White Film On Washington Quarters From Mint Sets

The mint sets have a PVC liner on the inside. It's very common that one side is affected and a little more common to be the obverse than the reverse. It's often both sides.

About 70% of them can be fixed by a soak in 91% alcohol and a little acetone. Acetone isn't important but it is critical not to introduce water. Let soak for three days, rinse in warm water, and gently pat dry. The worst dates are '69, '71, and '68. If one soak doesn't work you can try a second or even a third. After that the coin starts to degrade no matter how careful you are.

This is going to be a rapidly growing problem because the longer they are affected the lower the success rate.

Hello folks - yes, the one on the right was removed from a mint set for the first time just a couple of hours ago. So, I was correct about the PVC film hunch.

I've got the acetone, so time to give them a bath.

What are your feelings about dealers that pass these on through ebay? I received an 18 coin set of all the 1970s business strikes in original mint cellophane. While technically it's honest that they are original mint wrapped coins, I feel it's a bit dishonest for a dealer to send them off when they so obviously have PVC film on them.

A lot of people may not even notice it. People didn't really look at these coins in 1971 and they're barely looking at them now.

Good luck with giving your quarters a bath. There are so few 1970's quarters that are worth much unless they are in gem grade or above that they are often only given the barest look from dealers with deep stocks of them. Sometimes it's actually better to buy the complete mint sets at a show.

If you're doing the old ones in Gem then why not the newer ones as well?

Right now most of the newer Gems can be had for less than a dollar but if demand ever materializes they are going to get expensive because they are scarcer than the old ones.

The '71-D is a nice chBU but this coin is pretty common in Gem with about 3% of mint set coins being Gems.

So I received yet another set of clad Washingtons that I ordered on ebay for my set. I ordered the '65, '66, '67 SMS issues, the '68 and '69 proof issues (s), and the '69 p&d in original mint cello. I also got a '52 gem BU Franklin half. All coins are gorgeous, as described, and the seller included a 2015-s homestead nat'l monument quarter in gem BU condition as a bonus, very nice. The only problem is that the '69s are both coated in film on both the obverse and reverse.

This particular vendor included a slip of paper in the mylar flip the two '69s came in re: "mint set film". This is an explicit recognition that the coins are covered in the film, but it says to dip the coins in "sudsy ammonia" for just a few seconds and then immediately wash them with warm water, and voila, no coin film.

Has anybody tried this method? Now I have to run out and buy some ammonia, which I reckon will cost more than the two coins did. Vendor is forgiven for honesty, effort, and a nice little bonus item, however I wish this problem was identified before sale.

I'm getting back into collecting after a decade and a half of living overseas, and I'm much more serious now than when I was younger. I guess this is all part of the learning process, and turns out that starting off with more common coins so that my mistakes are affordable ones was a good decision!

Well, if you are going to try that then I would like to add that I've looked up a bit more information on using ammonia, and apparently it's pretty harsh stuff on coins. It can remove verdegris from copper but can also completely destroy the patina if the coin is left too long.

The good thing is, one of the metals it IS recommended for use with is nickel. So, I would say that these nickel clad coins (or any nickel 5 cent pieces) would be alright, but I would go dipping silver or copper in it. I'm waiting for somebody to come back from the store with some ammonia for me, so I'll let you know how the bath works out.

I still don't have the '68 p&d in my collection yet - looks like I'm going to be searching those out in gem BU condition and NOT in original mint cello.