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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,578 |
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
Got this awesome coin recently. I not too familiar with copper coins and their damages. Any idea what happened to this coin to cause this scraped looking silver colored patch?   Thanks |
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New Member
United States
12 Posts |
That's odd, I'm curious as well. Almost looks like it was ground down but there isn't any damage to the striking
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
Apparently some of these were minted in copper gilt over white metal or silver. Maybe taped to something and the adhesive removed the gilt over time?
Edited by amida17
11/11/2013 02:02 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1666 Posts |
Copper gilt means gold over copper, not copper over another metal. The issue with this piece is something on top of the surface rather than the other way around.
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Pillar of the Community
Thailand
1509 Posts |
Could it have been soldered at some time to make a ring or whatever then desoldered?
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Valued Member
 United States
397 Posts |
thai vic, No it doesn't appear there was ever any soldering done
amida, the pattern of the discoloration doesn't seem to match what tape could have done. plus there was not any tape residue when I found them
My initial thought was that somehow the top layer was taken off and the metallic silver part is what is underlying the entire coin. But I am not sure because it seems strange a top layer of copper would totally mask the scraped texture.
In terms of where this coin has been. I think this coin was stored in a little Whitman coin envelope for at least 40 years until I got my hands on this guy's foreign coin collection at an auction. I think whatever happened to the coin happened a long time ago.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1666 Posts |
It's 100% something ON TOP of the surface. See if a little acetone on a q-tip removes it. Often time that does the trick.
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
Numismat, I had tried that to no avail.
If it something above the surface it seems to be REALLY stuck on there close to the surface
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
I would think that has to be a thin layer of foreign substance on top of the surface. Not organic, though... not glue/tape. Almost looks like a thin layer of model paint, which does have some texture to it (like Testor's).
Have you looked at it with a loupe?
Does it scrape off at all? Maybe try a bit with a toothpick on that area between O and N in MONNAIE, which has a bit of environmental stress aside from the silver stuff (so as not to mess up a conspicuous area).
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Pillar of the Community
Luxembourg
588 Posts |
Did you try to check the exact weight in order to decide if it is pure copper?
But if I had to make a guess, I would say it is on top of the coin.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2781 Posts |
sure looks a lot like a reheated & wiped off solder job to me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Great coin I agree! A similar one sold at Heritage for over $300 as I recall.
But I am more interested in the Historic potential as a reason for the damage.
I would posit a mount of some sort to display the " Nouveau Royaume D'Aquitaine" on a pin back mount. The translation is New Kingdom of Aquetaine and could refer to the opposition element during a very disasterous period in the history of France.
1848 was the year of the populist peasant uprising against the French Royalists which established the abortive (and arguably destructive) Second French Republic period of 1848 to 1852). The period ended with Napoleon III re-establishing the monarchy in 1853.
The owner may have been part of the Gentry that opposed the socialistic influences of the peasant rebels who wanted to institute more of the goals of the original revolutionaries.
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
I like the idea of the solder/mount job now. It just doesn't look like any sort of accident/clumsy tampering and this thing is way cool/big so I could see someone trying to mount for display. Thanks for the help, yall. Now I can look past the damage because it is just part of it's rich history like swamperbob describes  . |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,578 |
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Posted 11/10/2013 10:29 pm
