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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,919 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1057 Posts |
One of my current long-term spare-time (ha!) projects is to sort/organize/evaluate a hoard of coins assembled by three generations of deceased relatives of a dear friend of mine. Eighty pounds, all told, mostly US silver and copper, generally Civil War-era to the mid-1970's, when the last hoarder became incapacitated following military service. Just wanted to let everyone see what can happen when coins are stored inappropriately. Two leather pouches (with rawhide interiors full of copper have turned up in one of the shoeboxes). I gather the chemical used in tanning leather are not very stable (or coin-friendly), as illustrated below. Based on a few survivors out of the many hundreds stored in these 5"x7"x2" pouches, I'm surmising that most were minty fresh when put away. But after 35 years in cardboard boxes in an attic in Vermont and then on a garage shelf in upstate New York, here's what they've become.  First a pouch and then a tiny sample of the hundreds that were stored in it, followed by a smaller extract from that group portrait.    Best to all ~ Tom
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
An old leather pouch from my paternal side magically appeared last year. I'm sorry to report a similar result :( Its not just you :(
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19112 Posts |
Excellent example of less-than-optimal storage practices.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2869 Posts |
I feel bad for the wheats but memorials don't make me feel that bad.
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Valued Member
United States
266 Posts |
wow - what a shame.
I like the one where only Lincoln is corroded. It's a different kind of cameo. Imagine if it had been filled with the old large cents or something like that. Doesn't seem in this case there was anything of great value in it.
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Moderator
 United States
187582 Posts |
Those poor, innocent Lincoln cents!   |
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Wow ,talk about environmental damage . Must have been a lot more than just the leather pouch .  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12811 Posts |
Ouch!!  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1057 Posts |
T-BOP: I'd speculate ambient air quality -- meaning the wild fluctuations in temperature and humidity that we get here in the Northeastern US -- could have amplified the effects of the leather, not to mention off-gassing from cardboard, adhesives, and plastics that were inadvertently part of the "storage regime."
...but 35 years is a long time!
"If everything seems to be under control, you're just not going fast enough."
--- Mario Andretti
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
The chemicals used in leather production vary from time to time, and place to place; they include urine, various sorts of biologically active sludge (such as animal dung or abbatoir by-products), alkaline lime paste, salt, sulfuric acid, and chromium sulfate solution. Any one of which could cause problems for coins stored in them.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I'll add that to my party conversation ice-breakers.  |
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Moderator
United States
34393 Posts |
Yep I've seen similar results with leather coin purses. Maybe it's the abattoir by-products?  "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3634 Posts |
Yikes! Fortunately they appear to be mostly Memorial cents. Still an unpleasant sight...
Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Don't wear leather next to your skin - you may suffer the same fate as those Lincoln Cents !  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19112 Posts |
Try stuffing coins into a well-used baseball glove and let it sit for a year.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
I thought what Sap said, there are a lot of treatments most different in leather, could be any number of the ingredients used to cure, color and finish the leather, could be just the leather alone, but I'd bet it's more along the lines Sap mentioned it's more to do with whatever was used in curing and finishing the leather off.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,919 |
Posted 07/15/2021 4:16 pm
