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 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,417 |
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
WWII 1942, just before the Philippines was overrun, thousands of Philippine 1 Peso silver coins were dumped in the sea bay to avoid it's acquisition by the opposing forces. This is one of those coins, a 1909 80% silver made in USA 36mm diameter, salvaged and cleaned after the war. However it still has lots of black stains. What chemical can be used to clean this without affecting silver? Thank you     |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
Nic I've read and followed your threads since you joined and I've noticed a common theme ... you like bright, shiny, clean coins. If you intend to keep them for personal satisfaction and have no intention of making a profit later on them, go ahead and clean with acidic solutions to remove that discoloration. I personally like the looks of that one ... it looks like it has "history". That coin with a bright, shiny surface would look boring to me. I had to learn the lesson the hard way early in my collecting. Fortunately the coins I chose to "improve" were not exceedingly rare. Give me a crusty, un-molested coin any day!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
 I have some that I've cleaned up, simply because it's not good for the coin to have something gross (grease, oil, food, or other nasties) clinging to them - however, if it is something natural gathered over time, that's different. I like the look of this one, too - and I don't think it would be possible to get the 'stains' off without harming the surface. |
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Pillar of the Community
 Philippines
1156 Posts |
Thank you xshift and SeatedNut  Ahhh... now that I really look at it, it does have history by itself with those black stains, and also... replicating this stain on a nice shiny coin would be impossible. Thanks, I'll keep it as is, a mark that somewhere in time, this coin swam in the Philippine sea, some 50 meters down, during a time of conflict |
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
As an afterthought, I'd like to share a newsbit link with a pic of Caballo Bay, this is the sea area where all those tons of Philippine silver coins were thrown overboard, right smack in the middle of Caballo bay, including the above 1909 1Peso coin which somehow survived and became a collector piece  the place of the sunken silvers http://www.para.org.ph/membersartic.../Caballo.htm |
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Valued Member
United States
290 Posts |
I keep noticing the ad here for sedgewick coins, which I think specializes in "discovered" coins. It's a cool idea, collecting silver with a story. I like this dirty coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Quote:Thanks, I'll keep it as is, a mark that somewhere in time, this coin swam in the Philippine sea, some 50 meters down, during a time of conflict Excellent! That's a great coin... thanks for the link, too. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
Nic,
Great story on the site. I was fortunate to be able to make several trips to the Philippines during my Air Force tenure. A beautiful country!
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
Thanks all and thanks seatedNut Glad you enjoyed your previous air force visits, today the Philippines is still as safe as most other European Cities and a lot of tourists can be seen in Metro-Manila. If ever you plan to visit as a tourist, best month is December nice weather and no typhoons |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
619 Posts |
I've always been intrigued with the story of that silver dumping during WWII. I've read that a great many of those silver coins have been recovered from the bay. Today, treasure hunters are still looking for hoards buried on land.
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Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
I love the US Philippine administration coins.....they are beautiful and full of US Philippine history. My wife of 37 years is from Baguio, Philippines and every time we go back to visit I bring home a small fortune in these beautiful silver coins. IMO these coins are very under rated and under appreciated.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 2,417 |
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Posted 12/01/2009 09:16 am
