Hello All, Im a new member, I have mostly collected modern silver bullion, but I have just bought my first numismatic coin !!!! a 1911 silver peso caballito, I have not received the coin yet, but the item number from the bay is: 271290571257 I will post pics as soon as it arrives, but looking at the pictures from the seller, it looks like the coin can use some cleaning (I see some rust or other type of brown spots), I have read that you are Not supposed to clean numismatic coins, but was wondering if dipping in amonia or lemon juice would clean up the coin a bit without damaging it. Any thoughts? Also I hope I didnt overpay, but since it my first purchase I would appreciate if you guys can tell me if I paid a fair price ($49.99 + ship) Cheers ! Baja
Welcome to SS forum and congrats for your first purchase, it's a very nice coin indeed. However please don't do anything on it, these coins have a story and are very nice the way they are, if you start messing around with lemon juice or any kind of cleaner you'll definitely damage it and make it look even worse I'm not sure for how much goes a 1911 peso, but $50 appears to be on the high end to me, this coin doesn't seem to be particularly rare (1.2 Million minted) to justify that premium. There are tons of old coins for sale on the bay, try to look for those going for low premium over spot to start with, when you'll be more familiar you can start looking at more expensive coins. Good luck
price does seem a tad high but the book value on a long ray 1911 peso is $75 in xf so if you like the coin then I would consider it a fair price to pay. however DONT clean it. leave it un molested because if you do clean it then it will only be worth melt ($17.07 usd) and it would be a shame to damage a coin like that. congrats on your 1st real coin and good luck finding more in the future
do not clean it. there are two reasons. you will damage it. and you will damage it. especially since you've admitted this is your first old coin I can say with 100% certainty that if you do clean it you do not know what you are doing.
Thanks to all for your advice, I will definitely Not be cleaning this coin, even tho the price is on the high end I am very excited about my purchase. Thanks again I will post pics when it arrives!
Hi, yes I was happy to get mine also. This is quite a difficult coin to track down I found..much more so than a regular peso or 8 reale.. Price not to bad.. I see some facial detail in eagle and snake.. Coin may have already be cleaned or just stored In a manner so that it's gained so uneven toning. Enjoy the coin 1for1
