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Dirty Little Guy
charlesf20
Posts: 383 ✭✭✭
Any ideas on how I might clean this new small cent up without cleaning?
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That appears to be dug (found in the ground) after 100+ years.
In my experience, the best you can do is an olive oil soak. It may take months or even longer. Resist the urge to scrub or even wipe it--the rims will literally fall away in your fingers. It will never be perfect. But it will become more stabilized, more uniform in color and texture.
--Severian the Lame
Nope.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
It might help if you leave it in a Walmart parking lot for a few weeks.
Seriously, that coin is too far gone to ever make it a desirable collectable coin although it may be fun to experiment on it with an olive oil soak.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I hope you did not pay money for that.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Toss it back 🤨
I would probably spend it.
That was once a beautiful coin, but now a face only a mother could love....
I love it as is - wish I had it. Look at the date. Imagine the story behind it and how it came to be where it was found. Put it in an air tite.
The raised areas are corrosion under the crusty surface. Since it's a lost cause, it becomes an experimental coin. My suggestion is to soak it in hydrogen peroxide. Just a small glass cup. You'll see bubbles as the oxygen reacts with the surface. Change the H2O2 every day, flip the coin over too. When the crust is gone, you'll have a pock marked IHC. Or...leave it a!one, Good luck. Peace Roy
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Terminal
I actually like it. That coin could tell stories! Looks like it went into the ground not long after 1865, if not in 1865. This is what got me interested in coins as a young boy back in the 70s (not 1870s...1970s).
Nope. It is what it is.
You can't hurt it much by experimenting though.
The olive oil soak is likely the only safe route for that coin. It will take many months (turn it often). The peroxide method may help, but it may leave it even more ugly. Tough situation, the coin is basically terminal. Cheers, RickO
With it most likely being a metal detector find, it's pretty toasted. Like others have said, it might be a nice experimental piece. One guy had luck actually tumbling similar dug coins. Could ruin it more, but something to consider.
tumbling?
Cleaning will make it even worse. Leave her alone. Maybe even drop her in a Coinstar coin return.
Dave
The problem with that is someone could find it and start a whole new thread on this coin here.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Definitely crusty
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Since this thread started I'm growing much more fond of keeping the coin just the way it is.
Can you imagine being underground all those decades and just being unearthed recently?
I think that he didn't do that bad a job of it and certainly avoided a great deal of unpleasantness
during that period.
Good call. Don’t touch that at all. It’s not worth much and it’s not better under that crust. Pass it along to a kid to get them interested in coins.
If it were me, I'd name it Barnacle Bob ... Dirty Feathers.
