Why have an improperly cleaned, polished, and probably ex jewelry coin for one's collection?

That's a very good question...

My Grandfather was born on July 21, 1910. He was the third of four children of immigrants from Armenia. My great grandparents came over to America in 1907 on the RMS Adriatic and were processed through Ellis Island. My Grandfather was born a few years later and eventually served in the US Navy. During his time in the military, he accomplished many amazing things. One of which is being the first person to land and take off from the Greenland icecap. 

Now, the story goes that Bernt Balchen and his crew took off in their B-17 to do some polar exploring and got stranded on an icecap in Greenland. My Grandfather was the pilot of the rescue mission that was assigned to go get Bernt and the crew. He flew over the site where the folks were stranded and dropped supplies until an appropriate landing area could be found. Eventually, he found a lake that had been frozen over and Granddad was able to land, recover the crew, and take off.

Now for many years, we all thought that was the end of the story. Some folks who know of Bernt Balchen know that he painted watercolor. Towards the end of Granddad's life, he was telling the story of the rescue and mentioned that Bernt had told my grandfather to leave him there for a night so he could paint. Granddad, being a lieutenant at that time, he could just say "Yes Sir" and left the Army Colonel there for the night. 

The next day, Granddad took off to retrieve Bernt. After Bernt was picked up, they took off and made a 180 to head back to base. As they flew over the lake that was the recovery landing area, they noticed how the water had begun to drain and the ice cracking. Talk about last minute...

I bought this old coin from his birthyear as a reminder of him. I'm going to sell it and upgrade to another 1910, just in better condition. If you want to read a little more about my Grandfather I'll leave a link here...