Wow 1787 new jersey copper just found wondering how to clean

[chark21798]

Just found my second new jersey 1787 copper. Thank you farm gods that i didn't hit this one with shovel. Its sooooo pretty but was found in sandy soil, back needs cleaning front great, came out of ground just like this. i wasn't sure if the back will clean up (oil) or what. I dont want to reck it. thanks for all your help. Sorry was found in a Jersey field weeds were 4 foot tall just a few bare spots no weeds. !st signal i dug and almost had a heart attack when i seen what it was. I prayed and prayed please let me have missed with shovel this time. Farm gods came thru no mintmarks added by me. Dont know much about these so any information would b great. Thanks to all and HH . Mark Sorry i thought i down sized these picts but didnt work. Hope i fixed picts. Does anyone know what type of grade this would go. Do i need to send away for grade never done that before any info would b appreciated

 

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[Mach1Pilot]

I'm not sure that I would clean that one- looks great just the way it is!

But if I did it would be a small dose of hot peroxide....

 

[Iron Patch]

Nice coin but hard to say on the cleaning with the picture so large and burry. There's no thick corrosion so it comes down to how good the surface is under the patina. If it's smooth and nice condition, cleaning will help it, but if it's pitted and rough, stripping the green might make it worse. There's no hurry to do anything so just chill for a bit. You still need to determine the variety right?

 

[mainer]

Pics are huge, but that coin looks great. Don will probably be getting ahold of ya. Hes doing a survey on the NJ coppers. Great coin.

 

[Bry]

I have been hunting for 20 years now,,,and a coin like that!!! no chemicals!!! Take a wood block,small brads,,,make a circle the diameter of the coin to hold it in place,,,,pick up a small brass brush at your local hardware store and gently brush it! I have found Sheild Nickels and done this to them,you would not have beleived they came out of the ground,,,the brush is softer than the coin,be carefull not to go to far as some collectors love that green patina!!

 

[creeper71]

best advise it TO LET IT ALONE.. Unless your experinced in cleaning coins... You have a really nice coin an you CAN an probly will ruin it if your not sure or know what your doing....

 

[Iron Patch]

Seeing the smaller pics, that is a nice one and less will mean more. The date side I would not touch. The shield side I would wet a little with your finger (making sure the date side stayed dry) and brush in circles with a toothbrush to slowly thin the patina to make it similar to how the date side it. Even rubbing a little with a wet thumb will probably thin it out and if you see color coming off it's working. Do a little then let it dry out to see how it looks, and repeat if necessary. You really only need to fine tune this one, if anything.

 

[Hunthicks]

Now that's how I wish all my coppers came out of the ground! Nice!
I agree with the careful cleaning, being a noob in that department I've made a few coins worse in the past.

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

thats a beauty! i agree with iron patch.a little warm water,liquid soap and a sof tooothbrush lightly and that should do it!

 

[capri_auto]

thats a beauty! i agree with iron patch.a little warm water,liquid soap and a sof tooothbrush lightly and that should do it!

Agreed, that coin is in amazing condition for a copper

 

[Iron Patch]

thats a beauty! i agree with iron patch.a little warm water,liquid soap and a sof tooothbrush lightly and that should do it!

Soap will definitely help it along but requires you to be more careful. You want the green to look even like that date side so gotta be careful you don't wipe a big spot too soon.

 

[FortBedfordbob]

Man that is Sweet !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pinebarrens1]

leave it alone .......im in sj and none of my coins came out that nice

 

[teleman 2525]

thats one fine looking coin as is be carful of cleaning mite do more harm then good

 

[ColonialDude]

congrats on a great find! Think I have one of those, although barely enough detail to ID it.

 

[BobinSouthVA]

Wow what an awesome coin. congrats.

I'm gussing it's the small planchet, plain shield variety, but I'd also add thats an uneducated guess.

And I also agree with the minimal if any cleaning.

Great recovery.

 

[cntrydncr1]

Mark that is in awesome condition! congrats! My coppers are always bad....

 

[Brian W]

Very nice find ...I would just lightly brush the surface dirt off...It looks great.

 

[woody50]

Great coin, and if its valuable DON'T clean it at all.

I would myself agree with the others who say, DON'T clean it. Iron and copper/bronze are the hardest items to clean, and removing the patina from copper/bronze really destroys the value of a coin or artifact. I would myself not use any sort of hard brush on it what so ever, not a brass brush either. Like some say, soap and water and a very soft toothbrush. Then let it dry and seal it. One of the best ways to seal the coin is use microcrystal wax, warming the coin, putting it into melted wax and patting the excess wax off. I am now using instead of the pure microcrystal wax a product that is used for many items by many musea (museums) called Renaissance Micro-crystal wax polish. It works just great.

I would only be concerned with the bright green oxide on the one side of the coin. If it comes off with a soft brushing with the toothpaste OK, otherwise just seal the coin from moisture and oxygen and it should be good. Just check on the green oxide every once in a while.

 

[IWillFindTheGold]

Awesome coin! Very nice find! For cleaning it might be worth it to look at this web site and some of the products they've got.. That coin is old and possibly very valuable!

I found this site just recently because I'm starting to find some older and interesting (but very dirty) coins and I want to learn as much as possible about SAFELY cleaning them. Take a look, might be interesting.

If in doubt, don't clean it at all. GOOD LUCK and nice find.

http://nobleromancoins.com/index.php?cPath=13