1867 Shield Nickel!

ruccello · Jul 5, 2008

Found my first decent coin today, 1867 shield nickel, along with a 1943 jefferson. It's caked over with a black crust of some kind. Need suggestions for cleaning - anyone have any ideas. Would eloctrolysis work? I don't want to ruin it - the detail is great (I know it's hard to tell from the photo) but I can read the date on the back side, which is worse than the front! All suggestions greatly appreciated.

Richard

t-bucket · Jul 5, 2008

Congrats on some nice finds !!!!!!! :thumbsup:

dogcaught · Jul 5, 2008

Congrats! great find with the shield, I dig the jefferson too. There seem to be quite a few 1867 shields turning up lately. I dug one up a few months back, then my buddy found one in his change at the gas station, I think Merf just pulled one up the other day. I think they're planning their comeback! As far as cleaning, I myself would probably stay on the conservative side with a long olive oil soak and a hot peroxide bath. I've had mixed results with electrolysis. Someone had luck with "brake cleaner" the other day, another had luck with lime-away. I think in the coin's current state, you probably couldn't go wrong attempting to clean it, JMO. Again nice find, TC and HH, JJ

Slipperyjack47 · Jul 5, 2008

Nice Shield! WTG !!!!!! You might try soaking it in kethup, I have had some success in that method, try it on some jeffersons first though till ya get the feel for it.

HH
Slipperjack47

BuckleBoy · Jul 5, 2008

dogcaught said:
Congrats! great find with the shield, I dig the jefferson too. There seem to be quite a few 1867 shields turning up lately. I dug one up a few months back, then my buddy found one in his change at the gas station, I think Merf just pulled one up the other day. I think they're planning their comeback! As far as cleaning, I myself would probably stay on the conservative side with a long olive oil soak and a hot peroxide bath. I've had mixed results with electrolysis. Someone had luck with "brake cleaner" the other day, another had luck with lime-away. I think in the coin's current state, you probably couldn't go wrong attempting to clean it, JMO. Again nice find, TC and HH, JJ

If you use olive oil first, then the peroxide will do Absolutely Nothing for the coin. Olive oil also slowly leaks out of coins for years, which makes a Mess. I don't use peroxide on Nickels anyhow--but I've had decent luck with the salt and vinegar trick. (In a reply above, Jack says he uses ketchup--which also has vinegar in it.) You can find the salt and vinegar method in the cleaning and preservation section. There's also a Lime-Away method that seems to give good results for anyone but me LOL. Just make sure you experiment with other Nickels first!!! And congratulations on a GREAT find! Maybe this is my year to find one. Heck, Half-Dimes are easier to find than those things!

Regards,

Buckleboy