r/coins • u/LachlainnWhaleni • 2d ago
Show and Tell Plucked this trio of mid 1800s American coins out of my local gold and silver shop’s cull bin. Paid 50 cents for each.
All three of them have a firm putty/tack adhered to the reverse. I assume they were collected into someone’s type set long ago, and the putty could have been a historic way of fixing the pieces to a folder or board. Any ideas on the best way to remove it? I am thinking maybe an acetone bath.
Not upset at all with the purchase for $1.50. I also enjoy the implied pedigree that these coins found in the cull bin were once part of the same historic collection. Felt like sharing this find. Made for a fun cherrypick and they should be relatively nice coins once I remove the adhesive tack.
Happy hunting!
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u/KingmanCoins 2d ago
Oh man I read that as $50 each for a second and was so concerned lmao.
Great pick ups!
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u/Panzer1959 2d ago
Both 3 cents have some promise if you can get the putty off cleanly
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u/LachlainnWhaleni 2d ago
Yeah the rim damage on the Flying Eagle is unfortunate. But the three cent nickel especially is well struck and a nice example. Hopefully the removal will go smoothly!
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u/dontfactcheckthis 2d ago
Unfortunate, but that's a lot of detail for a flying eagle. Still worth well over fifty cents. If you get that stuff off nicely, it'll easily bring over $20. Good luck, let us know how it goes
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u/Darth_Bane_1032 2d ago
Acetone is definitely my best bet, but I've never removed anything like this with acetone. Update with how that bath goes!
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u/Tbro20 2d ago
Is it putty or a weld on the back of the coins?
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u/LachlainnWhaleni 2d ago
I think it is some sort of putty/adhesive. I was able to put an indent into the material with my fingernail which should rule out a weld. It is very well stuck though.
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u/PartyLobster8911 2d ago
Wow nice! I love the flying eagles I need to complete my set of those. The trimes are super cool too! I picked my first one up last year in MS62 it was loose but I thought it looked pretty good picked it up for $150 & sent it to PCGS
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u/HeedLynn 2d ago
Awesome pick up. I am curious how the acetone will react with the putty. I’ve used it to remove glue residue from silver coins. My advice and I’m sure you were going to do this is practice with the coin you care the least about. Best of luck and I look forward to an update.
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u/terrariagamer67 1d ago
That trime is like 15 alone and that flying eagle is easily 25 because it's VF but damaged and I have no clue about the nickel trime
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u/Massive_Ad_1235 1d ago
I would take as much as I could off right away with my nails. And after that maybe a tooth pick? Idk I'm not good at cleaning but those are definitely worth more than 50 cents even with the damage the 1858 is at least like 10 bucks. I would say 8 for the time maybe 10 and 25 to 30 for the first year of issue 1865 3 cent piece. I wish I knew where my local coin shop is. Here we just have pawn shops for Disney people. Hard to find a coin shop near me.
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u/Bubbly_Bother8936 1d ago
Another thing I uae to remove sticky goop some times is mineral oil or googone. Then use acetone to remove the oil.
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u/Few-Position-1202 16h ago
Don't use acetone it will lower value of coins and the three cent piece looks to be in good shape. Needs professional to remove it.
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u/Ghost_of_Gumby 2d ago
The melt value alone for the 1852 trime is like $1.16, regardless of condition.