TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 8

 

Almost all the SSCA gold was stained, encrusted, or even enclosed with rust and limestone. These minerals were stable only where they formed, at the bottom of the ocean. Once brought into different conditions at the surface they became unstable and began to flake and spall off gold coins and ingots in unattractive ways.

So, the decision was made to remove all the unstable minerals obscuring the beautiful gold, except in a very few instances. This also allowed the coins to be third-party graded and encapsulated, and for the ingots to be handled without a rusty mess ending up on the handlers" skin and clothing.

The rust and limestone are surface deposits, a physical deposit, not chemically bonded with the gold surface. I removed all the minerals I judged to be unstable.

In the very few instances I mentioned, the rust was massive, stable enough, and with a strong enough physical adherence to the coin surface that it was not inclined to fall off with normal handling.

So, there are a few pieces out there in "as-found" condition, or nearly so, with just the "strongest" minerals remaining.

Coins are very detailed, and the rust found its way into the smallest surface features, the hair details, the inside spaces in letters, even into the microscopic striations in the rubbing resulting from circulation. In fact, rust would flake off fresh mint-state gold more readily than off circulated pieces. My curatorial procedure meant that I finished each coin immersed in solution under a stereoscopic dissecting microscope, the very same scope you see pictured here on my lab bench at sea in 1989.

 

I love discoveries. I grew up identifying birds and fossils, with each such identification being a discovery, an understanding, and a personal gratification. This continued as the greatest lost treasure in United States history passed through my care. I am a student of the history of science and exploration as well as a participant, and I am keenly aware of the enormous opportunity for discovery afforded to me by my "first look" and "first detailed look," at sea and in the lab, as the curator of this wonderful treasure. Like Howard Carter peeking through the crack between the stones and into Tut"s tomb for the first time, I saw "wonderful things."

I carry a loupe or have one in my mobile-backpack-office at all reasonable times. (See Treasure Talk Episode 3 – Part 2, where the Miami Herald headlined me as a "Nerd.") But for serious journeys into the deeper messages carried by coins, I prefer examination with a microscope, to have the piece sitting still while I think about the meaning of this or that strange mark, die crack, or erosion from re-working and polishing the dies. My scope (both that old Nikon and my current unit) have "zoom" functions, where you can virtually fly down closer and have a good look, up to 50x magnification. For most assessment of manufacturing details, 20x is enough.

 
1854 Huge O quarter

 
1851 Baldwin & Co. $10

 
Augustus Humbert $10

 
1854-S double eagle

To read the complete article, see:
Treasure Talk: Episode 8 The Dazzle is in the Details (https://finestknown.com/treasure-talk-episode-8the-dazzle-is-in-the-details/)

For the complete series, see:
Category Archives: Treasure Talk with Bob Evans (https://finestknown.com/treasure-talk-with-bob-evans/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n12a12.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 2.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n13a17.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 2.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n14a15.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 3.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n15a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 3.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n17a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 4.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n18a13.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 4.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n19a20.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 5.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n22a13.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 5.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n23a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 6.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n27a14.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 6.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n30a21.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 7.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n32a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 7.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n40a15.html)

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