Restoring a coin. What type of damage is this?

I have recently rediscovered a set of Franklin mint coins that my grandmother had given me years ago. To my horror, about 30% of the coins show some sort of damage on them, almost like the gold plating was hit with some form of moisture.

The picture below displays a coin with the damage. Take note, this particular coin is still wrapped in the original plastic from the Franklin Mint.

First, does anyone know what type of damage this is?

Second, is there any way to restore these coins back to more or less their original state?

Lastly, what is the optimal thing to do with these coins to maximize their value? Is it better to restore the coins and have them in pristine condition, or to leave them as is?

Thank you for any replies!

 

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what are the name of these coins ? set ? name ? from which country ?

 

These are coins from a Franklin Mint collection called: 100 greatest masterpieces. After more sleuthing, I see someone recommends cleaning the tarnish by using toothpaste, but there has simply got to be a better way to do it than that.

 

do not use tooth paste you will scratch the surface so bad and kill the value of your coin. wait for more experienced opinions...

 

@Alacrity

First, welcome to the neighborhood!

Unfortunately, a lot of people are lured into buying "collectibles" from the Franklin Mint thinking that they are valuable and they will continue to increase in value over the years. It's simply not true. Most of these "collectibles" achieve their maximum value when the Franklin Mint sells them, and they usually go downhill afterward.

Chris

 

Like cpm9ball said, these really don't have much value. The only value I'd attribute them is their weight in silver. A little searching showed that these are 1000 grains of sterling silver a piece, $34.17 worth of silver per coin at the time of this post.

I wouldn't spend much money "restoring" them if your only desire is to increase value. They will most likey not increase much, if at all, beyond melt value.

 

Thank you guys. You confirmed something I was suspecting about the value of these coins after a quick review of the Franklin Mint official site.

There's something sort of lame about an industry based around the manufacture of "collectables." It seems like an enterprise that anyone can engage in, but particularly those that are gifted in the art of convincing others that lead is gold.

Likely, there was some sort of television ad from franklin mint. I can see the ads in my head now: "A timeless collection of the 100 greatest masterpieces in your living room! Call now!"

If this internet tidbit is to be believed, Franklin Mint is the primary culprit for the corrosion as well. Gold does not corrode easily, silver does moreso. The gold plating is too thin to protect the coin.

I can at least be more casual with them, knowing that the only value in the artwork is sentimental value. That will make it easier to put them in the display case.

Afterwards, I will have to figure out what to do with my R2D2 coins...

I did get to find this site though. The ancient coin section is very interesting, like holding a piece of history. Its cool to know there are savvy collectors out there preserving history.

And, if one has to have R2D2 coins, its better to have $3000.00 worth of them.

 

What causes the red color on the coin, just curious

 

Before you attempt to buy any ancient coins, do come talk to us in the ancients forum. And please don't just go out and buy any "ancients" on eBay.

 

If I were going to work on this coin I would soak it in water for a day and never rub or touch the surface in any way. Next, I would soak it in acetone for a few hours and again, never touch the surface with anything. Most anything organic is going to be gone at that point. The next step would be something that's probably not worth the time or risk.

 

The toning on the edge could easily be removed but no so for that "sun" looking spot in the field. Leave them alone as there is nothing you could do to raise the value above what it is now, which, as has already been said, is bullion.

 

And here I thought that "sun" thing was a total solar eclipse.

 

The Franklin Mint, like many others, made "coins" from precious metals that looked interesting if you want to display them. If I wanted to sell something like this, I would advertise/promote it as "Beautiful Medals With Artistic Content - Silver Value $XXX - Collector's Value $XXX" and ask a modest premium. Someone might like them and pony up the bucks. Now, to restore them to eye-worthy condition...the acetone bath is not a bad idea in case there is any organic material on them. After that, I might try the method here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-silver-131048

 

If these are silver, a quick in in EZest should take care of it.

 

Yeah, that too, except I still think I might acetone them first.

 

I REFUSE to use EZest. Waaaaay too harsh! I have my own recipe.

 

Noted to the extreme. I was double checking on ebay, and the website is plastered with "ancient" coins.

I cleaned it with a bit of polish and warm water, knowing that any damage I caused would not effect the underlying value of the coin. Attached is a picture of the clean version.

 

Yes, I see.

Had that been a high value coin, you would have wiped at least half it's value off with the paste. Probably much more.

 

DON'T DO THIS EITHER:
How To Clean Silver With Aluminum Foil & Baking Soda

 

Actually, if you're careful with the technique, it's the optimal way to remove toning from silver because it's a chemical reversal of the toning process - the sulfur which combined with the silver to form the toning (silver sulfide) has a greater affinity with the aluminum, and departs the silver for greener pastures, so to speak. It is not intrusive like "cleaning" methods which physically remove the silver sulfide by either rubbing it away - as the OP did - or dissolving it, as in dipping. All it does is remove the offending sulfur and leaves pure silver behind, just like the coin originally appeared.

The devil is in the details to protect the coin, though, because you're admittedly exposing it to a potentially abrasive solution with the baking soda. So you minimize that by bringing the silver to an already-heated solution (boiling water temperatures are not necessary) and keep the solution heated evenly (so as to minimize convection currents moving abrasively over the coin).

You can see those currents in action by heating the liquid in a clear container and dropping food coloring into the solution to see how it "wanders" under various heating regimens. This enables you to determine the most "stable" situation in terms of temperature, liquid volume (that's important) and the configuration of the container.

You'd probably be pretty surprised at how effective it is at removing toning safely and without trace, once you have the technique dialed in. As long as it's silver sulfide.