I have a 1923 peace coin I’m trying to get out of a casing that is solid with out damaging the coin. Any ideas?
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Anything mechanical risks the coin.
Any idea what type of resin is used? How thick is the material.
My guess is:
- trim the resin to get rid of most of it without risking the coin.
- take some of the scraps and test them in the usual solvents (acetone, turpentine, MEK, etc.)
Use the one that works to remove the remaining material.
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It’s half an inch thick and not sure what kind of resin it is but it’s 50 years old.
Maybe mill it thinner, trim, and then soak it in solvent.
Yes! My idea is to leave it exactly as it is. It’s more valuable that way – not being directly handled.
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The reason I’m trying to get it out is to send it off and be graded. From what I understand it needs to be out of the casing
Sure. And the best way to test the quality of a match is to strike it.
It seems to me that removing it from the case to grade it ought to be some museum’s problem in the year 9432.
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The problem is that that doesn’t look like a case. A case has an air gap, and isn’t adhesively bonded to the coin.
I would look to coin collectors for advice how to remove a coin from a resin paperweight, or if it is even possible without damaging the value.
I’m thinking that since it has been cast into the paperweight, its maximum value would be to buff and polish the paperweight. Any process I can think of to remove the resin will mechanically damage the coin.
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The case was obviously made in a mold to begin with so I would assume you can do the reverse and get the coin back out. You first could take a little acetone and see if it starts to dissolve the resin case. If it doesn’t start to soften immediately, then it might be cured epoxy. Mechanical means would be your best bet to remove it in this case.
If acetone does start to dissolve the case, it might be acrylic which has a melting temperature of 320 F. You could then put a stainless steel mesh strainer under it and bake it in an oven around 350 and see if the case melts off. Just be sure to put a metal pot underneath it to catch the liquified acrylic.
There are many videos online about removal of coins from resin and none of them are really successful in terms of preserving the coin .
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