1796-1807 Draped Bust Large Cent.

[mpro1]

So, I found my first Large cent today. It is very very worn. I've been soaking it Olive oil and more details & shadows are slowly emerging. I've narrowed it down to the Draped Bust 1796-1807 range. I am hoping the date is hiding there somewhere. My questions are; How long can it be soaked in the olive oil?, Do you recommend anything else to bring out more detail without damage? I am just super psyched to have found something that old.

 

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[sagittarius98]

You can let it sit for a long time. You can also do a pencil rubbing of the coin. It can give a good amount of detail.

 

[jerseyben]

For future reference: I think most would agree that the olive oil method is not the best for cleaning dug coins. This is because once cleaned with olive oil, it can not be cleaned further with any other method.

I personally drop a freshly dug coin into boiling peroxide for 20-30 seconds. Others have recommended cleaning the coin FIRST with some room temperature peroxide first to dislodge surface dirt. Then try the above peroxide bath.

Use any method at your own risk as you are risking damaging the coin no matter what you do.

 

[FingerGrime]

Personally I would stick with olive oil (even better: mineral oil). Sometimes you can't really get everything off with olive oil, but peroxide can damage the patina if you aren't careful.
I would make sure it isn't a super valuable coin before doing anything at all to it.