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 Replies: 12 / Views: 2,748 |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
869 Posts |
Hey guys/girls & a pizza house. I worked today...thank god it's almost Christmas & life can be back to normal. At work, I stumbled upon a really nice clean 1975 20 cent piece. CV isn't that great, but finding a coin is such nice condition with a nice lustre really surprised me. I've attached a couple of photos. What grade would any of you put on it? I was thinking an EF or above as the fields are just so neat. Looks light the strike may be a little light. But grading decimal coins is not my forte. I'll grade any notes or pre-decimal coins well, with no worries. What do you think?    |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Some rim damage but an attractive coin overall. I would call this at EF/aUNC, Sweet pick up  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
The tiara is well defined, hair curls hardly worn and gown creases over the shoulder quite sharp. Very nice condition for the date.
And, do I detect some cartwheel lustre still?
I concur with trout. Well worth keeping.
Now, why not keep this as the start of a 20¢ circulated set? See how long it takes to get all years from your change, trying for best possible condition for each year. As you find a better coin, for any year, then replace the previous.
Such a set is not worth much but it is an interesting exercise.
Finding a good 1971 is hard and finding a 1985 and 1988 is well nigh impossible. Also, 2001 Norfolk Island seems to be a hard one to find.
Jeff
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
I found a 1975 20c piece like this recently too. I couldn't believe my luck.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
Quote:
Also, 2001 Norfolk Island seems to be a hard one to find. I think it depends where you are in Australia. In Melbourne Norfolk Island 20c are quite common but the NT 20c is very hard to find. It would be an interesting exersize to see how our coinage circulates around the nation. Does most of it stay in the city that it is released into? |
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Pillar of the Community
 Australia
869 Posts |
I actually purchased a folder with some earlier (Australian decimal) coins in it, it was a pity the folder had PVC pages, because the silver coins were starting to get a greenish tinge. That purchase also included UNC Mint sets from 1977 through till 1999. When I get home, I'll have to organise my chaos.
As for the picture coins, they're not really my thing. I'd prefer to buy a limited PNC or set piece (as with State coins). I have collected a lot of them, but I'll be offloading them at some point. I'm waiting on my 2013 MacDonalds book to arrive in the post.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
Quote:
I think it depends where you are in Australia. In Melbourne Norfolk Island 20c are quite common but the NT 20c is very hard to find.
It would be an interesting exersize to see how our coinage circulates around the nation. Does most of it stay in the city that it is released into? An interesting point. I think they diffuse across the country quite slowly. I have checked literally thousands of 2010 20¢ coins and only ever found one "bubble" but members in other states report reasonable numbers. Most years only have , at most, two or three different patterns for a particular denomination. So, distribution is likely to be reasonably even across the country. 2001 is an exception -ten different 50¢ and eleven different 20¢ and reasonably small mintage numbers for most. Initial distribution was therefore likely to be rather uneven across the states. I find SA, ACT and WA 50¢ are hardest to find in NSW and Norfolk, NT and Vic. are lowest finds in 20¢. I recently swapped 25 x Norfolk for 25 x South Australia. A forum member in South Australia had good number of SA and I had good number of Norfolk and we were both low numbers for the opposite.
If anyone is interested in a swap then let me know what you have low (and high) numbers of and I will check if there is a mutual advantage for us. Or, if a few respond, I might be able to put you in touch with someone who can help.Jeff |
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New Member
Australia
24 Posts |
Can the lustre be put back on if you dip it in mercury? I remember seeing that some guy I think NURDRAGE dipped some coins in mercury and it made it completely clean and shiny. I do also remember that if Aluminium is placed in mercury for too long it will become tissue like.
Will mercury work in bring back the shine?
Anyways that coin looks mighty EF++
Edited by quang
12/29/2012 05:41 am
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
Lustre cannot be imitated. Dipping it in mecury is just stupid. Some people dip coins in a silver dip concoction but it destroys the lustre.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1607 Posts |
Mercury is a very dangerous material,unlees you know exactly what your doing I would'nt even contemplate doing this.
Mercury is probably the most toxic non-radioactive metal in the environment. It is a poison! It is highly toxic to humans and ANY AMOUNT is harmful to the cells and tissues of human beings.
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New Member
Australia
24 Posts |
Ok, I'm still learning. I hope that I don't sound to naive/arrogant.
So the only way of keeping the lustre is keeping it un-handled right?
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
Theres no problem with asking questions. I was a bit concerned when I heard about the mercury as I'm sure AA was. The last thing we needed to hear was about someone getting mercury poisoning. Plenty of new coin collectors get into the silvo and scrub/dip their coins to make them shiny but as they soon realise this destroys much of the value and is another reason ou will notice that people react quickly when we hear about cleaning coins. It is just so you dont do any harm to what collections you have so far.
Over time most/all coins will tone to some degree, maybe not gold. Even BU coins with full lustre that haven't been handled may tone if not stored in great conditions. Cooler, dry air is good for coins. PVC plastics are a big no no also. Toning can just cover up lustre but have it still showing through and be quite attractive in many cases. It can also be very unattractive and dark and can completely block/remove the lustre. The best way to prevent the lustre from being removed would be to never handle the coin with bare hands and then only on the edges and to store it in a cool dry place in preferably an air tight capsule but otherwise in a PVC free folder/album/flip/2x2.
Edited by enworb
12/29/2012 5:13 pm
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New Member
Australia
24 Posts |
So it doesn't oxidize and just like museums less light is better. Thanks Enworb :)
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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,748 |
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Posted 12/23/2012 2:22 pm
