What would you do for this poor 1857 large cent?

WilliamF

Looks like it was in a fire to me, seems to be some sort of plastic melted all over it and in hand it is much darker and sooty-ish.
It's a shame because it looks to be a nice mid-AU example underneath all that...
Is there anything that could be done for this coin or is it better just to not mess with it?
Any and all opinions/thoughts/suggestions appreciated!

PerryHall

A long soak in acetone may dissolve that melted plastic. It may take a couple days in a sealed container with frequent changes of the acetone. It couldn't hurt to try it.

MarkKelley

Yes, an acetone soak. However, DO NOT try to scrub or pry the material loose. You will only damage the coin.

WilliamF

I'm leary of doing just about anything to it solely because it's an 1857 LC, which, (if undamaged but still mid-AU) is a $280+ coin...

lkeigwin

Acetone does not react to metal, only organic material. It is perfectly safe to use on coins.

I am not confident it will dissolve the heavy gunk but it can't hurt.

Don't think of it as a $280+ coin. It is worth considerably less as it is. So efforts to conserve it are certainly worthwhile.
Lance.

PerryHall

Is this coin worth the expense of professional conservation at NGC or PCGS if the acetone soak doesn't work? They have chemicals and techniques that aren't available to the average collector.

Dave99B

Leave it in a Coinstar return.

Dave

johnny9434

Don't forget to get back to us with the results

WilliamF

@PerryHall said:
Is this coin worth the expense of professional conservation at NGC or PCGS if the acetone soak doesn't work? They have chemicals and techniques that aren't available to the average collector.

@PerryHall, I had the same thoughts and actually sent it to NCS/NGC, they barely did anything to it and just sent it back to me in the condition you see it in now, these pics are after NCS "conserved" it...
I contacted a rep at NGC about it and all he would tell me was that it was "unable to be conserved"... I didnt get any more specifics than that but I'm not super impressed with their services to say the least, (this is an entirely different discussion but I much prefer PCGS & ANACS when it comes to actually submitting coins) they've been good to work with in my experience.

WilliamF

@Dave99B said:
Leave it in a Coinstar return.

Dave

Thanks for the laugh 😄

bsshog40

Acetone!!!

Barndog

since the coin is of minimal value as is, if acetone doesn't work (I suspect it will not because melted plastic is inorganic), try melting the plastic without melting the coin. That's what I would do, but I don't have any emotional connection to the ten dollar coin.

WilliamF

@Barndog said:
since the coin is of minimal value as is, if acetone doesn't work (I suspect it will not because melted plastic is inorganic), try melting the plastic without melting the coin. That's what I would do, but I don't have any emotional connection to the ten dollar coin.

Well it's not quite just a $10 coin, even in poor condition the 1857 large date large cent is worth close to $50 and in better condition such as this one would be they regularly go for $240+ (for me thats not minimal value...), I paid close to $170 for this one because of the damage, I probably paid a little too much for it but it was good for a hole filler:-)

PerryHall

Are you going to try the PCGS conservation service? If all else fails, you could always carry it as a pocket piece to wear off the plastic naturally, but this would be a last-ditch effort to make it look somewhat presentable.

WilliamF

@PerryHall said:
Are you going to try the PCGS conservation service? If all else fails, you could always carry it as a pocket piece to wear off the plastic naturally, but this would be a last-ditch effort to make it look somewhat presentable.

Probably not going to try the PCGS service for this coin, I like the idea of using it as a pocket piece but I'm afraid I would forget about it and send it through the washer/dryer... Definitely NOT speaking from previous experience here... 😆
Jk, I have sent coins through the washer/ dryer on accident before, thankfully no super valuable ones but still, not good!

jughead1893

Thats a shame.Maybe try and soften it up with a hair dryer ? I dont think you can hurt the value much at this point.

MsMorrisine

there are two types of organic solvents. polar and non polar

acetone is polar, try a non-polar one

https://research.cbc.osu.edu/turro.1/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/PolarityofSolvents.pdf

benzene, if I'm not mistaken, is a carcinogen. try soaking toluene or xylene.

WilliamF

@MsMorrisine said:
there are two types of organic solvents. polar and non polar

acetone is polar, try a non-polar one

https://research.cbc.osu.edu/turro.1/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/PolarityofSolvents.pdf

benzene, if I'm not mistaken, is a carcinogen. try soaking toluene or xylene.

Woah, that may be a little too technical for me, I never was fond of Chemistry in school I have tried CoinCare on it before sending it to NCS and it ended up no better after the CoinCare.

kaz

If acetone is not successful, you might try putting the coin in a strainer and pouring boiling water on it from a teakettle. If that doesn't remove the gunk it might soften it enough to pry off with a toothpick.

Walkerguy21D

I like both the boiling water and toluene soak ideas.
Given the popularity and demand of this date, I’m guessing there have been various attempts by previous owners to “improve” it.

Barndog

@WilliamF said:

@Barndog said:
since the coin is of minimal value as is, if acetone doesn't work (I suspect it will not because melted plastic is inorganic), try melting the plastic without melting the coin. That's what I would do, but I don't have any emotional connection to the ten dollar coin.

Well it's not quite just a $10 coin, even in poor condition the 1857 large date large cent is worth close to $50 and in better condition such as this one would be they regularly go for $240+ (for me thats not minimal value...), I paid close to $170 for this one because of the damage, I probably paid a little too much for it but it was good for a hole filler:-)

I tend to be more of a stickler for surfaces, especially on copper. So it would be a 10 dollar whim purchase to me. For 170 I would expect quality surfaces, even if a bit of circulation were present. Problem coins should be cheap

ricko

I would try acetone (though likely tried before) for a while. If no results, then xylene. Check it for softness after soaking... use a rose thorn preferably. Cheers, RickO

cameonut2011

Acetone first
Isopropyl alcohol next

PerryHall

@kaz said:
If acetone is not successful, you might try putting the coin in a strainer and pouring boiling water on it from a teakettle. If that doesn't remove the gunk it might soften it enough to pry off with a toothpick.

If heat doesn't work, try freezing it. If the coin gets cold enough, the plastic will get brittle and it may chip off with pushing using a wooden stick. Liquid nitrogen would be ideal if you can find a source. Any Dermatologists here? They use it to treat small skin cancers.

lkenefic

Since it looks like the OP has already used acetone and sent it to NGC for conservation service... both to no avail... I'd try the hot/cold approach first. It's the least aggressive alternative. If that doesn't work, I'd try the solvents that @MsMorrisine suggested. Xylene or toluene can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe's. We used to use Xylene to melt away paraffin blocks with embedded tissue for DNA extraction, so I know it works on paraffin. It might not work on a hard plastic. The last solvent I'd try that no o e has mentioned yet is methyl ethyl ketones. Be super careful if you go down this road! Ventilation. Ventilation. Ventilation!! MEK is some pretty toxic stuff, but I know it melts plastics.

Whatever you try, please let us know the outcome... best of luck!

privatecoin

If it was in a fire might as well try a heat gun. 😆

kaz

@PerryHall said:

@kaz said:
If acetone is not successful, you might try putting the coin in a strainer and pouring boiling water on it from a teakettle. If that doesn't remove the gunk it might soften it enough to pry off with a toothpick.

If heat doesn't work, try freezing it. If the coin gets cold enough, the plastic will get brittle and it may chip off with pushing using a wooden stick. Liquid nitrogen would be ideal if you can find a source. Any Dermatologists here? They use it to treat small skin cancers.

Well if all the other suggestions fail you can send it to me, I have a 30L Dewar of liquid N at the office (primary care but I do some basic derm stuff too).

Aotearoa

In lieu of liquid nitrogen, my wife's feet would probably do the trick...

Unknown

This content has been removed.

WilliamF

@Barndog said:

@WilliamF said:

@Barndog said:
since the coin is of minimal value as is, if acetone doesn't work (I suspect it will not because melted plastic is inorganic), try melting the plastic without melting the coin. That's what I would do, but I don't have any emotional connection to the ten dollar coin.

Well it's not quite just a $10 coin, even in poor condition the 1857 large date large cent is worth close to $50 and in better condition such as this one would be they regularly go for $240+ (for me thats not minimal value...), I paid close to $170 for this one because of the damage, I probably paid a little too much for it but it was good for a hole filler:-)

I tend to be more of a stickler for surfaces, especially on copper. So it would be a 10 dollar whim purchase to me. For 170 I would expect quality surfaces, even if a bit of circulation were present. Problem coins should be cheap

It would be a $10 purchase for just about any other date of Braided Hair but since it's THE key date for this design obviously I couldn't get it for $10, I would be super impressed if anybody here could show me an 1857 large cent that they got for $10 anytime in the last 20 years...
If it was another date I probably wouldnt even have bothered with it.
I happen to like coins with nice surfaces too

WilliamF

Wow, thank you guys for all the suggestions, that's quite a variety of methods!
I think I have some acetone in the garage... I'll have to go see if I can dig it up when I have some time
I'm fairly new to coin collecting (only been in it close to 8 years) but I can tell this is a good spot to learn a lot about this wonderful hobby, with all the advice I've received already!
I have a couple interesting pieces in my collection that I may post sometime soon...

Connecticoin

Post your results from the acetone soak!

vulcanize

Never tried it, but why not try to hold a hair dryer not too close nor too far to slightly loosen up the gunk and then soak it in acetone

lkeigwin

This one cost a bit more than $170...I paid $225...but is probably closer to what's available in that range.

Call it $10. Or maybe $20. Point is there is little to lose with drastic conservation measures.

I have had decent results with xylene and old copper. It is a commercial solvent like acetone. Available at your hardware store. Give it a shot. But I am not hopeful.

I think this is one of those tuition lessons. We've all paid them.
Lance.

Aotearoa

This thread prompted me to find my own. Needs a bit of TLC.

Connecticoin

@Aotearoa said:
This thread prompted me to find my own. Needs a bit of TLC.

Looks fine to me!

PerryHall

If all efforts fail to conserve your large cent, you could always re-engrave one of the letters on the reverse and then you'd have a really cool conversation piece.

WilliamF

@PerryHall said:
If all efforts fail to conserve your large cent, you could always re-engrave one of the letters on the reverse and then you'd have a really cool conversation piece.

Hmm, I already have a couple of those very... Interesting pieces of history.