Cleaning an Indian Head?

[Kiros32]

Best and safest way. I have already ruined a 1914D wheat and I don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Thanks.

[Michigan Badger]

Don't use electrolysis! I killed a nice Indian with it once.

The olive oil suggestion is good or you could also use mineral oil like that sold for a laxative. Distilled water soak can also be good.

But with coins SLOW is the key word. All you want to do is remove enough corrosion to reveal some detail. Always leave some of the patina (fancy name for thin corrosion) on the coin. To remove it all is to end up with a stinking pitted coin.

Every time I see a coin on here that someone cleaned with electrolysis or acid I just cringe.

[Rusted_Iron]

Electrolysis seems to be good only for silver, and even then it's not good for all cases. It isn't very good on copper.

Vinegar is a bad idea for copper. Any acid compounds will actually remove metal from the surface of the coin.

Salt is also a bad idea. Salt is sodium chloride. Chloride ions seem to accelerate the corrosion of metal perhaps more so than other ions, especially in the case of copper.

Hydrogen peroxide- I've had good results on some coins but have to do more experiments. H2O2 is not an acid or ionic compound, so in theory it shouldn't actually dissolve coin metal. Concentrated hydrogen peroxide will corrode human skin, but the mechanism of this action is different from metal corrosion. I would stick with 3%. I have used stronger H2O2, but it gets extremely hot and tends to spatter.

Oil soaking- that's what I'd try at first. Oils, especially mineral oil, do not work so much by a chemical mode of action as by a physical one. They get in between the particles of dirt and the coin's surface. The process is extremely slow. I'm talking about a timetable of months or even a couple years. Periodically agitating the coin in an ultrasonic cleaner can help speed the process.

[Rich in Texas]

If it has a crust I use hot peroxide and have had good results. I have gotten some wheats and indians too clean with it before. Was actually accused of NOT digging the coins and faking it, still nice older color though. Now that is a clean coin
Now I don't take it that far to keep them looking their age.

Rich

[Rusted_Iron]

Don't use electrolysis! I killed a nice Indian with it once.

I killed a Flying Eagle with it, too, but it was already dead. It was a corroded slug found with my Sears about 15 years ago, the only really old coin I'd ever found. Now I sort of wish it was still a corroded slug. It is just a shiny slug that looks fake now.