Crusted liberty half

[jiminsandiego]

I found a 1941 walking liberty half at the beach yesterday(my first half dollar). I was able to crumble off enough of the crust with my finger nail to see what it is, but there is still 80% covered in crust (black sand and tarnish about the thickness of a dime). I like the way it looks in the places where the crust has crumbled off, so my question is... What's the best way to get the rest of the crust off without changing the way it looks under the crust? Hot and cold shock? Electrolysis ?
Any input would be much appreciated as I don't want to mess this coin up.
Thanks,
Jim

 

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[boogeyman]

It's tedious, but dental picks can be used gently to pick & lift the concretion off. Work slow & carefully and you'll probably get the result you're looking for.

 

[jiminsandiego]

I went to pick at the crust and it lifted off the coin,but..... all the detail was lost where there was crust. Oh well at least I was lucky enough to see the date and enough of a sun burst to know it was a walking liberty. Still worth something in silver. On the same beach I found four silver dimes (two mercury), a silver St. Christopher pendant, a silver hat pin and a "coin" the size of a half dollar with Btitan nia and Jacobus Secundus on it (I'll leave that one alone). Very mysterious how these survived a beach in So Cal.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[boogeyman]

I went to pick at the crust and it lifted off the coin,but..... all the detail was lost where there was crust. Oh well at least I was lucky enough to see the date and enough of a sun burst to know it was a walking liberty. Still worth something in silver. On the same beach I found four silver dimes (two mercury), a silver St. Christopher pendant, a silver hat pin and a "coin" the size of a half dollar with Btitan nia and Jacobus Secundus on it (I'll leave that one alone). Very mysterious how these survived a beach in So Cal.
Cheers,
Jim

Good idea to practice on stuff that probably is only worth melt value. Hey though silver is silver & it's all worth something! I'm assuming you're hunting around the San Diego area. Probably most of the stuff you're finding has been sitting in the trough for years until these last storms threw it up on the beach. If you're doing this good, you might want to get a tide book & hit it when there's some minus tides. You'll notice that you'll hit strips that usually underwater at normal tides that are full of goodies.

 

[stevemc]

Use muratic acid for pools. I add about 1 cup acid to 1 to 2 cups of water. I have used this on shipwreck cobs-silver and they always turned out fine. Acid doesnt seem to do anything to silver. Just the crust. Then wash good in soapy water and rinse in water. Doesnt get all the black tarnish off, but that is fine. Then just rub with a towel lightly. Be very careful not to get it on anything, or in your eyes. Electrolysis can cause pitting and often roughens the surface. Tumbling even with fine sand also can roughen the surface.