Prez $ Experiment

For the past 20+ years my dad has carried a half dollar in his pocket. At this point, I think it is just a smooth disc. I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm pretty sure all the words, numbers, and images have been worn off. It is still 'clean', meaning it isn't tarnished or covered with finger prints.

I don't know why he carries it , and I'm not sure he even remembers why he started anymore, but this got me thinking. I was looking through the new Presidential dollars from the bank, all clean and shiny and never touched. I wondered how it would age in my pocket getting touched, bouncing off of change, getting thrown onto the dresser at night, etc. So I started carrying one around three weeks ago.

Let me tell you, these things don't age well at all. After three weeks the obverse is getting dark, there isn't a hint of that new coin shine left. Liberty and the surrounding field on the reverse is the same. The USofA inscription still looks alright, but it is still no where close to pretty anymore. The rim now holds a brownish/red color but the edges which keep rubbing against everything are still the original color.

Overall, a disappointment I would say. The only way to get some really nice versions for your collection is to buy them new and handle them with gloves. If you were to get one from circulation, it would no doubt be covered with grime and oil from fingers and not look good.

Maybe I should keep experimenting, perhaps with Acetone to clean, or olive oil, or a rag and some kind of polish or even just water (it would help me learn what a cleaned coin looks like). I also wonder what these will look like if/when the gold color fades. Will they look better, worse, dull, just like a quarter? Thoughts?