I found one of the nicer bullion designs for a 1 oz silver "round" (octagon), and is about 1/8" thick. It has the Liberty Bell on the obverse like on the 1926 commemorative half and the Ben Franklin half dollars. On the reverse, there's a neat 13 ring design with the flying eagle, seen on earlier American coinage. However, the coin is embedded inside lucite and is a paperweight. The presentation of it is nice, but I also like it in a Quadrum capsule that takes up less space. But, it's different and a nice display piece, too. I'm unsure what to do. If cutting of large chunks of it and putting the remaining lucite and bullion in acetone won't remove the lucite, then I'll have to leave it as-is. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
AFAICT, there aren't any good ways to remove it from the Lucite block. Here is the best info I was able to find: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1517722 Trichloromethane and dichloromethane are rather toxic, so I wouldn't try it unless you're experienced in handling chemicals in a vented hood.
that's a neat silver ounce. No nice ways to remove that I know of so I'd leave as is. It's a great paperweight or conversation piece and it's still an ounce of silver. Let it be and enjoy it as is.
I experimented with getting coins out of a Lucite toilet seat. It didn't go especially well. I managed to free some of them, but they were bent by the force I had to apply. (It was no numismatic loss; they were 1972 clad coinage, heavily polished.) I think dissolving a big chunk of Lucite in acetone would take more patience than I have.
Probably if you just put it in some acetone and let it sit for an extended period (a month or two) the entire thing might turn into mush that you could fish the coin from.
Could be. But, like @iPen said, it's kind of a nice presentation as-is. Unless I wanted to try getting the coin slabbed or something, I'd be inclined to leave it as-is.
If I'm going to leave it as-is, I'm thinking of cutting it to an equilateral octagon shape instead of the non-equilateral pentagon shape that it is now. Can you slice through lucite cleanly with a table saw designed to cut wood? And, if so, would it leave a frosty edge, or will it be clean and clear (or if frosty, can it be polished to a clear edge)?
I welded a bandsaw blade into a block of Lucite trying to cut it. The plastic melts and sticks to the blade. Best bet for cutting is a hot wire, or a hand saw and lots of patience. It'll leave a very rough surface; you'd need to sand it, probably with several progressively finer grains, and then polish it. That's way outside my area of experience, though.
Thanks for that info and foresight into how much work it'll require, and possibly making it less presentable lol. I'll probably refrain from it and leave it as-is then.
Ok, before I get tempted to cut into it, does anyone want to buy it off of me? lol Otherwise, my curiosity might do something to it... I'll sell for a really good deal since CT has been good to me and I'd rather sell it to a collector. It'll be a far better price than in that eBay link above. PM me if you're interested! Price will include shipping and PayPal fees. First come, first serve. EDIT: Not sure this is allowed, despite there being no price. Mods, please remove if not allowed. Thanks in advance!
