - I had poked a hole in the membrane so was quite surprised. Not a great tragedy - I’ve had a coin break in the mail before, but had never broken one myself. Hopefully like my hole-in-one in golf - an event not likely to happen again.

 

Just...plain...BUMMER, @Ed Snible !

 

The fact you have a hole in one says a lot.
I can’t get close but I’ve holed many-a bunker shots.

 

I usually use SAFLIP brand mylar flips, which I have read are 5 mil thick.

The flip I had trouble with was thicker. I don't recall the brand.

 

Yeah, I just bought a lot from NN of 18 antioch tets and (thankfully the lowest grade one), broke in the mail. I looked at it and it was very crystallized inside. I glued it back together. Some may object, but the break is still visible, (I do this kind of on purpose), and I find if left in two pieces it tends to keep breaking more. Safer to be back together to lessen further damage. Its a bummer, but we collect metal objects 1000s of year old. Some get crystallized over the millenia. It happens.