First Merc of the year is a 1916, and a mystery coin

[Gridwalker306]

Back to a spot I punched hard with the ATPro a few years ago. Got out of the truck and seriously the third swing gave a sweet signal mixed with iron. I couldn't believe it, a Merc! Unfortunately there is no D.

The other coin is odd. It is really thick, almost as thick as a nickel. It rang up slightly lower than an IH cent. My first thought was that maybe it's a fatty IH cent. Could it be? A fatty IH on the Canadian prairie? That would be quite something.

It's really caked, and I don't usually clean my copper coins. How would you experts clean it up?

 

[Gridwalker306]

Congrats JC! My first war nickel looked like it had asphalt on it... took a long time to clean it. I swear that looks like a war nickel... electrolysis would prove it, or ruin it.. depend on how you look at the world.

Best of luck to you sir!

Thanks Tom! I thought about electrolysis, but I'm certain this is not silver. I tooth picked a bit this morning, but not much success. I'm gonna zip into town later today and get supplies to get this thing cleaned up.

 

[Gridwalker306]

If the diameter is about 21mm, it may be an Indian Head Nickel ( I think I see a border of stars.)
Don....

Hey Don, the diameter looks to be 19mm, basically the same as a regular IH cent.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Congratz on a nice Merc!

Thanks Caveman, I think she's pretty even with crud on her. I like my women a little on the trashy side lol

 

[Gridwalker306]

Cool save, I bet its a Flying Eagle (just a gut feeling) light oil might not hurt anything. Olive oil might make it dark, but light oil might loosen things up.
I usually start out with soaking copper in distilled water (it draws minerals away from coin) then maybe oil

Oh man that would be amazing if it was a FE cent! I let you know, and I hope you're right.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Sweet merc and

Trebs idea sounds good.

Thanks beeps!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice finds! IMHO: Place the unknown coin in mineral oil an check weekly, gently clean with a toothpick.

GL & HH

 

[Gridwalker306]

Awesome merc. Congrats

Thanks john, I love Mercs and I'm always happy to find them

 

[CZconnoisseur]

Pretty sure you indeed have a fat Indian cent or Flying Eagle cent. You could tumble it with plastic beads so to not scratch the base metal - especially if you're not sure WHAT the metal is.

 

[JerV3]

Nice finds man

May be a fatty. It's a candidate for the tumbler

HH Jer

 

[Ahab8]

Looks kind of like the Indian heads that come from the Maine coast. I have left them in peroxide for days before. Sometimes there's a beautiful coin hiding under the crud

 

[Diggin Dude]

Nice Merc. 1916 still eludes me with or without the D ! Good luck with the mystery coin. Congrats and HH

 

[Gridwalker306]

Bah humbug! I did a couple acetone baths, then I did a few long peroxide baths. That worked pretty well, except it turned out to be an annoying young head Elizabeth 1953-64.

I should have left it alone and pretended it was something cool. LOL

thanks for the support everybody, hopefully the next crusty coin is a good one.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

"Bah humbug!" well at least the suspense was fun...eh ?
I knew you would get an ID, and most of the detail is still there. Hey at least it's a real copper, not an iron core piece of real junk.

 

[Gridwalker306]

"Bah humbug!" well at least the suspense was fun...eh ?
I knew you would get an ID, and most of the detail is still there. Hey at least it's a real copper, not an iron core piece of real junk.

Yeah man that crap on there was thick. The reverse is still caked. Only in the ground for 50 years? If this had been in the ground for 150 years like a fatty IH it would have corroded to the size of a hockey puck.

You're right-at least it was a coin and not total junk. I guess it was a learning experience. Thanks for the pointers Rick, I will do this to the next crusty copper.

 

[against the wind]

I do love Mercurys,
Thanks for solving the mystery.
Congrats

 

[BigWaveDave]

Great find with the Merc dime, but I feel a bit empty, not knowing the year of your cent... I mean, c'mon man!

 

[Gridwalker306]

Great find with the Merc dime, but I feel a bit empty, not knowing the year of your cent... I mean, c'mon man!

Good lord! Although it crossed my mind to let it keep fizzing until totally clean...I still might. If I find the actual date you'll be the first to know haha

 

[BigWaveDave]

It could be a very exciting 1958!

It's like a Wheatie for us southerners!!!

 

[WildWildBill]

Extra virgin olive oil!

 

[Ahab8]

I have had crust so thick on Indian heads that it literally took the better part of a week to remove. Don't be afraid to give it a warm hp soak then just let it sit in the hp for days if necessary. Lots of times the crust actually protects the detail. Glad you at least got an ID buddy