The one on the right is my first silver purchase ever, which I always keep in my back pocket, so it never even rubs together with other coins or keys. It's been slightly more than a year, but not by much. I was surprised at how noticeable it was when I actually put them side by side.
I personally dont care about the condition of ASE,s unless they have been put through a mulcher. My older handled ASE,s look much nicer than the newer ones.
i don't have many ASEs, around 30 pieces 20 are in its original tube sealed with bubble wraps. the rest 10 all in individual PVCs and been carefully placed in album. I know these silver coins are just ounces of silver but i just would like give them as much care as i can
This ASE is the only coin I have that I leave out or really handle at all. I won't ever sell it, so it isn't an issue. If I was just buying silver for weight and didn't care about condition I wouldn't buy ASEs.
It's a good idea to protect your coins in mint-condition they will be easier to sell, and will retain their premium value. However, I also find it gratifying to keep one just for the purpose of hefting and playing with. When the coin gets dull, it is also fun to polish it to a brilliant shine, and start over again. Just remember that ASEs have a satin finish, which you will not be able to restore, so do not polish any coins that you wish to sell as "brilliant uncirculated" (even though new ASEs are not actually "brilliant" they will lose some value if the satin background has been burnished to a shine).
That's interesting to see, how quickly it wears... I've got my first Brit in my pocket/wallet. Which I'm going to keep for myself and not going sell this one either.
Whenever I buy a tube or more of coins through a dealer I buy 1 extra for myself (if it is a different design to what I already have), just to display or handle myself. I just know I'll end up unsealing a tube eventually otherwise. Haha.
If somebody spent a year sitting on your face, getting up, sitting on your face again, getting up again, etc ad infinitum..... Your face probably wouldn't look too good at the end of that year, either---and that doesn't even allow for the effects of intermittent or chronic flatulence. :lol: ASEs are low-premium bullion and they're intended to be stacked for weight. They (no shit!) don't win beauty contests and they're not meant to be revered, treasured and conserved like an MS70 1893 S Morgan dollar. If you keep ASEs in US Mint tubes, protected from sulfurous atmospheric contaminants and don't spend ten hours every day shaking the tubes as if they were maracas, everything should be as good as it needs to be and your very modest investment should be adequately protected.
You should get one of those 2011 Mongolian Wildlife Series Ural Owl coins, carry it unprotected in your back pocket for a year and then let us know how it fared in comparison to how the ASE held up. Oh, yeah --- "Lol", too...
I could do other coins and compare them, but if I want to maintain continuity I'll have to do it in the exact same way which would be tediously time consuming just for a few pictures. But if I do, I will probably do a Maple next because I'm curious to see if it tarnishes more easily or more quickly from being slightly more pure.
It is an interesting experiment but it would be hard to recreate conditions. For example how far you walk daily, what else you keep in your pockets regularly, the clothes you wear, how often you sweat enough for it to get damp or get caught in the rain etc.
This is really good to know. I like the idea of having one coin that you can actually handle and keep with you.
I got an old Kook kickn' around the lounge somewhere was one of my first. Got sick of the weight in my pocket after a while. Was cool for a while to put in peoples hands and show the density.
Wasn't PVC harmful for silver? I've seen a map where the old 90% junk coins were all black except for the part they protruded the flip.