Cleaning my first Indian Head

[berkshiregold]

I'm looking for the best way to safely clean my first Indian Head Find. It appears to be in real good condition to begin with. It's got a blueish green coating with a few crusty looking little bumps. Any info. you can provide will be much appreciated. Thanks! bg

[MEinWV]

Hi!

I feel that your coin is as good as it is going to get. If you remove the green, you will lose all those beautiful details. The bumps are cancerous sores, that if removed will leave behind pits. I have a 1835 Large cent that is similar to yours, but with less green. I have never tried to clean it beyond the olive oil and it still looks pretty good after all these years. It has a real nice die crack across one side.

What I would do is soak it in olive oil overnight to stabilize it, as olive oil is a preservative. Take it out and pat it dry. Every now and then you can put a light film of olive oil on it. When coins like that get too dry, that kind of surface can begin to flake.

These old pennies come out of the ground in various conditions. Some of them come out with a glossy green surface that looks smooth and hard. When I first started out, I tried to get the green off, but ended up with coins that had a sandblasted look to them, with much less details. I remember my first 2 cent coin as being a hard glossy green with all its major details intact. It is no longer a nice looking coin, as my attempt to clean it failed.

Congrats on you first IH! Good luck! HH

[nova]

I wanted to add my 2 cents! First of all that is a sharp looking IH cent with great detail and nice key year.
I would do minimal if anything to clean it. They can look worse once there cleaned and you will regret it.
I would put it in a 2" cardboard flip with the date you found it. Your first IH, and where. Congratulations
more to follow.