Jersey £2.00 1987 WWF commemorative, Pink Pigeons

[bagerap]

I recently bought a World Wildlife Fund Jersey commemorative 1987 £2.00 pack , and it was in poor condition. The coin itself is held in a plastic blister pack protruding through the front of a postcard size booklet.

The plastic was brittle and brown, the printed matter shabby and anyway I collect coins not ephemera, so I broke the coin out:



This is a terrible scan, but the obverse is a beautiful golden colour, thanks to some errant plasticisers, and the obverse pretty much what you would expect.

Trouble is that this coin weighs in at 28.3gr which should make it silver despite its poor appearance. All of the silver "Two Pigeons" I've seen have been proofs, and a less prooflike coin than this I can't imagine. There is no evidence of any onetime mirror like surfaces. Can poor storage really mees up a proof coin this much?

Thanks,
Bob


P.S.
I did try this question elsewhere, with but one reply; from augsburger

[Figleaf]

Certainly, plastic can mess up your coins like that and worse. I have bought quite a few Eastern-European coins that looked completely dull and turned out to be proofs. Just get a very soft peace of cloth (I like old baby clothes) and rub. I have some doubts about the part behind the head, but the rest should be OK. Make sure you remove the smudge between and inside letters.

Peter

[Bimat]

My latest acquisition. I decided to get it because I liked the reverse, obverse is not bad either.

Jersey £2 (1987), KM# 70, Copper Nickel, 38.5mm, Commemorates 25th Anniversary of WWF. Mintage: 23,000.

The WWF was founded in April 1961, thus 25th Anniversary was in 1986, but the coin is dated 1987.

Aditya