Getting rid of nasty hairlines

DDR

I have a Trade Dollar that would otherwise grade AU. The obverse is really nice, but the reverse is covered with nasty hairlines from a harsh cleaning that are plainly visible to the naked eye. Is there any possible way to get rid of these hairlines? What would happen if I just carried the coin around in my pocket with other change for 6 months or a year? Or if I rubbed the reverse with my thumb every day? Interestingly, in the places where there are no hairlines, like between the letters, the surface appears to be proof-like. Any advice would be appreciated.

Russ

Interesting conundrum. If the hairlines go away through wear, the grade goes down, but if they remain, the grade goes down anyway. HMM. I wouldn't know the first thing about solving the problem, but logic dictates that you're essentially screwed.

Russ, NCNE

Coin Finder

Take your coin and put it in your shirt pocket with 15 or so BB,s; yes thats right like you shoot out of a bb gun. Walk around with these for about 1 month. You should see some of them start to disappear. You could also create a pouch that is sealed and carry around with you. Make sure they are loose and can roll over the surface of the coin freely.

I have had some luck with this but make no promises.

Tbig

smprfi

I shave my head when my hairline gets nasty.

windwhispersintrees

I've had luck using toothpaste to rub out scratches on music CDs that don't play right.

If you're careful, and patiently use a blunted & softened toothpick to rub a paste solution only on the scratched spot, you might have some luck. But you will end up with a bright area that will need to be darkened. You also risk making the coin worse.

How about just selling it, and putting the money towards buying a non-scratched one?

dorkkarl

just leave it as-is. at the appropriate price, there's nothing wrong w/ a 120 year old coin that has hairlines. so it got wiped sometime in the past century. big deal!

K S

nwcs

Course, you could always see what NCS says...

DDR

NCS can't get rid of hairlines, can they?

I'm tempted to take thebigeng's advice and try the bb's. And if that doesn't work, I'll just sell it for whatever I can get. It's a shame because the obverse is not bad.

airplanenut

Send it to ACG... the cleaning could only bring the MS-65 grade further up