Backstory: I'm 68 and in the 60's, my dad and I collected coins and put them in the Whitman folders. Duplicates were put in paper coin rolls. At some point in the 70's, our basement (split level home with half the house in the "basement") flooded and I think the coins were submerged. We dried them but then just put them all into paper coin rolls.
I've decided to buy Littleton Albums for them. These albums have those clear plastic slides on both sides of the coin. I'm currently working on
Roosevelt dimes. Upon opening the paper rolls, the majority of the dimes have black spots, there's some toning, the edges on many are black but it's almost all on the obverse. The reverse seems to be OK.
I've read a few posts about chemicals in the adhesive of paper coin rolls as well as the old cheap folders, etc.
I think my coins are a victim of that. But..... some of these dimes are in really good, maybe fine condition if you only look at the reverse. I'm heartbroken.
I have a few questions I hope folks can answer.
If I have a choice between a partially blackened, really good condition dime or a clean worn dime, which one would be better to put in the album? Will the "problem" with the blackened coins spread to the others?
Is there a way to remove that black stuff and not seriously affect the value of them? (these are all mostly worn coins and probably only worth the melt value). The value probably won't increase or decrease if I clean them but I don't want them all to look super clean but really worn. To me, they'd look fake.
Another anomaly to ponder: the
Mercury dimes don't exhibit this black stuff. In the rolls that had some Roosevelts, Mercuries and some Barbers, only the Roosevelts had the black stuff.
I'm sure some of you know what black stuff I'm talking about but I could upload a few pics if that would help.
Posted 03/30/2023 8:36 pm
to the CCF
