Ouch, Falcon! Double ouch!

A 1928 Peace silver dollar is one of the most valuable modern-day US coins. If I inspect the photo you sent closely, I'd assign a numismatic grade (or condition) of Very Fine 30 (VF30). There is good definition in Miss Liberty's hair, and the eagle's wing feathers are plain to see. These attributes, the hair and the feathers, are where coin collectors look to determine the amount of wear on Peace dollars. VF30 is a mid-grade. VF20 is usually considered 'average circulated,' so your coin is a little better than that.

What about value? We can turn to The Grey Sheet, a conservative price guide for US coins. A 1928 Peace dollar in VF30 bids at $350 US dollars. A coin dealer would usually pay less than Grey Sheet bid. A coin collector would usually pay more for a nice looking specimen.

But the Grey Sheet (as well as all the other coin-evaluation mechanisms, including CoinQuest) quotes values for coins that do not have any problems. Falcon, your coin has problems. The dark stains on Miss Liberty's side of the coin render it almost un-collectible. Most collectors would not add such a coin to their collection unless someone was giving it away. Perhaps you could sell this coin to a collector for $100, maybe $150.

Upon seeing your coin, I will gently suggest you momentarily dismiss my advice 'Never Clean a Coin.' This is good advice in 99.9 percent of cases. Your case may qualify for the 0.01 percent.

Here's what to do. Don't do anything more than this:

Get some hot, soapy water. Soak the coin in it for several days. Use the plainest soap you can find, like Ivory soap, for instance. After several days of soaking, remove the coin, get new hot soapy water, and get a bunch of Q-tips. Gently pat all surfaces of the coin, including the edge, with the soapy Q-tips. Do not move the Q-tips when they are touching the surface of the coin - no rubbing or brushing. Rinse the coin often in clean water. Work the soap solution for about 10 minutes. Make a final rinse in hot, clear water and let the coin air dry on a paper towel.

My hope would be that a gentle cleaning like this would bring the coin up into the $200 to $300 range. Give it a try.

Don't dare touch this valuable coin with steel wool or silver polish.

If you decide to do the soapy water trick, and if there is some success, please send us new pictures of your 'conserved' coin. We'd love to add them to this CoinQuest appraisal.

Thanks for your interest in CoinQuest.