To clean or not to clean? Found Large Cent

[lostlake88]

found this today. Sorry for the fuzzy pics. The date is 1837. This is my second large cent, both being from the 1830's. Should i clean this puppy or leave it be? Thanks for the advice.

 

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[hollowpointred]

if it were mine i would leave it be. there looks to be a fair amount of corrosion on it and cleaning it could actually make it look worse. by the way......nice find!

 

[tymcmurray]

if it were mine i would leave it be. there looks to be a fair amount of corrosion on it and cleaning it could actually make it look worse. by the way......nice find!

Agreed. I looked so sweet and detailed just the way she is!

 

[daytondigger]

I would agree with what the others say, but then I'd end up not being happy with the corrosion and color and would probably end up throwing it in the rock tumbler with some small cents. Wrong advice, but that's just me. It would look worn but coppery and less corroded after a tumble. I wouldn't think of it with a rare date. Try an olive oil soak first.

 

[ugotit22]

trust me, dont touch it. I found a total of 20 large coppers last year and through all my methods i tried nothing made the coin look better. Washing with soap and water turns them black and makes them look dark , and electrolisis just destroys them, i have a 1786 Ct copper that can vouch for that. My advise. Just rub the dirt away with a soft cloth and enjoy it.
BTW nice find.

 

[ModernMiner]

Leave it be.
Very nice find!!!
Way to go.
-MM-

 

[PACO]

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU RAN IT UNDER WATER. I HAVE FOUND ALOT OF LARGE COPPERS. I HAVE FOUND IT BEST TO JUST RUB IT WITH YOUR FINGERS AND PICK AT IT WITH YOUR FINGER NAILS, NOTHING ELSE. IF YOU GET A COPPER THAT HAS ALOT OF CORRODED GREEN PATINA LIKE CRUST, AND IT IS TOTALY UNIDENTIFIABLE, USE A TUMBLER..............SOAP AND WATER ON SILVER, NOT ON COPPERS..........PACO

 

[pointdlr]

Great Find LostLake. Now we just need to find a mason jar full of them. I wouldn't clean it. You might regret it down the road.
Jon.

 

[gtfm2345]

I soaked the 3 I have in olive oil for sometimes weeks loosens the grime keeps the coin

 

[Scrappy]

Nice find!!!

I have used peroxide heated in a microwave and that did the trick. It's really a case by case thing. I used peroxide on an 1802 LC and it cleaned off the crusty grime. I'm happy with the way it looks.

However, I had a 1838 LC that had the same corrosion clusters as yours (just a little larger in my case) and I left it alone. I figured if that corrosion was removed it would take half of the coin with it. I just used water in that case.

Olive oil darkens.

Just for the record I think your LC looks great just as it is! It looks gracefully aged to perfection

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

 

[Jim in MA]

IMO I would leave it!! I have cleaned many in the past, now I look at them and I see a pile of coins,
that I could have bought at a coin shop. The ones that I did not clean when I look at them bring back memories of
finding them because that is what they looked like when they come out of the ground
and you got that first hint as to what it is.
Save the Moment!!

 

[RobRieman]

Thread is over 6 years old.

 

[Moresound]

Thread is over 6 years old.

Almost as old as the coin in question.

 

[treblehunter]

Lostlake, I want to tell you my opinion, I just don't want to say that mine is the right way and others is the wrong way. Copper is a metal, when it has corrosion on it the corrosion is eating that copper. Hot peroxide does not clean corrosion it cleans dirt. Coin preservation companies like the NGC use a method of soaks in distilled water first followed by acetone, then xylol. If that does not get rid of the corrosion then they repeat the steps in reverse, and so on and on until the corrosion is gone. I would hot peroxide that coin (by the way, nice find) by putting it in a coffee mug with a couple inches of peroxide, then put it in the microwave and zap it coin and all. It helps heat up the coin and loosen things up. Get it boiling, my microwave I do about a min. and that gets it boiling. I leave it in there until it stops fizzing. then repeat this until it does not fizz. I then toothpick the heck out of it (unless this was a key date) (Of course if it was a key date I would just send it in to professionals) this will remove all the dirt, Then I put it in mineral oil (when I put them in olive oil it turned them dark color) This usually leaves me with the coin with a green patina. I have done, to my lesser value LC's, the NGC method after all this because I believe that corrosion is eating my coin and I want to stop that. I agree with everyone how your coin looks nice the way it is. I just feel it is being ate up as we speak.
I think you and everyone else would be surprised as to how good your coin would look after peroxide,toothpick, and oil. Yours has very good detail left and would come out nice. Just my opinion. I could show you pix of a couple I did the whole shebang to, I believe I have all the before and after pix somewhere in this puter of mine.