What do you do, when the UNTHINKABLE happens . . . . . . . So, you have this really nice, fairly clean coin, token, or medal, but it's got a small bit of smoodge on it. It has a nice matte finish on it, so you have to be really careful NOT to compromise the finish. To get the smoodge off, you know you can take care of that with a little trip to the Acetone Spa. You carefully lower it in for a few minutes . . . . but wait, you have just used the little wooden paddle you use to extract said coin, token or medal in a different solution. You don't want to "cross pollenate" the chemicals, so you grab a little brass spudge tool you have lying around. It's not as wide, but it'll do, right? Wrong! The spudge tool is somewhat chrome plated. It has a somewhat hard edge, and in a moment of idiocracy, the tool slips, the planchet slides across it's edge, and . . . . . . . . I mean, how do you recover from something like this? After the screaming, swearing, and use of some "perfectly good English," you calm down and try to weigh your options. That's when lessons learned from the "CircCam" discussions come to mind. If life gives you lemons . . . . . . screw it, I hate lemon-aide, give me some Mike's Hard Lemon-aide to get through this . . . . . . . So my only option left, other than to toss it out or buy a new one (which I did anyway), is to try give this piece a circulated cameo conversion. I therefore tossed this medal into my pocket with about 6 bucks of clad quarters, dimes, and nickels. I was looking for an "accelerated" aging process. And I am getting the results I was looking for. Here it is after almost one week of pocket carry. The matte finish is wearing down nicely. The scratch above does not penetrate deeply into the surface, but just breaks the matte finish away. High points on the planchet are getting a nice polish. It's better, but the original gouge is still visible and a couple new ones have appeared. Back into the pocket it goes . . . . . . . . About 2.5 weeks into pocket carry (and one night buried in a flower pot in my backyard) and this bad boy is really starting to take on the appearance I was hoping for. The fields are now nicely lightened. The areas around raised elements are starting to darken. High points are nicely polished. A few "bag marks" and additional scratches all lead to the newfound character of this piece. Here is how it looks after 2.5 weeks . . . . . . The fields on the reverse need a LOT more work. The complexity of the design has the high points "protecting" the fields. I need the lettering to get a bit more evenly polished to make them readable. All in all, I think another month of pocket carry will get this "once damaged" piece back to a respectable, but different than original, finish. Z
Honestly I think you did great. I staple scratched a really nice 1932 Mexican peso and I still beat myself up about it.
I did something similar on a 1892 TDR Barber half. Yep I scratched it removing it from a 2 x 2. I learned my lesson .
When metal detecting I sometimes nick my silver finds and Wheat Cents with my shovel or hand held digging tools. That's really frustrating!
Nothing, not even your fingers should ever touch the obverse or reverse surfaces of the coin. Don't use any tools for a dip or for an acetone bath. Use your fingers to hold the coin by the edges.
@jeffB Yes sir a real nice AU https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1892-50c-tdr-fs-801-007-8/145290/62
Wow, and ouch. Wonder if it would be possible to make out that variety on the FR02-at-best reverse of my 92-P... Edit: by golly, I've got another 92-P here on my desk, waiting for PVC treatment! But definitely no doubling there.
@Collecting Nut Yes I could but I have no desire to own another one. But if I cherry pick one that's another story.
And of course that is why I use a wood paddle, similar to a tongue depressor . . . . The elixir I am using would melt those tongs . . . . . Z
Already secured, and it's in a @dwhiz self slab . . . . . . I'm just pretty jazzed about doing a PMD aging on the first one . . . . . I will report back in another month, and then again a few months after. I may go out and bury this one again to see what environmental "enhancements" I can get on the brass. Z
It happened to me with a proof while taking it out of a 2x2. First I thought: oh I never noticed that die crack before, nah... that was not a die crack.
Dont worry I had a MS 1884 Carson city morgan and I was walking outside and I pulled my phone out and my case hooked onto the flip and it flew out and took a nice rub on the concrete. Nicest 200 bucks i ever lost
Thought I would update with this weeks progress. Brass is really tough material. I've been trying to "force wear" but this stuff doesn't like to cooperate. I can see why they reference "brass" when talking about toughness or tenacity. I did bury this for a couple days which helped the metal darken methinks. I am liking the "circam" look it's getting. Z
