1St seated half

[dgaughan]

Hello all finally got to hunt a bit went to a spot i have been to many times. Luckily I seem to come away with something every time. Was hitting an area i have found may IH and a few nickles when i got a big hit i barely touched the side of the erosion spot ( this site is an old beach) when a coin fell out a big fella i thought at first it might be a large cent a closer look revealed a reeded edge definately silver was able clean a bit the coin is in rough shape saw an eagles head with a ribbon and the word states . Not sure how to go about cleaning this the pics will show what i am up against the coin was above the water line barely and has a coating of sand that seems to have oxidized if thats the right term to the coin completely obscuring the face and most of the back Either way its my first half dollar of any kind so i am psyched would love to be able to clean it to see a date and more any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Dylan

 

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[ugotit22]

nice coin
id hit it with electrolisis LOL i know i spelled that wrong

 

[t-bucket]

Congrats on your first seated Half !!!!!!

 

[mlayers]

WTG on your first half. Sorry can not help on cleaning...Matt

 

[BuckleBoy]

If you have never used electrolysis on a coin, I'd consider practicing a Lot first!  Use Very low amperage.  Even less than one amp if possible, and check it frequently. Many coins have been worse than ruined by electrolysis.


For years, I have wondered if there was a way to clean coins that were beach or saltwater recovered chemically.  Seems like there has to be a chemical that would remove the oxidation and leave the silver. 


In terms of simple chemistry, such a cleaning method should exist. 


Either way, that is a Killer find. 



-Buckles

 

[John (Ma)]

Nice job, where theres one, there could be more in that era.

 

[Jack(IN)]

Congrats on your first Seated Half, I now know the feeling!! Secondly electrolysis would help that coin and don't think it can hurt it judging by the pics you've posted!! See if this web site helps!!
http://www.mycoincollecting.com/collecting/cleaning-coins-electrolysis.html

 

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

Very cool find! If you DO clean it, be sure to update this post with pics!

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I'll have to agree with the Electrolysis, I use a high volt one they don't over heat and burn up so easy. Use the above link to make an easy unit and watch it careful should take under 30 min. 94% of the time silver will come on like new with electrolysis sometimes you get bad cases that are useless. I have had more problems with copper falling apart. Can't wait to see it cleaned up.

Keep @ it and HH!!

 

[seger98]

can't add anything on what's already been said on the cleaning, but nice find!

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Still on my wish list, of course people detecting next to me will dig one, but oh, not me. Good luck on the cleaning, be gentle, and remember to post the "after' pictures.

 

[dgaughan]

thanks guys just picked up the leads and going to do the cleaning today thanks for the link jack i will be posting the results later hopefully we have some luck
dylan

 

[kdismuke1]

congrats.

 

[DugHoles]

Congrats on the coin

Happy Hunting,

Dugholes

 

[artorius]

Great find!

Before resorting to electrolysis, I would try an overnight soak in household white vinegar, cut to 25% strength with distilled water. If that method starts showing results, I would repeat the treatment.

I have used diluted household vinegar to clean a number of encrusted Roman silver coins. As long as the silver fineness is above 50%, the method often works well. US silver, at 90% fie, is nicely above that thresshold. Below 50% fineness, the method more likely will leave a porous surface.

artorius

 

[Twin Digger]

Nice I can't wait to get my first silver this year. the weather has made a changed for the better. and I found about 10.00 in clad so far in three hunts.

But it will be nice to find my first silver.

Happy Hunting

Twin Digger

 

[allen]

good luck on cleaning that awesome coin...

 

[mountainplayer]

Dylan,

Buckleboy said it first...be CAREFUL with electrolysis and use really low amperage. All I can add to his advice is that a cell phone charger (we've all got them these days) is an excellent choice to start off with. Most of them are way below 1/2 Amp (500mA is the same as 1/2 amp). Voltage is totally irrelevent in my experience. 12V, 24V, it will all work.

The one I use is 12Vdc / 300mA. I've never fried anything with it...although it does take time to do the job. That's what you want with a coin like that one....low and slow.

MP

 

[crazyjarhead]

WTG on the big silver. Be gentle with it

 

[Nana40]

DG! How did it turn out?

SUPER find!!!

Nana