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 Replies: 15 / Views: 2,399 |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Hi everyone, I have been in the process over the last few months of selling about a dozen Morgans passed down to me by my Grandfather so I've been researching and learning about Morgans lately. One of the last ones in the batch is VERY weird, it looks very much like it has a thin plastic coating on the obverse (but not the reverse). The obverse is extremely shiny and new looking, it doesn't have the usual silver tarnish and the reverse looks very normal, much more duller and slightly tarnished. It looks normal to me, in other words. If you look at the cheek you can see where it appears that some of the plastic has been rubbed or gouged off and it appears to be slightly blistered up around the edge of the hole. Hard to tell. The coin doesn't "feel" like metal on the obverse either. It's smooth - like plastic. Has anyone ever seen anything like this before? My goal is to auction the coin off on ebay as I have done with the other coins in the past. I don't want someone to get scammed or misrepresent this coin in any way. What is going on here? Is it safe to remove the plastic? Should I? How would I go about doing that? I figure the chances of this being a fake are very small because it was obtained many years ago by my grandfather (I don't know when - but it's OLD - he passed away around 1982 so for sure it was obtained by him before then). But it's such an odd duck with this plastic coating on one side, very strange. Image links: obverse 1:  obverse 2, slight angle:  reverse, for comparison purposes, same camera settings:  I'm also noticing as I zoom into the reverse image that there are some nice die cracks on there! Thanks much in advance! |
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Valued Member
167 Posts |
No idea what the coating is. Try soaking it in acetone.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9718 Posts |
Could be an old coating of lacquer, lots of collectors thought that lacquer would preserve their coins quite some time ago, you still find copper coins that were treated this way. An acetone soak would remove the offending material without changing the color of the nice toning on the coin. You can search here to read all about acetone applications on coins. It's fairly safe to the coin, not too much you can screw up by dipping or soaking the coin carefully. Just don't use a plastic container or rubber gloves with it.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1982, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS) Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: https://goccf.com/t/140440 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
It looks like it may be been coated on one side to be a in a belt buck or placed in a pendant. If it is plastic then acetone will likely take it off.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
 TO CCF
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
The reverse looks very much like a normal Morgan dollar should, the obverse not so much. The shininess makes me think it might have received a chrome electroplate, a poor plating job would also explain the flakiness on the cheek. Can you get a picture of the edge of the coin?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
567 Posts |
How strange, I've never seen anything like this before, seems like lacquer is a definitely a possibility, I'm interested to see what people ultimately conclude.
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Moderator
 United States
16656 Posts |
The reverse looks normal and the obverse I'd have to agree looks chrome plated.
My guess is it was used in perhaps a belt buckle. Pretty much melt value unfortunately.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
I took a close look at the edge of the coin. It looks completely normal, i.e. just like my other Morgans. The plating/coating appears to be stricly on the obverse surface. It's awful hard to tell if it's some kind of plastic, or chrome as some have suggested. It doesn't seem to want to come off when I scrape at it sorta gently with a fingernail, like plastic. I wonder if it is chrome, perhaps for a belt buckle or fashion ornament of some kind. I will give it an acetone bath and see what happens, but now that I'm seeing the suggestion of chrome plating, that really does look like what it is. It's super clean and shiny - just like chrome - definitely something is on there that is completely covering the original coin underneath, not some kind of clear pastic, for sure. I suppose I can still auction it on ebay with full disclosure that I'm not 100% sure what it is, but appears to be chrome plated. Maybe point potential buyers to this thread, even. I'm soaking it in acetone right now. How long a soak is long enough? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
You would not have to actually soak that coin. A dip lasting only a few minutes should do whatever it will do. You could leave it in Acetone for years or a few minutes. Same results.
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
If anything actually dissolves off it, be sure and give it a dip in a fresh puddle of acetone as the previous batch of acetone will be polluted with whatever is on that Morgan.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
A couple hours in acetone, and you should at least feel the surface getting a little bit gummy under toothpick pressure. Acetone will dissolve what's there if it's going to work, not flake it, and if a couple hours won't dent the surface hardness it's likely plated.
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
OK it's been soaking for about 2 hours. Absolutely zero difference. It's hard as a rock. It's got to be chrome. What a crazy thing to do.
Thanks everyone for your help!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
506 Posts |
What a shame. It's still an interesting coin.
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Valued Member
United States
116 Posts |
If it's chrome, the only way to take it off would be sand blasting or an acid bath so yeah, best to leave it on and tell them in the description. You'll get a few bucks less for it but 100% positive feedback will make you more in the long run.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
And for the record, you're welcome to link this thread in your auction if you wish. We normally do not alloww conversations like this from a new member - we don't want people coming in off the street and immediately trying to link auctions - but you're obviously seeking knowledge and wish to present the coin honestly. So, yeah, link this if you like. You get to look like you're seeking honest answers, and maybe we pick up a new member or two.  |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 2,399 |
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Posted 11/20/2014 05:44 am
