On 2009-12-12 14:42, Chris Meece wrote:
Very gorgeous coins! But I am never going to use sand paper on my coins! My heart stopped for a bit when I read that. hehe My dad had a collection of old Classics Illustrated comics and we learned from a very early age to not touch them and when we did, don't open them totally flat to read them. I have carried this into my adult life and cringe when I see people pick up books of mine and manhandle them.

I do like the black contrast on your coins. Is the sandpaper necessary or could one simply use some good silver polish? This wouldn't degrade the detail. Also, is the bleach harming the coin?

On 2009-05-19 12:01, lithyem wrote:
@Lawrence O - I saved them for web in photoshop then used http://www.imageshack.us to create the thumbnails.

First I washed them with dish soap to get all oils and grease off of the coins. Then I used Clorox Clean-up spray and put a layer of it on a plate, dropped the coins on top then sprayed them too. (Don't wear a black shirt). I flipped them every few hours (seems to speed up the process). In 4-5 hours they should be completely black.

To polish them first I used 400 grit wet dry sandpaper - to get them all to the same rough quality. Then used 1500 grit to smooth everything out. Next I moved onto one of those 4 sided nail file blocks you can find in drug stores. Starting with rough down to slick. By the time you get to the slick side, the high spots on the coins will be as shiny as a mirror and the low spots will be a soft black.

Lastly I wash them again to get the silver dust all off.

Very often when I bring them out I get compliments on them - they really do look beautiful.

I should say that the very mirror-y finish is a problem if you have windows and those who do have window problems may want to stop polishing after a 1 or 2 sides of the nail block.

Anyhow that's how I do it...

ShawnB - good call and very true. I posted a pic of a flipper of mine to show that it can be done but requires a lot more work for sure.

On 2009-12-22 05:47, Lawrence O wrote:
If you wish to use Lithyem's "aging process", try using finger nail files and start using only the smaller grain side (the rougher side, even though it's small grain, would leave marks). Then buy the soft polishing nail ones with four colors and use them to polish the coins as you would for your nail. This polishing will not make them look as if they had been soften by a machine (not perfectly flat) but as if they have been circulating for a long time.

Lay people have rarely seen old silver coins and they are curious about them because they imagine that they are worth even more than they actually are. The aging process allows to give spectators the feeling that the coins are older than they actually are even when they know the date. People love the idea to have been able even just to touch one of these.

Thanks Lawrence O. I'm actually going to walk around with these in my pocket for a while to let them kind of roughen each other up. That should give them the dings and marks that normal coins have. Then I will switch to the nail files. Thanks for the tip.

On 2009-12-23 00:41, J-Mac wrote:
Biggest problem with all this right now is.... getting your hands on some Morgans in any condition! I have a grand total of three - all from Ebay - and one I am 99% certain is a fake; doesn't feel like the same weight and it just sounds too far off. And that was from a "Top Rated" seller with several thousand feedbacks at 100%.

But I digress: my point is that it's tough presently to get Morgans, and if you do find them it costs anywhere from $25 to $40 or $50 USD, and that is for UNC. non-rated coins, almost "junk" silver condition.

So for now I am sticking with Eisenhowers for dollars, and Walkers for my halves. With only two real and one apparent fake Morgans there aren't many effects worth pulling these out and shining up to do!

Jim

On 2009-12-23 00:49, iamslow wrote:
YOu can also try throwing your coins in a sock and tie a knot at the end and throw it in the wash when you do laundry... it might speed up the process a tiny bit.. hope this helps..

On 2009-12-23 01:52, iamslow wrote:
You would have to do a LOT of loads to make it too rough... remember, its coins we're talking about here..

On 2009-12-23 13:35, Lawrence O wrote:
If you use a nail file after bleaching them, you'll make them look old enough and your filing cannot be even, no matter how hard you'd try. Thus I don't think that the pocket aging or sock aging process is necessary. If you really want, you could give just one or two passing of the rougher side of a finger nail file, pressing hard. It will leave traces that you will have a hard time making them disappear even with the polishing process that I suggested. Now when using them for practice, our coins gain these dents anyways whether we like it or not.

On 2009-05-20 18:22, magicalaurie wrote:
Here's a closer look.
You can see the camera lens reflected in the centre of the coin, best I can do right now.

On 2009-05-19 13:05, LF wrote:

Quote:

On 2009-05-19 12:01, lithyem wrote:
@Lawrence O - I saved them for web in photoshop then used http://www.imageshack.us to create the thumbnails.

First I washed them with dish soap to get all oils and grease off of the coins.

...

What a beauty.These are the best looking coins I have ever seen,they are really are pleasure to look at.

Thanks so much for tipping the way you get them that way.

LF.