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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,784 |
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Valued Member
United States
212 Posts |
A while back I posted a weird-looking 1891 O Morgan I'd had for many years that weighs right, isn't magnetic and has all the proper fonts etc. but looks very weird in terms of color (some areas appearing glittery white-silver like spray paint). One expert I'd sent photos to was pretty sure it was a fake, but here at least a few people said it appeared to be a real Morgan but painted with silver paint by some idiot previous owner. Well last night I decided to try removing the paint, just for curiosity's sake. I don't think I succeeded in getting any of it off, but the whole coin definitely looks different. Notably, the parts that looked most convincingly real silver (tarnished) now have the cold shiny look of nickel. I thought, okay, this is a nickel counterfeit that was painted silver to pass it off as real, and maybe it worked decades ago when the paint was fresh.
I don't know why, but I decided to Google one more time for information. And I found a site that suggested a test I'd never heard of before: the ice test (it included a Youtube video). The idea is, silver is even more conductive than copper, so conductive that it quickly melts ice. So I plopped a cube on my weirdo Morgan and what do you know?--the second it touched it began pooling and skating around like butter in a hot pan. There are still mysteries in the appearance of this Morgan so I guess I will finally take it to a shop to see what someone thinks of it with their own eyes in person (its' oddness is hard to capture in a photo).
But in the meantime, if you've never put ice on silver--DO IT, it's so cool!
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12477 Posts |
I am familiar with the test, but only as it concerns diamonds. Real diamonds disperse heat much more quickly than imitations. You probably have a real Morgan that was doctored somehow.
In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
If it was painted,an acetone soak should do the trick. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1364 Posts |
Any before and after photos?
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Interesting .  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9150 Posts |
Quote:
If it was painted,an acetone soak should do the trick I agree with this method, should work. |
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Moderator
United States
187637 Posts |
Quote:
If it was painted,an acetone soak should do the trick. I agree. Quote:
Any before and after photos? They would be helpful.  |
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Valued Member
240 Posts |
If you're going to do the ice test I would suggest the following... 1. Have a known to be real silver Morgan dollar. 2. Have a copper-nickel clad Eisenhower dollar. 3. Place these two coins and your suspect Morgan on the same surface for a long period of time. The goal is for all three coins to reach the same temperature. A couple of hours should be more than enough time. 4. Get three ice cubes of the same size ... and with the same contacting surface (the side the contacts with the coin). (The Eisenhower won't be able to have the same contacting surface area since its features are different, but seems like it's worth including.) 5. Using tongs or insulated gloves ... quickly place the ice cubes on the coins. Or, place one coin at a time and video the melting process. Or, do both ... several times. The problem with the experiment you describe is that you are missing the reference (control) that you need for comparison. So, how could you possibly make a judgement? I suggest you do this several times so that you can account for imperfections in the contact area between the coin and the ice cube. That will play a huge role in how the ice cube melts. Also, the thermal conductivity of the surface the coins are resting on will effect the results. Using a good insulator (wood) will help, but as the ice melts the water will also change the nature of the thermal problem. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1272 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
jmwilson correctly points out the problem with the "ice test", no standards or references. All anyone ever says is that "ice melts faster on silver". If you look at a table on the thermal conductivity of different metals you will find that silver has the the highest rating (407), but it isn't that much higher than copper. But the tables I've seen only show for pure silver, alloys can reduce thermal conductivity greatly. For example pure copper is 389, but brass (70/30) is only 111. Coppernickel is only 29.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Just dip that thing in Acetone. Might get rid of any paint if that is paint.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
900 Posts |
I agree with what jmwilson said, with the exception that I think the test is better done with the coins on a conductive surface rather than an insulator. I.e a metal table rather than a wood table. I read about the ice test a couple of days ago and tried it on a number of Chinese coins and some Morgan dollars. I was not able confidently quantify how fast the ice was melting on the different coins. Too many variables. I am now awaiting my neodymium rare earth magnet from Amazon to try the sloped magnet test. |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,784 |
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Posted 11/15/2018 04:42 am
