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?

 

[KyDigNQueen]

Congrats on the Merc! Good luck solving the mystery!

 

[Gridwalker306]

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

Thanks Abe, yes it actually looked pretty decent under the crust, and I was impressed with the results. I'm going to look back into my old finds and find my worst crusty coppers and give them a bath. I can't believe it can possibly take weeks! That's crazy, but hey I guess it works.

 

[treblehunter]

I was hoping for the FE, still cool, now pull that date.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I also had high hopes that this would turn out to be something really special.

Next time perhaps. Good luck JC!

 

[Davers]

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.View attachment 1335844

Now that some Thick CRUST.
Nice Merc - At-least.