Have You Ever MESSED Up a Coin? Share So We Can All Laugh, er, Learn!!!

[tymcmurray]

Kas And I were discussing how The most STUPID thing
We had ever done which resulted in a creat coin going down.

I'll tell you a story of Woe.

I had found a 1785 Conneticut copper. All you could read on it was,
Connec. and you could see a ghost of the images on the front and
back. That should have been good enough for most people, but any-
body that knows me know I am not like most people.

So......I took a razor knife, and proceeded to chip away the crusted
parts. That's right, a RAZOR KNIFE.

What I ended up with was a coin that you could read a little
better, with a whole bunch of shiny copper nicks ALL over it.....
.............wimper wimper.

So, the lesson I would like to share is...
Original condition coin is better than a Razored coin.






Now it is your turn.

 

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[Turborick]

This thread is soooo timely for me. I found my first gold coin a couple of weeks ago and as you can see I put a big cut across the back of the coin. I was hunting in a Union camp and finding lead of many shapes and sizes and it never registered that I should be careful, I hope not to make that mistake again. Anyway here it is, my first gold coin, a 1851 gold dollar coin that I think would have graded high except the small matter of the knife cut on the back. Happy Hunting.

Rick

 

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[tymcmurray]

This thread is soooo timely for me. I found my first gold coin a couple of weeks ago and as you can see I put a big cut across the back of the coin. I was hunting in a Union camp and finding lead of many shapes and sizes and it never registered that I should be careful, I hope not to make that mistake again. Anyway here it is, my first gold coin, a 1851 gold dollar coin that I think would have graded high except the small matter of the knife cut on the back. Happy Hunting.

Rick

Sorry to hear about your beautiful gold coin!!!
She is a good looking coin and a great find.

 

[jorge del norte]

keep them coming.....this was over due.

 

[Mike Moutray]

I've had more than my fair share of gouged coin recoveries... this one was my hardest one to bear. My first ever bust coin found 15 years ago at my favorite local park, and I put a huge cut across the front of it. It was buried very deep and I was convinced that I had detected a deep piece of garbage and I started stabbing the bottom of the hole with my knife to locate it.... That was a very hard lesson to learn! HH, Mike.

 

[tymcmurray]

I've had more than my fair share of gouged coin recoveries... this one was my hardest one to bear. My first ever bust coin found 15 years ago at my favorite local park, and I put a huge cut across the front of it. It was buried very deep and I was convinced that I had detected a deep piece of garbage and I started stabbing the bottom of the hole with my knife to locate it.... That was a very hard lesson to learn! HH, Mike.

OUCH!!! At Least you didn't Purposely scrach a coin like me.
But I still undertand the frustation.

 

[Jeffro]

I've posted this one before, but here we go again!

Stabbed it at 4 inches or so, probing around with my screwdriver.

 

[Admiral de Salee]

I've had pics of the coin up here before, so I'll just say that my careless digging (I thought I had a Zincoln at 3") in dirt w/ small rocks in it put a gash on the Reverse of my 1858 Fleagle. Oldest coin I've ever found, and I decked it.

I hope that lesson stays with me, or else I'm just not educable.

 

[Mark S.]

32 years of hunting. I could write a book on the number of coins I have trashed by hitting with the digger or attempts and experiments at cleaning.

A few comments.

For electrolysis use an automobile battery charger set to the lowest setting. Take your time. Speed is your enemy. Do not try to go to far. If you say to yourself "just a little more" then stop there. I have trashed a number of coins and items by going just that little extra. Did you really just plug a wire into the wall?!!!

Most large cents we find are already trashed. There is not much you can do with them. They are an interesting find, a conversation piece, they make a nice display. As for any actual value they are mostly worthless unless they are a rarity. They would be considered a hole filler or cull in the collectors marketplace.

Water is an enemy to old coppers.

Seeker......Nice article on the buckle. Before I saw the name I said to myself that I know someone who found a buckle just like that!

Mark S.

 

[BuckleBoy]

This thread...is the most depressing thread I've ever seen on Tnet.  It breaks my heart!  To the guy that decked the gold coin with a knife--take heart; don't worry!  One guy on here pretty much turned a 5 dollar gold Indian into can slaw trying to get it out from under a tree root.

I was standing beside my buddy in VA when he dug up an AU early Seated Half--and he chopped it/bent it almost in half with his shovel.  I dressed in black and said prayers for two months...


Tough lessons here.  I have to always tell myself to slow down, pinpoint well, dig carefully, and wait to clean.


-Buckleboy 

 

[rmptr]

Thanks to all for the grim posts.

How long, before I learn the lesson?

I'm a park and playground clad surface digger with delusions of Au drops.
Used my icepick probe today, down to 4" or so...

And I know VERY well, kids get their hands on everything under the sun, and can lose it in short order.
I've dug diamond rings with antique settings in kindergarten lawns, slabbed IH pennies in grammar school turf, and pulled class rings with ruby and aquamarine from baseball diamond outfields.

It's about time I got a small digger for cutting a flap, and a non-marking probe.

A leche digger would stir up the other people to the point of a cell phone flurry...
It just wouldn't match with my 'California Camouflage,' shorts and tennis shoes. But I do wear a 2 pocket workshirt, to carry the digs.

I've got to make a change, before I scar any more finds.
HH

 

[civilman1]

OUCH....That Realle-Y hurt's......I remember when I called you from the field thaty day and said I was now a proud member of the LC Club,It was kind of a piece of Crap anyway(No-Dater)but I still had to throw it through the tumbler.....Now it's an even worse piece of Crap

 

[mercenary]

I dug a 1891 indian head about two weeks ago, my first. When I popped it out of the ground, the date was clearly legible at any angle, the detail on the front was great, even as it was dirty! I took it home, proceeded to use electrolysis on it, and no you try really, really hard, you can almost make out an "8"

Fortunately it isn't a particularly valuable coin. From now on, it's weak peroxide and patience for me.

Here's a photo of the aftermath.

 

[Monty]

I found my oldest coin a 1907 V nickel. Old coins are very rare around my part of the country. It was kinda' neat and had special meaning as 1907 was when Oklahoma became a state. It was a really nice one with clear markings etc, except for a couple of spots of corrosion. Well, I thought I'd try ny electrolysis machine I had made from one I had seen here on T-net. I fired it up and it began to bubble and I was so pleased with myself. But...yes, but...I forgot about it and left it in the tank all night! It darn near ate up the whole coin and now you can barely make out what it is! Live and learn? M nty