1869 shield nickel

[Maniac Detector]

Yesterday while I was detecting in the rain, out pops a VERY crusty V nickel. Well as I am cleaning it, it turns out to be a not very crusty 1869 shield nickel. Also found in this small yard was lots of clad and a 1957d wheat. Now there's quite a span between 1869 and 1957. Where are all the coins from that time period? I'm pretty positive that no one else has ever searched this yard. Any ideas? thanks for looking!

 

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[asmerri]

It did turn out to be a very harsh method for my coin. Another member on here used the same method with great results on his coin. The difference between my coin and his is that he had good coin definition underneath his patina/corrosion. Mine had detail that WAS the patina. When the patina/corrosion was removed, so was the detail that was imbedded within it. Eric told me of his method before I went with the other method. Boy I wish I had listened to Eric!

The method I followed was to soak the coin in lemon juice until the liquid turns green. Dump the liquid and soak the coin in new lemon juice for another round then gently brush off the residue.

Different strokes for different folks. Everyone has their own methods that work for them. I have yet to find mine. Whatever you choose, I hope you get a great outcome. That's one sweet coin!

 

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[RobRieman]

It's always a hard call to make whether to clean or not. You have a $15 coin so the first thing you have to decide is if you can live with loosing $15 in value if all goes wrong. You also have to try to determine if you will be able to see more or less detail when you take the patina off. Sometimes a coin will appear to have less detail when it wasn't crisp to start with and it ends up one solid color. I personally lightly clean lower value coins if I think it will improve their appearance. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Just make your own decision when it comes to cleaning. You will get very strong opinions both ways. Nice find though! Still on my bucket list for sure.