is it possible to silver electroplate an early silver coin?

my3cents

This question is for the coin doctors and chemists on the forum...

Since dipping will, over time, erode the outer surfaces of a coin and cause it to lose all luster, then, is it possible to re-apply that microns thin silver layer through electro-plating of some sort?

Just curious

JxnBoy

Even if you could, you'd never be able to duplicate flow lines from a die that create the cartwheel effect. I'm betting you'd end up with a flat looking coin that looked overdipped or worse.

clackamas

I agree, you will probably ruin the coin and would not be able to duplicate the luster, however if you did do it for a short peiod of time I would like to see the results. Try it on an AU Morgan and see.

my3cents

I would like to know if it has been attempted and what the results looked like - anyone know?

rhedden

I would never do it because you are changing the weight of the coin and adding metal that was not original to the piece, however thin it might be. The overall effect would probably be an awful looking piece that many would call fake. This would be a perfect recipe for a "not genuine" bodybag.

rlawsha

Maybe it would look like this one....

LINK

jhar

Not sure about earlier coins, but I know that 1943 Steel have often been replated with zinc. The affect is a dull lifeless looking silver slug. I know I used to have a set of these.

Cameonut

I actually tried to electroplate a flash coating of silver on a silver coin about 20 years ago. The results were less than appealing. Although you could not readily detect the additional silver on the surface by weighing it, the appearance of the coin was unnatural. Remember that electroplating deposits more material on the high points and much less in the crevices. Under a 5x glass, piece actually looked cointerfeit.