What Happened To This Morgan Dollar? (1921 D)

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Author	Replies: 11 / Views: 1,080
Doug G New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 10/07/2023 8:57 pm * Edited by Staff to Add Year / Mintmark to Title. It's very important to have in the title. * Cleaning out my late aunt's house and found this in a tub full of match books. Could prolonged exposure to the sulfur have blackened this coin? From what I can tell it isn't worth much more than scrape. Would it hurt any value to clean it? Edited by Doug G 10/08/2023 6:53 pm Report this Post to the Staff

Spence Moderator United States 34396 Posts	Posted 10/07/2023 9:03 pm Quote: Could prolonged exposure to the sulfur have blackened this coin? Yes that is my best guess. Welcome to CCF by the way. "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 Report this Post to the Staff
MisterT Pillar of the Community United States 2003 Posts	Posted 10/07/2023 9:13 pm Please Do Not attempt to clean it. Report this Post to the Staff
ijn1944 Bedrock of the Community United States 19119 Posts	Posted 10/07/2023 9:32 pm Long exposure to Sulphur can create what we're looking at. Report this Post to the Staff
Doug G New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 10/07/2023 9:57 pm Thanks, will leave it alone. Kind of sad in that it really isn't in bad shape wear wise. Report this Post to the Staff
Errers and Varietys Bedrock of the Community United States 73717 Posts	Posted 10/07/2023 11:30 pm To CCF! Leave it as is. It's from environmental damage. Errers and Varietys. Report this Post to the Staff
kbbpll Pillar of the Community United States 4233 Posts	Posted 10/08/2023 12:09 am I wonder what a long soak in pure acetone would do. It can't hurt to try. Who knows, maybe prolonged exposure to soot from a coal furnace was also the culprit. Report this Post to the Staff
Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 10/08/2023 09:00 am Might have been in a fire? to the CCF! Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 10/09/2023 1:59 pm to the Community! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Doug G New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 10/09/2023 2:45 pm Coinfrog, I can't say. But I do not know of my aunt and uncle ever having a fire. I would think it would be blackened or melted partially. This is an even gray. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16808 Posts	Posted 10/09/2023 9:12 pm Hello and welcome. This appearance could have several causes, but further speculation is unnecessary, since the culprit is named in the OP: Quote: ...found this in a tub full of match books... Yes, being sealed up in a confined space with a large amount of elemental sulfur (found in typical match-heads) will turn a silver coin black. If you'd like proof, simply get yourself a nice shiny silver coin, and seal it up in an airtight box with a bunch of matchbooks. Fresh matchbooks would be more potent, rather than your late aunt's decades-old matchbooks that have probably already lost a lot of their sulfur. A year or so should give an adequate demonstration. As for cleaning, it would be safe to say that if any dealer owned this coin, they would dip it in silver dip before selling it. Hopefully they would do the dipping in a well-ventilated place; this degree of blackness on a large coin like a dollar would emit quite a lot of hydrogen sulfide gas when dipped. 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 Report this Post to the Staff
Dearborn Moderator United States 94812 Posts	Posted 10/11/2023 2:02 pm Silver will blacken like this when just left out in the open air too. you should see my antique silver tea set Collecting since 1972. Learning from then on "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin 7070 type set coin count: 51/76 Uncirculated American Silver Eagles My American Silver Eagle Proof Collection Sacagawea Dollars Innovation Dollars Eisenhower-Dollars Kennedy-Half Dollars Washington-Quarters Roosevelt-Dimes Buffalo-Nickels 1938-2005 Jefferson-Nickels Lincoln-Cents Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 11 / Views: 1,080

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