I have a 1886 Morgan that has what appears to be rust across the face. Now I am not an expert on coins so if it not rust what is it, and how can I remove it. It is beautiful coin without the rust. Thanks, Sandy
I have always been told no to change the apperance of a coin such as cleaning I could possibly be wrong It is a nice coin
I had already read the cointalk on cleaning and that why I asked the question. With the rust, and is it rust, will it degrade the coin. Will PCGS grade it with an environmental damage code or will they just grade according to the regular standards ignoring the rust? I hate to waste anymore money on getting coins graded and have them come back with a no grade. Thanks for your help.
It appears to be some sort of stain, of course you know silver and copper does not rust, so if it is rust, it was in contact with something that contained iron and was environmental effected. Unless this coin has some sentimental value, it is not a very rare or desirable date to go through the expense of having this Morgan encapsulated. I'm not saying this is common, I'm saying that with the existing conditions on the surface of this coin, it would behoove your wallet to just say "pass" on this one.
That is a lightly circulated common date morgan. If the stain bothers you that much a quick 1 second dip in jewel luster followed by a good rinse with distilled water will do the trick. definitely not worth tpg grading.
I waited until others chimed in on possible solutions, mostly because I'm just going to go with an EWAG. Since silver and copper don't "rust" in the classic sense, BR549's guess at the cause seems correct (at least that was my guess). THEREFORE My first assumption is that the rust is just a surface coating that hasn't affected the coining metal (that assumption is KEY to the rest of my suggestion). IF that assumption is correct then there may(?) be a rust removing product that will remove it BUT not affect the coining metal. I wouldn't attempt this until you get more feedback. There's a few people in here who know a lot more than me about such things.
I agree that someone with more experience should chime in. I do not have expereince in this type of stain, but have used coin dip products on ugly toning in my day. With coin dip just dip the coin in the solution for a few seconds, then rinse with pure water, (bottled water works well), then PAT dry, do not wipe. I would be very interested if someone with experience with these stains says coin dip would work.
Since dips for silver aim at removing silver sulfide (the most common toning compound for silver), I'm not sure they would work on rust, a ferrous (iron) compound.
I agree DO NOT Clean!!! there maybe reason the stain is there? * broken Die still in coin *bad silver mix but Dipping away the coins history is not the answer .
IMO, the condition (grade) of this coin, without the rust, does not warrant having the coin graded, not for the time and expense involved. However, if conserving the coin is of interest to you and the coin has personal sentimental meaning to you, then you might consider the services of NCS. They would be your best option for "market acceptably" cleaning the rust from the coin. Potentially, conservation may restoring the eye appeal to your coin, plus it would be protected in a slab after having been cleaned. This is just something to consider if it is that important to you.
I have seen hundreds of these. I doubt it is either of the two reasons you state. There was an entire bag of walkers at an auction once with these stains, from storing a bag in a iron box that got wet. Surface iron staining is very common on "original" coins. I just have not cleaned them before, I avoided them because I didn't want the trouble.
I was hoping that the dip would loosen the toning under the rust, thereby displacing it from the surface. I had some luck with some black marks on a coin this was before. You are right though, no guarantee it would work. Just suggesting it because its relatively safe.
