Just Bob

Does the edge of the "S" mint coin look like the edge of the "D"?

The Mint produced a silver MS dollar, as well as a Proof version, in San Francisco that year. (Link below)

https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/eisenhower-dollars-1971-1978-pscid-51/1776-1976-s-silver-1-ms-coinid-17422

Both are large date cents.

7 hours ago, jgrinz said:

BE CAREFUL OF THE STAPLE! on removal.

This bears repeating. Remove the staple completely before trying to take the coin out of the flip. And, handle the coin over a soft cloth or some other padded surface, by its edges only.

Copy/paste from a thread on the Numista forum (poster was pnightingale):

"The good news is that the more expensive the coin, the easier it is to restore it. Gold coins don't ever really get much of a patina to have to worry about destroying it, less so silver coins and copper / bronze are the most likely to suffer but generally the cheapest. If you have any doubts about your abilities then ask your local coin dealer if he would do the job for you, at least for the more valuable specimens.

It's also important to understand that there is always a risk any time you attempt something like this and the risk falls entirely on your shoulders, not on those giving free advice.

So having got all that out of the way, let's put together some kind of batting order starting with the least drastic. These steps can be applied to all the coins and you should know when to stop. Don't fall into the trap of being so pleased with the early results that you continue making improvements until the coin is ruined.

Water. Warm, not hot and a lot a patience. I like to soak my coins in warm full sun on the kitchen window although my wife doesn't think much of it. . It sounds like the glue was applied some time ago so if it's the older type made from animal by products (horse bones) there a good chance it might simply dissolve. Note that it dissolves, not disappears. It leaves the coins and turns the water into a glue soup which now covers the entire surface. Repeat the soaking with clean warm water and keep rinsing and repeating until it's so diluted as to be non existent.

Next step is to try a gentle soap. I prefer liquid hand soap because I don't believe that dish soap or washing up liquid is quite as benign as we might think. (Yeah Rick even mild green fairy liquid, imagine that sung in a cracked baritone. Happy dreams brother.) This is quite a minority opinion so I'll expand a little. All detergents contain some type of degreasing agent otherwise, well.... they wouldn't work! What you are trying to do is remove the glue without removing the patina. This patina is AKA toning and is caused by many factors including airborne impurities, UV light..... and oils from dirty lil' fingers. So.... I'm suspicious of using something with a grease removing element on something which is made more desirable by greasy, long dead fingers. So repeat step one with a bit of soap and warmth.

Next I'd be going straight to the alcohol or acetone. I don't have much experience of the former apart from habitually abusing it but plenty of folks claim it's harmless. The same claims are made for acetone but it has a nasty habit of sometimes turning old copper a nasty pink color. I've never seen it do any harm to other metals though. This is the point where I'd be inclined to call it a draw.

If everything else has failed then it's time to get a toothpick out and try to physically crack the glue away. Or in the case of silver coins you can dip them, removing the glue along with the natural tone. Either choice is far from perfect. Don't be tempted to scrub away at the coin with a brush of polishing tool, you will just ruin it.

Finally, if you have succeeded, take a moment to finish the job off properly by making sure the coin is completely dry and free from lingering residues before putting it in an album or flip, or you'll be right back where you started after a few months. If the coin now has a patchy tone where the glue used to be it will even out over time. You can however take steps to hasten the natural process by creating an ideal toning environment. This has been discussed at some length already so a forum search on toning coins will point you in the right direction."

14 hours ago, Mohawk said:

Dang, Bob, cool on you for finding that!  And stupid on me for not thinking of Wildwinds!  I use it all the time for Faustina the Younger coins .  As I said to Jonathan a little while ago, this dissertation is destroying my brain .

I am just going by the information posted above. If the OP's coin is the same as the one that I posted, I can't tell it. It is way too worn and damaged for me to see any details.

This is the coin that is being described on the paperwork in your pictures: (from Wildwinds)

 MACEDON, Tragilos. Circa 380 BC. Æ 15mm (4.24 gm). head of Hermes
  right, wearing petasos / TRAGLI-W-N, rose; grape cluster right. SNG
  ANS 907-910; BMC Macedonia pg. 132, 13 (Traelium); SNG Copenhagen 451;
  Laffaille 306. Near EF, dark green patina. ($200)

Triton V Sale, 15 Jan 2002, lot 301.
 
 Lot sold for USD 200.

Used by permission of CNG, www.historicalcoins.com

From the Triton V Sale, January, 2002.

Used by permission of Classical Numismatic Group, www.cngcoins.com.

It is not a typo, since the earlier one ounce Maple Leafs were a!so 31.39 grams. My best guess would be that they are slightly heavy intentionally,  so that even an underweight planchet, if within tolerance, would still contain one full ounce of silver. 

Of course, that is just a guess, so take it with a grain of salt.

9 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

  For example, Candice likes vintage video games (NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and Playstation 1),

I have to ask: did you ever play the Sega genesis game "Toe Jam & Earl?" It was one of my favorites, just because it was so weird and funky.

5 minutes ago, Mohawk said:

So would my fiancee.  She's a fan of both Hello Kitty and toast is my Candice.

Well, there's an idea for her birthday or Christmas.

What it interesting is that the mint didn't just overpunch one reverse die. There were five different O/CC reverse dies that year, if my count is correct. (There are six VAMs - 7 - 12, but VAM7 and VAM10 share a common reverse.)

But, honestly, one would almost have to have that coin in hand to be able to see if it was re-punched, as worn as it is.

5 hours ago, KarenHolcomb said:

 I have too many Copper Lincoln's in bags waiting to be melted into ammo during the Zombie Apocalypse. I'm sure that maybe I could make one of these machines if I could see the general appearance and workings of one. 

Yep, you are definitely from below the Mason-Dixon line.

I am going to offer a different opinion.

The area that is showing weakness on the reverse is directly opposite Lincoln's shoulder on the obverse, which is an area of high relief. I believe that there was not sufficient metal to flow into both the shoulder and the letters, and this made the letters not strike up fully. The mint lowered the relief the following year, and in later years, as well, but the problem persisted. I recall finding these (new) in circulation in the mid 80s.

2 hours ago, A.S.K. said:

 Do I grade them? In hopes that the Grading as an overall exceeds the Expense of the grading..

That would be the the determining factor, if they were my coins. You have to figure the cost of grading each coin, plus shipping, return shipping, and insurance. And, when figuring the worth of each coin, I would use wholesale prices, and not retail.

Welcome to the forum. If you need any information or advice on anything, don't hesitate to post.

Quoting DW Lange, from a post earlier this year, concerning a coin that looks like yours:

"That coin has a form of doubling commonly seen on 1943 cents that resulted from the erosive effects of the plated planchets. A line from the duplicate mintmark image toward the primary one points directly at the center of the coin, confirming that it is simply a result of die erosion. This is commonly seen on both the date and mintmark, always in the same direction away from the center.

NGC gets a dozen or more such coins each week, and they are all returned with the same conclusion."

If we were playing "Guess the Grade," I would vote MS65, so I am going to agree with the above posters and say "no" on sending it in to be graded.

The bottom two pictures look like a knock-out from an electrical junction box.

If you save enough of them, you can get a toaster.

j/k

10 minutes ago, Thompson2 said:

A word of caution - you may run across and be tempted by “de-ionized” water.  It sounds super cool and super pure.   Don’t use it.  It will actively dissolve your coins, copper in particular.  I may grab some from work and dunk a penny in it.  I’ve seen it destroy equipment, but I’ve never tried to quantify it with an experiment. Should be fun.

If you do that experiment, be sure and document it with pictures. I would be interested in seeing those.

That's a nice looking Saint.

Your coin - your decision, but I would leave it in that holder if it belonged to me.The messed up label will not affect the price.

I only see another picture of the reverse.

15 minutes ago, dreinking said:

I haven't sent it in to NGC yet... I would rather just sell it the way it is, that's if there is a market for it the way it is. 

May we see a picture of the front of the slab?

Thank you for the kind words, but I absolutely DO NOT want compensation of any kind for the posts that I put on here. I appreciate the thought, but, again, please don't.

As for your '73-S Ike dollar: those are some really clean surfaces, judging by the pictures. That is not something that you usually see on these coins. If it was a Denver or Philadelphia issue, I would say it might be worth a shot at trying for a grade of MS67, but the S mints are common enough in that grade that it wouldn't be worth the money, IMO.

11 hours ago, Conder101 said:

And another no line fattie is gone.

I had that same thought. I would have left it alone.

I would have expected it to bring a slight premium in the old holder.

Oh, well, maybe it will upgrade.

Does the PCGS  buy-back guarantee cover things like this?