Have any of you ever mistakenly damaged a nice coin?

TheLiberator

Perhaps by dropping it, perhaps by over dipping it...heck perhaps by spitting on it! Any nightmare stories out there you care to come clean with?!

I haven't done it...yet! (crosses fingers!)

ddink

I read a couple stories on here some time ago where people have accidentally screwed up when cracking out a coin and sent it flying across the room!

CarlWohlforth

My first and last experiment in dipping ruined a nice DCAM 1964 Lincoln Cent

MICHAELDIXON

I have received several coins in the mail that were damaged by the staple on the 2x2 in front of it not being crimped down. I'm sure I've damaged a coin or two cracking them out of holders, but I have chosen to block it out of my memory!

ldhair

Lost a 64 AH down the sink disposal. Lots of fun sticking your hand in there to pick it up.
No damage and after a little more clean up it came back PCGS 67.

Had a Barber half in a shot glass with acetone. Trying to drain off the acetone I dropped the coin on the patio.
No damage again. I'm on borrowed time.

LanLord

[EmbarassmentOn] yes, a 1995 s silver kennedy half, had some dust on it and
I ended up scratching it [EmbarassmentOff]

lordmarcovan

It happens quite a bit when digging them, unfortunately, though becoming more skilled in pinpointing them with the detector and using a handheld electronic probe has cut down on accidents.

I dug a nice 1913 Canadian large cent once and put a big nasty gash across the reverse with my digging knife. Another time I dug after a nice quarter signal and noticed a silver reeded edge peeking out of the edge of the hole. Silver quarter! Woohoo! So I reached down with my hand and pulled the coin out of the side of the hole. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, it was sitting on top of a rock, and in pulling it out sideways like that, it dragged the coin across the rock.

So I have a nice looking Fine 1916-D Barber quarter with a distracting hairline across part of the reverse.

Can't recall ever having accidentally damaged a non-dug coin, aside from ill-advised cleanings. I've had some drops and near-misses that were frightening.

lordmarcovan

PS- Liberator, you said



<< <i>I haven't done it...yet! (crosses fingers!) >>




...which is rather ironic, considering what you did to that Shield nickel in your sig line...

lordmarcovan

<< <i>I have received several coins in the mail that were damaged by the staple on the 2x2 in front of it not being crimped down. >>



MD- staple scratches are a plague, and I am aghast at the number of people who still don't crimp their staples!

As a matter o' fact, I will name no names, but the last two big lots I got from members here (who should have known better!) consisted of groups of coins in 2X2 holders with uncrimped staples!

XpipedreamR

I found out the hard way that that dark stuff on my old 1909-S Indian cent wouldn't just "come right off" with a little prodding

Weiss

I hear you, LordMarcovan. I put an autograph on my VF 1918-D walker. I'm just always thinking wheatie or dime, maybe quarter. Nobody expects the Spanish..., er, a half dollar sized target, even though we know they're down there.

TheLiberator

<< <i>


I found out the hard way that that dark stuff on my old 1909-S Indian cent wouldn't just "come right off" with a little prodding >>



Ouch. That baby is a major key isn't it?!

shylock

In 2001 I experimented with every type of gadget I could find to take realistic copper pics with my new camera, one of which was this Eco-Light.



I tried setting it up in every position possible, one of which situated the two tubular light ends very close to the coin at extreme angles. I had some problems with my camera settings before I took the shot, so the lights sat in that position for a while. A few days later I looked at the coin, an 1873 PCGS MS64RD, and it looked darker to me in the upper obverse fields. Comparing it to earlier images seemed to confirm that. My heart sank as I recalled the extreme manner in which I lit this coin. I took the light system out and put my finger on the tip with the intensity at full throttle and eventually had to pull my finger away! What a dope, I assumed this thing generated no heat. There was no obvious damage to the plastic but to this day I swear the coin's obverse color was altered slightly by the intensity of that light. Every light I tried after that got the fingertip test (and never got that close to the coin).

anablep

Accidentally dropped a Franklin Half in the toilet....



















Yes, it was an accident. They may be ugly, but they don't deserve to drown.

TheLiberator

ok shylock..you take the cake! However, the "disposer" indian head is a riot too! hahah!

Wes

topstuf

Nope. Did it on PURPOSE. Nicest coin I ever owned (for eye appeal)
Got it by dumbass LUCK as a newbie.
DMPL ...SEATED LIBERTY....dollar.
Had a lil mark on the reverse.
"Why, it sure LOOKS like a little eraser would work on that."
"Oh, gosh, THAT was a mistake!"
So......I got me a lil ol real worn WL half and started judiciously making eeeny-weeny "contact" marks.
Worked very well ......by the grace of God.
When slabs began, it took a 64 in the "rattler."
If you didn't know, it just looked like a small touch by another coin.

Which, by gum, I guess it was.

Iwog

Okay, I'll confess. I cherrypicked the highest grade known early die state 1943/2 Jefferson nickel from a dealer for $2.00 then dropped it before I even knew it was a 1943/2! It picked up a tiny rim dent that probably dropped it from an MS67FS to MS65FS. I still lose sleep over this but keep the coin to remind me to always hold coins over felt or carpet.

I still own the coin.

XpipedreamR

<< <i>Ouch. That baby is a major key isn't it?! >>





Oh, yes.

MICHAELDIXON

This one is a true story and takes the Darwin award. It happened several months ago.
.
One of the guys who comes to our auctions acts like Chong on Cheech and Chong. He is 53 years old and a total burnout! Everybody has been taking advantage of the guy and my partner felt sorry for him. Now, I can't get rid of the guy!
.
He bought an 09 S VDB, 1955 double die and a 37 D 3 three leg buffalo from one of the local dealers. Simple enough, you say? Well, the guy talked him into sending them to PCGS for certification and charged him $40 each for economy service. They all 3 came back cleaned and this guy was livid, as the original dealer told him they had not been cleaned. He told me: "Tom (dealer) told me the coins couldn't have been cleaned, just look at them!" I asked the guy to bring them to me and let me take a look. Well, Stevie Wonder could have seen they were cleaned!! The 1955 was black around the rims and white in the centers. The clean job was hideous! The 09 S VDB had retoned to a natural looking medium brown and didn't look too bad and the 3 leg didn't look too bad either.
.
I told the guy I'd dip the 55/55 and retone it, but it would never look natural due to the harsh cleaning. I did so and it looks decent, but nothing spectacular. I told the guy if he has any other coins that are cleaned like the 55/55 to hold the coin 4-6 inches from his mouth and blow smoke on it while he's smoking. "hold the coin 4-6 inches from your mouth and blow smoke on it while smoking"
.
The guy called me and said he needs me to redo the double die as the smoke made the coin black. I'm a little surprised, but meet him anyway. He handed me the coin and it was covered with solid tar! I dipped it and used a Q-tip trying to get the tar off. After repeated attempts to get some of the tar off, I see an S mintmark! I tell him this isn't the 55/55. That's when he tells me: "Oh, it's my 1909 SVDB. I placed a cigarette in the hole for a straw in a McDonald's cup, placed the coin in the cup...." I am unclear as to how he held the coin in the cup, unless he glued it to the top, but this coin is destroyed!
.
I ended up using E-Z-Off Oven cleaner and a fine steel bristle (suede) brush to get 80% of the tar off this coin. But....he destroyed this 1909 S VDB!

Newmismatist

<< <i>My first and last experiment in dipping ruined a nice DCAM 1964 Lincoln Cent >>



Was it like the $39K one that turned in the PCGS holder?

dorkkarl

yes. & i refuse to go into details - i still live w/ the shame!!!

K S

RGL

I laid a nice Jeff proof out on a towel on a table to air dry from its little dip ... I returned to find the cat laying on top of the towel and coin. Yep, the cat's fur hairlined the coin ...

BillJones

Knock on wood ... but only time when I damaged a nice piece in 40 years was when I was trying to remove a Hard Times token from a cardboard, cellophane and staple holder. I managed to put a minor staple scratch on the rim.

I was ONE unhappy puppy.

Julian

I will relate a story that I know to be accurate, because the collector has passed on.

In the late 1960's, Harry W. Bass, Jr. purchased a gem proof 1863 $2.50

At the time, he used 2x2's to store his coins. As he was removing it from a 2x2, a staple ran over the surface and the gem, which I believe cost him around $4000, immediately became worth 2 or 3 thousand. If it had been on a less rare coin, the percentage of loss probably would have been greater.

As I remember, he purchased the coin from Wayne Pratali, now with Superior Galleries, in Detroit at a PNG show.