What's the worst thing you've ever done to a coin?

Mikey · October 19, 2003 1:06PM

I'm talking about really physically mangling something. Like using needle nose pliers to pick up a coin.

airplanenut · October 19, 2003 1:08PM

My pride and joy:

It was cleaned when I got it...

I win

You'll notice that it's signed and dated, too

Jeremy

Louis · October 19, 2003 1:08PM

Railroad tracks....need I say more ?

airplanenut · October 19, 2003 1:09PM

I should list it as BU with mint-made die adjustment marks

mintluster · October 19, 2003 1:10PM

Spent it!

MadMarty · October 19, 2003 1:10PM

Tassa · October 19, 2003 1:27PM

<< <i>I'm talking about really physically mangling something. Like using needle nose pliers to pick up a coin. >>

You mean you're not supposed to used needle nose pliers to pick up a coin?

I thought that was the best thing to do to avoid getting fingerprints on it.

gsaguy · October 19, 2003 1:34PM

What Louis said.

Note to self: Cancel that group of coins I was going to send to Tassa.

GSAGUY

Coinosaurus · October 19, 2003 1:38PM

I drilled a hole in a seated half dollar for my keychain. Then I scrubbed it with silver cleaner just to experiment

The coin was in such crappy condition to begin with that it actually looked better when I was done with it!

Jeremy, just out of curiousity, did you pay more than 10c for that coin

roadrunner · October 19, 2003 1:44PM

I had a choice Au with mint luster 1822 bust half that had been given to me by my grandfather in 1966. Over the next several years I subjected that coin to numerous forms of cleaning to keep the tarnish off: silver polish, erasers, and I think Brasso. The more I cleaned it, the quicker the tarnish reappeared and had to be removed. I got a bath every week whether I liked it or not so why not my coins? I ruined a perfectly wonderful orig AU half and turned it into a decrepit cleaned and pitted XF piece worth about $60 when I finally sold it. I had an identical 1877cc dime that I did keep and it now is a decrepit cleaned XF worth about $15-20. While not as significant as pliers or RR tracks, the end result was similar.

roadrunner

Android · October 19, 2003 1:46PM

When I was young, I melted a bunch of silver Washington quarters to make my own bar of silver.

BigE · October 19, 2003 1:49PM

Jeremy, if that coin was cleaned when you got it how come it doesn't say so on the holder

---------------BigE

Newmismatist · October 19, 2003 1:54PM

<< <i>Railroad tracks....need I say more ?

>>

Ditto

mozeppa · October 19, 2003 3:34PM

shot a dime with a rifle

Coppernicus · October 19, 2003 5:07PM

I used an eraser on a Lincoln Cent (teens) when I first started my Whitman folder. Thinking back, it was a RB and I turned it into a RD!!!

I am fully confident that the abrasions can not be detected!

Mike

CarlWohlforth · October 19, 2003 10:40PM

I dipped a DCAM proof Lincoln. I didn't rinse properly so it became horribly spotted. That was my first and last experiment with dipping

elwood · October 19, 2003 10:59PM

railroad tracks
erasure-when I first started collecting lincolns
hi-powered rifle - dimes & quarters
acid bath- so I could watch them bubble
cut a penny and a dime in half with a knife
bolt cutter- to show some kids that a penny isn't made out of copper anymore

MacCoin · October 19, 2003 11:00PM

I'm aweful I burn them, drilled holes in them, flated them. made a ring out of the old silver coin lost them but the worst thing I think was to submit some to acg.

RiffRaff1967 · October 19, 2003 11:43PM

Welded a roosie to a nut, all part of a barn-door drive I made to take Astrophotos. The washer wasn't working, and the dime was perfect size....and the fix only cost me $0.10!

Goldog63 · October 19, 2003 11:49PM

<< <i>My pride and joy:

It was cleaned when I got it...

>>

So you got mad and did all that other stuff right?

WorldTypeSet · October 19, 2003 11:50PM

I folded a penny a dozen or so times in a vice a few days ago.

XpipedreamR · October 20, 2003 12:01AM

Selling my 32-s quarter a few years back. Now I want it back!

nwcs · October 20, 2003 12:26AM

Cutting them in half, erasering them.

MrEureka · October 20, 2003 12:48AM

Used a hammer to pancake an artificially matted Hawaiian commem half. Then returned it to the seller for a refund. I guess I can be (edited to say "more of") an a**hole when I'm pissed.

mgoodm3 · October 20, 2003 1:27AM

About the worst I've done is to put pennies into vinegar to "clean" them and watch them bubble.

1946Hamm · October 20, 2003 1:39AM

Years back while in basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood most of us had a lot of spare time in the barracks so we all decided to make rings out of half dollars. Walking libertys work the best since the date gets rolled to the inside . All you have to do is take 2 or 3 mess hall spoons, tape them together and sit for hours tapping around the edges of the coin with the inside of the bowl of the spoon. When the ring gets to the right size, just take a knife and hollow it out to fit. Makes a nice ring but hard on the coin. I have long since lost mine but see them at flea markets once in a while.

Most people now days would not know what one looks like.

razorface1027 · October 20, 2003 7:12AM

As a child, I always wanted more money. So I came up with this fantastic idea to put my money on the train tracks and watch the train flatten the money. I figured the bigger the money, the more things I could get....

Bubblehead · October 20, 2003 7:26AM

Hey Carl, that wasn't a 68-S, was it?
Oh, as a kid, I would turn pennies into dimes for the pop machine!

cosmicdebris · October 20, 2003 7:28AM

TONEDDOLLARS · October 20, 2003 8:59AM

Sold it to GSAGUY

Bulldog · October 20, 2003 1:00PM

Sold it. Is the only bad thing I have ever done to a coin.

I guess when I was a kid, I put a lot of FE, IH and Wheats on the train tracks. Hmmm that could be bad....LOL

GaCoinGuy · October 20, 2003 1:16PM

I too melted down some junk coins, mostly old copper wheats.......tried melting a zinc cent with a torch, but it just made this neat green flame as the copper curned off and all I was left with was a little gray blob of zinc.

Skipper53 · October 20, 2003 1:49PM

Pointed my finger and said "Bad coin!"

Jeremy, so it's true , ANACS will grade anything !

mozeppa · October 21, 2003 11:26AM

<< <i>Pointed my finger and said "Bad coin!"

let the anger go...you'll feel better

cosmos66 · October 21, 2003 11:29AM

Two words: RAILROAD TRACKS

Paul in Pine Hill

Baley · October 21, 2003 11:30AM

when I was 12 I melted a WL half with a blowtorch. It had been an inherited and slick AG.
It didn't totally liquify, just sort of got bubbly.
Sold it that same year (1979) for like $8 in "melt" silver to my local coin shop.

GaCoinGuy · October 21, 2003 2:36PM

MrBubbleHead....I have 2 wheats ground down to dime size. Found them in a bag of wheats once......if I can remember to bring my digicam from the office tomorrow, I'll post pics.

Flash · October 24, 2003 9:29AM

I would like to refer you all to this horrifying story of one forum member's penchant for destruction.

WARNING! Read with Caution!

What's the worst thing you've ever done to a coin?

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