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Picked up a 1918-D buffalo, Looks like it was in a fire

MJHMJH Posts: 538 ✭✭
This looks like it was in a fire. Can I try to soak it in something or just send it to NCS
It looks like the reverse might grade XF40 to 45 maybe AU50. Nice horn and tail.
Bad scratches on the front through the cheek, braid and neck.
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    mr1931Smr1931S Posts: 7,091 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You should leave it alone. There is nothing you can do that will improve its appearance.

    “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” — Gautama Buddha

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    carlcarl Posts: 2,054
    Sadly but true you should not clean the thing. However, if you just can't resist cleaning it a bit and know you will probably ruin it's value and make a future collector of that coin ticked off at you may try any of the following:
    Wash with a solution of Baking soda and distilled water. Lightly rub with fingers. Rinse with the distilled water and cotton swab dry.
    Wash with your fingers and lots of spit. Then rinse with distilled water and cotton swab dry.
    I've tried such things as laundry soap, dish soap, hand soap, borax, bleach, ammonia, weak battery acid, acetone, mineral spirits, laquer thinner and many more things to clean coins I didn't really care about to much and usually made a mess of the coin. The soaps all left a bluish residue that was difficult to remove. The battery acid had little effect on silver but did lots of damage to copper coins. Other liquids did clean coins but left funny streaks or minor scratches.
    So again the best thing is to let sleeping dogs lie.
    Carl
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    ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭
    What a shame since it has a ton of detail on it. Leave it as is.

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
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    LincolnCentManLincolnCentMan Posts: 5,347 ✭✭✭✭
    Sorry dude. If it makes you feel any better. I bought one off ebay... the sucker had an added mint mark. At least I didnt have a problem with the return. The seller was nice about it. It was a nice F-15. I thought about keeping it as a novalty piece. It was pretty cool getting my first added mint mark coin. I didnt think it was $40 cool, though.

    David
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    DO NOT MESS WITH IT! IT will never look better than it does now. Nickel looks worse if you tamper with it. It looks a lot like a metal detector find.
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    ms70ms70 Posts: 13,958 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Looks like it might have been buried. Probably dug up by a metal detectorist.

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    BuffaloIronTailBuffaloIronTail Posts: 7,754 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I agree with Millenium. Nickel gets that way after being in the ground for awhile.

    Don't mess with it. It's a nice, original, bold strike for that date and mint.
    "I tell them there's no problems.....only solutions" - John Lennon

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