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What’s the Dumbest thing you ever done to a PM coin? or any coin.

Mike59Mike59 Posts: 299 ✭✭✭
edited August 15, 2022 5:26AM in Precious Metals

I want this to be a lighthearted thread. We all got to laugh or smile sometimes…

I bought a Saint-Gaudens $20 in a NGC slab a while back. Yesterday I realized that I never took off the little price label the coin shop put on the slab so I took it off and there was a bit of glue left on the slab. No problem, I had a bottle of acetone right next to my desk & acetone removes glue right? it also melts plastic but I didn’t think that far ahead. So I wiped the glue off and then I remembered that acetone melts plastic. Well it didn't melt it but its not a nice as it was before the " Million dollar Idea" to remove the glue. Now an hour later my stupidity made me smile. The Coin wasn’t touched so it’s fine and it can be reholdered but that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done to an expensive coin. What’s your dumbest thing you’ve ever done to a coin????
Mike

MIKE B.

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    LukeMarshallLukeMarshall Posts: 1,912 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You may be able to use a polish or fine grit compound to buff the milky spot left behind by the acetone… I did the same thing as you on a graded non sports card years ago…

    Also stupid things I’ve done to coins…

    When I was a kid I “cleaned” a Standing Liberty quarter by using a pencil eraser on it… it was working but not good enough so I brought it outside and rubbed it on wet sand which brightened it up nicely!

    Unfortunately the coin lost the date and most details In the process!!

    It's all about what the people want...

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    rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have a British proof coin that I was handling raw one day.... and of course, fumbled it. Instinctively grabbed for it, caught it, and put full fingerprints in the mirror fields. :s Fortunately, I immediately put dish soap on it, let it set a while, and rinsed in very hot water. The prints came off completely. That being said, and imagination or not, the fields just do not seem to be as good as before. Still completely mirror and DCAM, but to me, well, it will never be the same. Cheers, RickO

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    I dropped a 1oz canidian maple and it now has a flat spot on the edge. Oh well, its still an ounce of gold.

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    JimTylerJimTyler Posts: 3,060 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Cleaning but selling too cheap has cost me much more.

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    dcarrdcarr Posts: 8,008 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Mike59 said:
    I want this to be a lighthearted thread. We all got to laugh or smile sometimes…

    I bought a Saint-Gaudens $20 in a NGC slab a while back. Yesterday I realized that I never took off the little price label the coin shop put on the slab so I took it off and there was a bit of glue left on the slab. No problem, I had a bottle of acetone right next to my desk & acetone removes glue right? it also melts plastic but I didn’t think that far ahead. So I wiped the glue off and then I remembered that acetone melts plastic. Well it didn't melt it but its not a nice as it was before the " Million dollar Idea" to remove the glue. Now an hour later my stupidity made me smile. The Coin wasn’t touched so it’s fine and it can be reholdered but that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done to an expensive coin. What’s your dumbest thing you’ve ever done to a coin????
    Mike

    "Goo Gone" will remove label adhesive without affecting the plastic.
    Also vegetable oil can often work in similar fashion.

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    Mike59Mike59 Posts: 299 ✭✭✭

    TY all, I will try to clean it up but your response’s made me smile again….
    Mike

    MIKE B.

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    blitzdudeblitzdude Posts: 5,464 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I once purchased a MS65 morgan, complete with "the nasty" (Taco bell toning) and a CACs sticker. WTF was I thinking? RGDS!

    The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.

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    TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 43,851 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 15, 2022 8:19PM

    Sent $500 face value in '64 Kennedy halves , Washington quarters to the refinery , once.

    That was the dumbest, and most defiant thing I've done. A couple local dealers were squeezing me when I first started in biz. So, off to the refinery it went. Lost even more profit that way, but made my point.
    2% matters. I suppose it's dumber listing the junk on eBay.
    Call me dumb.

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    SoldiSoldi Posts: 2,024 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I dipped two V nickels and submitted them to NGC, came back excessive dip residue, what a waste

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    Mike59Mike59 Posts: 299 ✭✭✭

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:
    Sent $500 face value in '64 Kennedy halves , Washington quarters to the refinery , once.

    That was the dumbest, and most defiant thing I've done. A couple local dealers were squeezing me when I first started in biz. So, off to the refinery it went. Lost even more profit that way, but made my point.
    2% matters. I suppose it's dumber listing the junk on eBay.
    Call me dumb.

    You are not dumb, You were proving a point. Ive done the same in my career just to prove a point. The dumb one is the one that keeps sending his PM to the refinery!

    MIKE B.

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    cohodkcohodk Posts: 18,621 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sold a coin to a "doctor" who completely changed the color, got it into a higher grade holder and made 10 grand.

    Excuses are tools of the ignorant

    Knowledge is the enemy of fear

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    Picked up a 1955 Double Die Lincoln Cent at a really good price many many years ago. It was Abt. Unc. and I though it had enough mint luster to give it a little dip. Wrong! Dang thing turned pinkish so I tried to use some Della's Darkener to fix it. Sold it at a loss and wish I still had it because it's still looked better than many I've seen and the price has increased many fold. I learned a big lesson about copper coins and key coins that year!

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    alexercaalexerca Posts: 247 ✭✭✭

    The dumbest thing I have done to a coin or pm is bought it!

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    PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,444 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @AUandAG said:
    I grabbed a silver dollar off my desk and went outside and shot it with a .22 just to see what would happen.....After spending a few minutes looking for it in the tall grass I noticed I grabbed the wrong dollar. Yep, grabbed a nice 78cc instead of a common 90p. The thing that I've never gotten over is that the 90 was alone on the left of my desk and the CC was in a stack of CC's on the right side. Heck, I wasn't even old back then!
    bob :)
    Oh, it put a big dent is all but sure didn't help the value. Should have peddled it as one Annie Oakley shot back in the day!

    I think we have a winner!!! :D

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

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    Mike59Mike59 Posts: 299 ✭✭✭

    @AUandAG said:
    I grabbed a silver dollar off my desk and went outside and shot it with a .22 just to see what would happen.....After spending a few minutes looking for it in the tall grass I noticed I grabbed the wrong dollar. Yep, grabbed a nice 78cc instead of a common 90p. The thing that I've never gotten over is that the 90 was alone on the left of my desk and the CC was in a stack of CC's on the right side. Heck, I wasn't even old back then!
    bob :)
    Oh, it put a big dent is all but sure didn't help the value. Should have peddled it as one Annie Oakley shot back in the day!

    Thanks Bob,
    You made me feel a little better 👍

    MIKE B.

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    jmski52jmski52 Posts: 22,380 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Oh man, I feel your pain. At least you are a pretty good shot!

    Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally

    I knew it would happen.
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    rte592rte592 Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 28, 2022 12:17AM

    @AUandAG said:
    I grabbed a silver dollar off my desk and went outside and shot it with a .22 just to see what would happen.....After spending a few minutes looking for it in the tall grass I noticed I grabbed the wrong dollar. Yep, grabbed a nice 78cc instead of a common 90p. The thing that I've never gotten over is that the 90 was alone on the left of my desk and the CC was in a stack of CC's on the right side. Heck, I wasn't even old back then!
    bob :)
    Oh, it put a big dent is all but sure didn't help the value. Should have peddled it as one Annie Oakley shot back in the day!

    The damage is done...
    Shoot it again with a vintage period correct 44-40 round.
    Save the coin, spent bullet and cartridge to add provance and back up your Annie Oakley / Rifleman story ;)

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    StaircoinsStaircoins Posts: 2,565 ✭✭✭

    @alexerca said:
    The dumbest thing I have done to a coin or pm is bought it!

    The dumbest thing I have done to a coin or PM is SOLD it.

    I can remember a few specific cases of seller's remorse. One coin I bought for $3800 and sold for $6100 is now easily worth $15k. Another I sold sold for $8500 is now worth triple that.

    Oh well, nobody ever went broke taking a profit!

    :D

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