Scratched Surface On Holder

This holder looked like someone had taken it and rub it across asphalt on both sides. I bought the coin knowing what I was getting into.

I will give you my lessons learned from using PlastX. I did about 7 or 8 application by hand until my fingers were sore. There was some improvement, but I could still see distracting holder scratches.

Today I use a cotton buffer attached to a high speed drill and using the PlastX as a buffing compound. I again made some more improvement as I am no longer getting shadows onto the coin from the scratches. I still have some fine hairline scratches on the holder. Buffing the holder with the drill did no damage to the plastic, but I did touch the NGC sticker and rubed off a section as shown in the photo below.

My conclusion is if the holder has deep scratches, do not buy the coin unless you are willing to change the holder or are OK with some scratches. I improved the coin about 90%, but the method that I used still left some hairline scratches. I had better success using the drill with the cotton buffer, than the hand method.

If the holder has light scratches, the PlastX works great and can remove these scratches close to 100%.


Here is the photo of damage I did to the NGC sticker when buffing:



Here is the cotton buffer I used attached to a drill. The blue substance on the buffer is the PlastX:



Here is a photo of the coin after buffing and there are still some holder hairline white scratches showing:

Don't use high speed buff; use LOW speed, it is possible to overheat the plastic.

I use something called NOVUS Plastic Polish. Its available on Amazon for $17. It is a 3 step scratch remover. First use the heavy scratch remover, then fine then cleaner. Elbow grease and a fine gauze. I usually don't even need the heavy step. I'll try a buffer on low speed though. This stuff helps a lot. I think the abrasive in it gets finer the more you work it.

I'm going to try Novus Plastic Polish and see. If I can avoid sending one more coin into NGC for reholdering at $10 + shipping, it will pay for itself. High grade coins with holder scratches do not sell.

I like the animation showing the change. is the diagonal scratch on the coin or the holder?

It is still a nice looking coin. I only asked because we are talking about scratch removal. if it wasn't for that one scratch....

I can still see it, but only because I know where to look.

Even so, still a good looking coin to me. There are far worse looking scratches out there.

No more scuff. Looks good!