1696 William III Half Penny!

[apw]

It's a keeper!

The pictures don't do the date any justice, it's pretty clear. I think it's one of these.

Anyone know how I can clean this? It's terribly corroded.

Cheers!
Apw

 

[ironhorse]

It's wonderful example of an early copper, well done!

as for cleaning, I would only suggest a hydrogen peroxide bath for a couple of minutes, then let it dry on its own
this will eliminate most of the corrosion without disturbing the patina too much , don't rinse it with water when done either, simply pat it dry if you must

I normally don't suggest cleaning at all, but your coin looks like a mild cleaning will bring up the already strong details and improve its eye appeal greatly

good luck with it and continued success at your site

 

[Iron Patch]

Those little spots on the reverse could be tough and you might have better luck scraping them off with a toothpick. I think wear is more your problem than needing a lot of cleaning. It's still better than the couple I have found.

 

[Don in SJ]

Being an advocate of peroxide cleaning, I do not think your coin would be wise to clean it with, it looks like the details will come off in a lot of the areas, the corrosion is under the surface and it is possible it would remove the details, so clean with perhaps just a dry brush and see how it goes. That edge peeled area is not a good indicator of good copper underneath. Nothing you can do to make it much better but to carefully remove what dirt there is and make sure the coin is thoroughly dry before either coating it with something and putting it in a coin holder.
BTW, nice find.
Don

 

[doninbrewster]

Nothing like finding a coin where the date starts with a 16. Way to go. Nice find.