How do I remove the blemish on this Blanchard slab?
KellenCoin
Posts: 1,215 ✭✭✭✭
Hi, all,
I’m hoping you might be able to help me figure out how to remove the blemish on this Blanchard slab. Thanks!
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You can try some plastic scratch remover (like plastix) but you may need to buff it out with something like a Dremel buffing wheel.
If that chemical has etched into the plastic there is little you can do.
I will tell you this: If it is you can easily make it worse by any attempt to repair.
peacockcoins
There's no well to tell for sure but acetone eats plastic and that's what it looks like.
Is this a tough slab to obtain? I ask mainly because one must be concerned about making it worst as Braddick wrote.
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Any idea what it is or what caused it!
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Looks like the plastic slab is soluble in acetone or some other solvent that was dripped on it, chemically etching itself into the slab. I don't think there's anything that can be done there without making it worse...
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I've worked in labs for decades and that looks like a drop of acetone fell onto the slab at one point. If so, then I don't know there is much you can do other than possibly sand away deeper than the damage. However, you may be left with a highly compromised slab or even a hole.
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Your slab is beyond repair but at least that flaw doesn't interfere with you being able to get a clear view of the coin inside. It looks like a nice coin so I suggest that you enjoy it as is.
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"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
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Contrary to some of the people who are making definitive claims, it is possible to fix it depending on how deep it goes. It's no different than a scratch. You polish it to remove material and expose a fresh surface. How simple and how effective it will be depends on how do it goes.
I've polished cloudy spots away on a PCGS slab before. I've never tried a Blanchard slab. If it's a hard as an NGC slab, it will be a challenge. I have a hard time doing anything with an NGC slab.
That might work in the clear window area but that cloudy spot extends into a textured area of the slab where removing that spot will also result in removing that texture.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I think you can lessen the disturbed surface with Meguiars Plastx. Gonna take time and effort. There is also Simichrome polish, which is around 2000 grit that breaks down as you rub it. Good luck. Let us know what you do. Peace Roy
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You're thinking of sanding or not polishing with a soft polish. Sanding will remove high points first. The soft polish will remove material from the top and bottom of the textured area.
I've done it on the textured area over the hologram on a PCGS slab where someone had used solvent to remove a label. When you are polishing it, you are removing material over the entire surface not just the high points. It is similar to acid treating a cent. You can dissolve a copper cent to the thickness of foil and still have the image of Lincoln, although the details get mushier. The same thing happens here as you gradually remove material over the whole surface. There is some preferential removal at the high points. But overall, the entire surface drops uniformly.
Sure looks like acetone damage. Likely applied with a cotton swab to remove some other deposit/adhesive. Plastix or similar scratch remover is about the only thing I might try to possibly improve the look to some degree, at least on the smooth portion of the slab. But... it is what it is,... ...a damaged slab. Not all things can be completely fixed.
If all else fails, put a sticker on the damaged part maybe 🤔
Mr_Spud
Definitely done by acetone
Throw a coin enough times, and suppose one day it lands on its edge.
Why not?
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"