(A long story made short). My wife’s great uncle was a bartender in
Richmond Va around the turn of the century (1900 that is). She
emmigrated from Italy at age 13 about 45 years ago. He had given her
two 1849 US Gold dollars and a jeweler in Italy mounted them with gold
wire to make ear rings out of them. Now 45 years later, we find that
the 1849 Gold dollar if minted in Colorado is worth a lot of money.
The tell-tale mint make is under the gold wire. The Italian craftsman
told a relative that the way he mounted it wouldn’t harm the coin.
Sooooooo… Is there and do you make a solvent that would 1.)
remove the wire and 2.) not harm the coin??? Any suggestion you can
give us would be appreciated.
You can’t dissolve the wire without the coin dissolving as well. You
might want to take them along to a coin dealer first to make sure
that the final price for the coins will be what you expect. People who
collect usually want coins in really good condition and the price
drops rapidly if there are signs of wear and usage (circulation).
Simply wearing them or having them rub up against other items in a
jewelery box will have marked the coins and they will no longer be in
mint or even very fine condition. Most settings do mark the coins,
given time.
I’d suggest that you take it to a really competent jeweler and get
them to cut away the setting/frame. Then you can make decisions about
selling them or keeping them for sentimental value.
I don’t like giving you a downer and I hope they are in fine
condition but my experience tells me that they are probably not going
to fetch what you want.