Please help newbie finds first large cent

[Fast Ed]

OMG I'm going whacko. Please forgive me but I'm really excited. How do I protect/clean my large cent. Found it today about 8" deep on a 1700's circa house site with AT Pro. I have it soaking in hot water and soap. Its really green and can't make out the date yet. What do I do? Olive oil? I don't care if its not worth a million its my first and yaknow that's special.....

 

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[kuger]

I will tell you all soil is different,but water ruined my first large cent

 

[Fast Ed]

yikes Kuger is that all ya got? What should be done

 

[vpnavy]

Pictures - we need pictures Fast Ed!

 

[cjon455]

ive used olive oil on 3 of mine but they were too far gone, and for gods sake DONT RUB lol i did on one of mine and rubbed any potential for dating right off of it, the olive oil works, only if the date isnt totally gone

 

[Fast Ed]

Its in olive oil right now but can't a date even with a magnifying glass. How long should it sit in the oil? Sorry no pictures as I'm pretty technologically challenged

 

[gman7665]

Try a soft bristle toothbrush and Dish soap and Hot water ?

 

[kuger]

yikes Kuger is that all ya got? What should be done

Yep,I dont do anything to mine now(if anything,I let em dry and lightly brush with a soft bristled brush)...if you are trying to remove the "green",that is Patina,different soil types create different patina....my dirt creates a patina that when straight water is applied to any copper or brass item,the patina flakes off,taking all detail with it.Oil wont hurt it....other than turn it dark,which can make detail hard to read as well.Some coins/artifacts just are too far gone,and trying to bring out something that isnt there just causes damage

 

[Fast Ed]

I wouldn't have tried anything but I couldn't read the date. I'm letting it dry out after soaking in olive oil. My guess is the date is gone forever? As I look at the coin she is facing to the left with LIBERTY ribbon in hair. Stars on border. One cent with leaf clusters on back. Coin may have been made into a button at some point as there looks to be the remains of a shank on back. A hole goes through where the shank middle was all the way through to front......oh well I was and am thrilled to find it....

 

[Wildcat1750]

Nice find. Too bad you couldn't get more detail out of it but many Large Cents were worn to toast before they even hit the ground.

 

[Fast Ed]

Yeah Thanks man, I guess they didn't much respect back in those days from what I've been reading...

Nice find. Too bad you couldn't get more detail out of it but many Large Cents were worn to toast before they even hit the ground.

 

[rp3000]

Sweet congrats!!! I would like to find one.

 

[mangum]

OMG I'm going whacko. Please forgive me but I'm really excited. How do I protect/clean my large cent. Found it today about 8" deep on a 1700's circa house site with AT Pro. I have it soaking in hot water and soap. Its really green and can't make out the date yet. What do I do? Olive oil? I don't care if its not worth a million its my first and yaknow that's special.....

I agree with Kuger I wouldn't use water on coppers. I've ruined a couple that way... I only use a toothpick now to get the crud off, nothing else. It works great on indianhead pennies.

 

[Evolution]

Have you tried taking a rubbing of the coin? It's not gonna make it look any better but you might be able to make out a date. Congrats on the large cent.

 

[Old Dude]

Have you tried taking a rubbing of the coin? It's not gonna make it look any better but you might be able to make out a date. Congrats on the large cent.

Good idea!

 

[Fast Ed]

Have you tried taking a rubbing of the coin? It's not gonna make it look any better but you might be able to make out a date. Congrats on the large cent.

That is a good idea. Can you explain how I should do it? Should I just use a #2 pencil over plain paper?

 

[Fast Ed]

Because the head is facing left this coin was minted between 1808 - 1814 or 1816 - 1839 or 1839 - 1857.....There were none minted in 1815 because of a fire at the Phil mint. Coins minted from 1793 to 1807 all had the heads facing right with various differences to the back.

 

[Evolution]

That is a good idea. Can you explain how I should do it? Should I just use a #2 pencil over plain paper?

Find a thin piece of paper and lay it over the coin. I would use the side of the pencil point keeping it almost parallel to the paper and rub it very lightly across the date area of the coin. If you happen to have a charcoal pencil lying around they work pretty well also. Good luck.

 

[prolab69]

i would take it out of olive oil and use a hot peroxide bath, first remove all the oil, then use a small dish, fill one inch of hydrogen peroxide, microwave the perox- for half a min, then drop in the coin. after about 4 or 5 hours you can pick at the crust with a tooth pic, sounds like the thing is toast, so value isnt an issue. a peroxide bath can sometimes bring out a date, but it can also make it worse. if it was older? id say dont touch it. but it sounds like a common matron head largie.

 

[Fast Ed]

Find a thin piece of paper and lay it over the coin. I would use the side of the pencil point keeping it almost parallel to the paper and rub it very lightly across the date area of the coin. If you happen to have a charcoal pencil lying around they work pretty well also. Good luck.

Thanks I'll try it....