Experiment on a 1864 Indian Cent

joeykoins

Hi guys,
Is this an "L" Indian with the pointed bust marker?

I know about cleaning coins. The cardinal sin in coin collecting. Lol
But, is this cleaning?
Using a little of acetone and a wooden toothpick.

By dipping the toothpick into acetone continually.
Then picking and rubbing to remove the gunk around the date.
Is this tolerable, meaning, is this ok to do? The results are quite clearly successful. It doesn't look to cause any harm to the coin?

Before

After

What do you guys say.
Thanks

jesbroken

No, 1860 had pointed bust. Here's the difference.
Jim

joeykoins

Thanks
Some 1864's also has a pointed bust, as well, no?

Paradisefound

WOW great job there @JoeyCoins
If cleaning with acetone is acceptable practice I don’t see why not ….. unless the toothpick worked as a culprit 🤔

bsshog40

I've used toothpicks on coins with acetone and also with olive oil soaked coins to pick out small bits of pvc. I use toothpicks to clean watch parts also. They don't scratch metal and work very well. Looks much better!

ricko

@joeykoins ... Nice cleaning job, acetone and a wooden toothpick can work well for debris trapped in letters/numbers. Cheers, RickO

JBK

As a general practice, I thought the coin was to be soaked in acetone and then a soft object was used to pry or poke away loosened debris.

On the coin shown here, is the rest of the coin still crusty?

joeykoins

@JBK said:
As a general practice, I thought the coin was to be soaked in alcohol and then a soft object was used to pry or poke away loosened debris.

On the coin shown here, is the rest of the coin still crusty?

Yes, Forgot to mention. I did soak the coin first in acetone over night. No real improved results.

BStrauss3

Used to be a guy who sold bags of porcupine quills on eBay to be used. Even softer than orange wood supposedly. Yep, they're still there.

joeykoins

Would you guys say they're is a slight doubling on the 8 & 6? I do notice something under the 4 too?

LanceNewmanOCC

@BStrauss3 said:
Used to be a guy who sold bags of porcupine quills on eBay to be used. Even softer than orange wood supposedly. Yep, they're still there.

.
nice. that is the first i heard that one. i've used dried/fresh rose thorns and they are quite effective as well. i bet those quills would last longer tho.

anyone here have a hedgehog as a pet?

JWP

Maybe it's the lighting but the before cleaning picture looked better. The after cleaning picture seem to make the corn look like it was a lot lighter. I kind of prefer the before look. Just saying.

basetsb

Acetone does wonders in restoring coins and make them look more pleasant and presentable. I recently used acetone on a few mercury and barber dimes with pleasing results.

JBK

@joeykoins said:
Would you guys say they're is a slight doubling on the 8 & 6? I do notice something under the 4 too?

Better get Robert Lahti on the case. He'll uncover things you can't even see.

NumisOxide

I usually use a rose thorn, my second choice is usually a toothpick. I see this as conserving not cleaning but I know that's my opinion.

LanceNewmanOCC

@coinJP said:
I usually use a rose thorn, my second choice is usually a toothpick. I see this as conserving not cleaning but I know that's my opinion.

have you tried fresh AND dried?

NumisOxide

@LanceNewmanOCC said:

@coinJP said:
I usually use a rose thorn, my second choice is usually a toothpick. I see this as conserving not cleaning but I know that's my opinion.

have you tried fresh AND dried?

Yes I have but it was years ago.