Kaiser,

At least it still has its intrinsic silver value & much more as a nice memento from your friend. And, at least you didn’t dip it in an acid bath like some have unaware of the damage till they try to sell a cleaned coin.

NumisdudeTX

Kaiser,

I hear you on the coin cleaning issue. Some companies are still selling coin cleaning solutions in bottles labeled as such which are just weak acid chemicals & harsh detergents… The number one rule in numismatics is never clean a coin!
The coin grading services, internally, call these cleaned coins by the slang words “dipped” & “whizzed” & label them in the slabs without a numerical grade as “Details” designation (one example on the label would read: “Unc Details – Cleaned”, and therefore a coin worth tons less.

NumisdudeTX

True, Kaiser,

And the guy who bought all this shipwreck booty all at once early on, a one Mr. D.M., probably paid “Life” magazine to say that, & 35 years later he & his cohorts are still marketing the dregs of the mucky & salty underwater tomb…he would probably sell the skeletons of the many deceased passengers in this tragedy if he could…

Did you notice that NGC gave him a Mint State 66 with Star grade on the $20 gold coin pictured…90% gold & 10% copper that is environmentally damaged & obviously cleaned. He sold almost all of his booty like P.T. Barnum, & hoodwinked many with the money to buy, but no common sense.

NumisdudeTX

Cuban cigars!! It would be interesting to see if they were still held their shape and if the wrapping style has changed over the years. After that… smoke’em if you got’em!!

Craig,

I too am amused at soggy cigars & rotten jeans called “treasure”… Lol.
That man on the sinking ship lost his pants in the shipwreck, but he lived. He was in first class, so why did he have a pair of hard labor worker’s denim jeans in his suitcase in which they were found? Was he mining gold as a side hustle?
Also, this press release says that “Life” magazine called the items found in this shipwreck debris area “The Greatest Treasure Ever Found,” but I believe that is hype for sure, as King Tut’s tomb had more than 5,000 priceless items of treasure in it & a Spanish shipwreck I read about had about $500 million worth of treasure onboard when it sank.

NumisdudeTX