Hi everyone.

I recently purchased a Johnson Expanded shell of the Kennedy Half dollar.

The shell is great, but unfortunately, it is very shiny compared to my Kennedy's.

Is it possible to lessen the shine of the half dollar so that it matches my other coins.

Just extra information, my Kennedy's are not silver and are about thirty years old, so they do look somewhat aged in terms of dullness.

Do you want dull as in, softer? Or dull, as in not shiny?

What I suggest you do is buy a few half dollars of the same year to match your expanded shell and to use with them. This way, they all match... and when they do darken by being used with your hands, they will all darken together!

Otherwise, to just "lessen" the shine on a clad coin like a kennedy half, it will dull with use over time. You need to get your hand's oils and sweat on the coin.

Why are you trying to match the shell to the coins?

If you live in the U.S. :

Like lorenwade suggests, just take your expanded [ to the bank and buy some half dollars that match. Of course, don't expose the expanded [. Haha..

Outside the U.S. :

Go to a coin shop.

Don't try to dullen it with solutions... Just wash it and your other coins with soap and water... and practice with them a bunch... they will alll get the same tone in about 6 months. The olis from your hands will make them alll look about the same, if you use some chemicals or somthing you will end up ruining your shell or making it look unnatural.

Shawn

Thanks for the fast replies.

I guess this is a good way to get my practice in =D
Oh and by dull I meant in terms of shine.

Douglas: The shell is very shiny compared to my other coins, so when I use them for a coins across routine, I'm a little worried that the overtly shiny coin may attract unwanted attention.

Wednesday... ginding a few half dollars to match the year of your expanded shell is pretty easy... and cheap. I think that's an easy solution. That way they all match, you can start right away, they'll all dull and age together, and there's no unwanted attention.

What year is your shell? And does it look new/uncirculated?

I'm not sure what year my shell is because I purchased the tails side, so there's no year.

I'm pretty sure the shell is meant to look like an uncirculated coin.

In that case, PM me... I'll send you some uncirculated half dollars free of charge.

All good advice, but I ran into the same problem with a Johnson Walking Liberty [. Can't easily find nice new Walkers at the bank or elsewhere, nor would I want to; one great feature of the Walking Liberty half dollars is their aged look. I did manage to shine up four Walkers to get a closer match but I think it is near impossible to get all the nooks and crannies perfectly shiny.

As is or brand new, the Walking Liberty [ is virtually unusable because of its shininess.

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

Jim

My understanding is a bank would never sell Libs unless someone actually traded one in. The Feds do not issue these to any bank for circulation.
As Loren expressed, introduce as much sweat and natural body oils to the coins.

And maybe this is some sort of dogma or over-thinking on the magician's part of having every single coin matched in year and finish to the set. I mean naturally that really doesn't occur so any spec would never expect seeing coins used ALL match. Or I guess that's just my thought alone. I was told to use the back side or reverse of the Kennedy for the Okito coin box, because that is easier rather than worry about exposing a year discrepancy if that should ever be an issue for the performer and some observant lay audience.
And since I am the only one that like using shiny coins, I noticed that the coins shown on Keupper's piece on shells in Reel Magic were mighty darn shiny. Just saying. And come to think of it also on the flipper discussion too. I don't know, the obsession to have matching dull coins..hey look, how bout' that lethal tender?! : )

Rklew - I'm not saying they have to match dates or even match closely in appearance. But a new, fresh, spotless WL sh*** is going to look out of place with almost any other Walkers. And I am still not going to pay a fortune for EVF Uncirculated Walkers just to match the sh*** in shininess. Has to9 be easier to somehow dull the sh*** a but.

Jim

J-Mac, since the WL is SILVER, there are ways. First, bleach will darken your coin. It may not be the look you want, but throw it in bleach for just a minute and it will darken. Take a nail BUFFER (not file, you need a soft buffer) and buff off the coin. Then the recessed areas will be darker.

THAT or send it into someone like Roy Kueppers. He can tone your coin(s) right up. I know for a fact he can tone a coin.

True! J-Mac, well the nature of using these coins are pricey already unless there is a resource that makes and sells clads of all denominations.
I'll be mindful to next time always try to be part of the solution...

Bob

Vinegar

Urine works too

Have you considered taking a polishing cloth to both your coins and your shell so they are all equally shiny? Seems like that would be an easier path than trying to dull your shell to match your coins.

Have you ever tried polishing uncirculated Walking Liberties? And bringing them to a brand new condition by just "taking a polishing cloth" to them? I think not...

Jim

I don't know about your Walking Liberty's, Jim, but the OP is talking about Kennedy halves which polish up just fine.