What to do with coins damaged by hurricane Katrina?

gigem

I just got a call from the spouse of a friend who had a bunch of coins in a safety deposit box in New Orleans. They were all under funky water, and he wants to know what to do with them.

I am showing him price guides, to get a feel for what is worth spending money on. What about MS 70, or e-zest? Acetone?

I think he will be cracking and cutting a lot of mint and proof sets up to put in flips.

Any advise on this?

cladking

He has my condolences.

Most unc and proof coins under water and not cleaned immediately will be ruined.

I'd clean them in alcohol and acetone to start and go from there. At least this will make them safe to handle.
Don't give up on circ coins even if they look awful. There should be ways to salvage most of their value.

TwoSides2aCoin

Without seeing them, it is tough to say what sort of effect or ''ill effect" the water has had on them.

Waterproof containers should hold them inside of the safe deposit box in areas where flooding or hurricanes might occur.

gigem

<< <i>He has my condolences.

Most unc and proof coins under water and not cleaned immediately will be ruined.

I'd clean them in alcohol and acetone to start and go from there. At least this will make them safe to handle.
Don't give up on circ coins even if they look awful. There should be ways to salvage most of their value. >>



That's what he is afraid of. Said his proof and mint sets are full of water. So for the alcohol and acetone route, what's the drill. Just soak them? How long? Rinse with fresh water then blow dry?

mcmxi

From the coins I have seen, and tried to clean up. Acetone and alcohol do not work. E-Zest does not work either. I'm not trying to be negative, just telling you my experiences with these.

librtyhead

send them to ncs.

LindeDad

Contact your friendy state farm agent.

AgMe

I've heard advice from a dealer to another... for the ultra modern proofs... just crack them open and spend them; I would agree, if they're not perfect, then there really isn't a market for them. Hard to say with the mint sets... I've seen some ugly ones, but really, if they got fugly due to water, then they're just change.

(advice for clad coins and no special variety coins DDO etc.)

rsdoug81

I live in Baton Rouge and have seen a lot of Morgans that were in Katrina floodwaters. They develop a black gunk that you can't dynamite off. My local dealer said he's tried virtually everything. They're pretty ruined.

Tarmac

Why not reslab them and call them "Katrina effect" and market them as relief slabs.

They seem to do that with everything else.






















I'm half joking.

AgMe

<< <i>Why not reslab them and call them "Katrina effect" and market them as relief slabs.

They seem to do that with everything else.

I'm half joking. >>



HEY!.... That's not a bad idea... If you could get a TPG to slab it, I think they would sell (Ref: WTC SAE's)... what are they now? 1-2K USD?

Where's Russ when you need him?...

Edit: This reminds me of the original waffle coin, they were buying scrap and asked if there could be any kind of market for them...