Have You Ever MESSED Up a Coin? Share So We Can All Laugh, er, Learn!!!

[tymcmurray]

Kas And I were discussing how The most STUPID thing
We had ever done which resulted in a creat coin going down.

I'll tell you a story of Woe.

I had found a 1785 Conneticut copper. All you could read on it was,
Connec. and you could see a ghost of the images on the front and
back. That should have been good enough for most people, but any-
body that knows me know I am not like most people.

So......I took a razor knife, and proceeded to chip away the crusted
parts. That's right, a RAZOR KNIFE.

What I ended up with was a coin that you could read a little
better, with a whole bunch of shiny copper nicks ALL over it.....
.............wimper wimper.

So, the lesson I would like to share is...
Original condition coin is better than a Razored coin.






Now it is your turn.

 

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[DJ_Quinn]

Oh I have, trying to clean them before I knew what I was doing. I've seen some good techniques and processes described here by other members, and all I can say is that DO NOT USE ANY JEWELRY OR SILVER CLEANER. Hey, at least I learned from my mistake.....

 

[strike it rich]

after reading about some members success at electrolysis I figured hey why not if it helps. Below is the sad sad results.

test no1.

Voltage 240v test subject old penny

method get a plug with wires installed and strip some of the cable off connet Test article to live and an old spoon to the whatever the other wire called.

result blew fuse's in house and melted test article.

test no2

Voltage 4.5v test subject old penny no2

figured way too much juice so got an old phone charger 4.5v and did as test one but with battery acid instead of winger or lemon juice.

result green smoke and a warning of the health and safety people someone had passed my yard and inhaled some of said vapour and vomitted and reported it in as a risk.

again test subject not nice

so guess i will leave this particular method to others to experiment with

 

[Green1]

water from a nearby creek killed my first large cent ever,, as soon as i dipped it in, i looked at the water like it was corrosive !! got another one a foot away and it remained legible... after the water episode, i decided to leave all largies and other copper coins alone.. i let the dirt on them sit over night, more sometimes, then work it off with my thumbnail.. i got lots of copper coins that still aren't clean,clean after 2-3 years..

 

[The Seeker]

I think we have all been there at one time in our detecting careers........Weather it has been scraping up a coin with our digging tool , or maybe frying our coins with to much voltage with electrolysis......it happens. Talking with someone that knows what there doing is the best bet, or finding some reading material on coin cleaning with also do wonders. I find that what works great for me is take the coin ,use just simple water , wipe it to see what you have. Then if you still need further cleaning, take a little olive oil on your finger and wipe the coin then let it site for a few moments. Then take a SOFT brass wire brush and gently rub the coin with it until you feel the piece is clean enough. Now if you think you have the find of ages and its worth millions. lolol Take it to a professional. Hope this helps ..............HH

John

 

[strike it rich]

I think we have all been there at one time in our detecting careers........Weather it has been scraping up a coin with our digging tool , or maybe frying our coins with to much voltage with electrolysis......it happens. Talking with someone that knows what there doing is the best bet, or finding some reading material on coin cleaning with also do wonders. I find that what works great for me is take the coin ,use just simple water , wipe it to see what you have. Then if you still need further cleaning, take a little olive oil on your finger and wipe the coin then let it site for a few moments. Then take a SOFT brass wire brush and gently rub the coin with it until you feel the piece is clean enough. Now if you think you have the find of ages and its worth millions. lolol Take it to a professional. Hope this helps ..............HH

John

would agree there you mean like a certain member ie the $3 million dollar man

 

[Eu_citzen]

Actually I have yet to screw up.
Only cleaning coins has left some minor marks on my (non valuable) coins though they can hardly be seen by the naked eye.

 

[boodydarn]

Yes, with my first find of quarters and dimes, I put a spoon of salt in a cup of vinegar, I left them for an hour and they looked much better so I left them overnight, The result of course was clean copper coins, no silver left.
Jerry

 

[Pepper2004]

I haven't found anything of value yet but I have scratched up a few pennies with my digging tool. This has taught me to be careful. I don't clean my coins with anything but water. Some I don't clean at all if I can read the date.

 

[djabend]

I messed up my first large cent too.
Its a 1826 N9, a scarce die variety
Here it is as dug,


I wanted to clean it up, so I used oil and a light brushing


Still was not happy here it is after electrolysis, wire brushing
and glass bead blasting to get it clean.


from now on, if I dig a coin like this, boiling peroxide is what I use, not oil.
live and learn I guess.
HH,
Donny

 

[allen]

ive hit several coins with my shovel and litteraly bent them in half...this was of course when i first started detecting about 5 years ago...

 

[coinsearcher]

Well, I must share my story. Last year I was at a park and hunting along when I got that real faint deep signal. I stopped and said oh, I got to dig this, that sounds real good. I pinpointed and pinpointed until I had the spot narrowed down to a 4" diameter area and started my digging. About 7" later I took out my probe to see how close I was. I stuck my probe in the hole and it said "beep" so I thought good I am close but I don't see anything. I poked around some more with my fingers but could not find anything. I probed again and got that beep signal. Now I am starting to think I am chasing a Ghost. I heard a voice in my head telling me to make a bigger hole it must be on the side of the hole. I said to the voice in my head, what a good idea. I grabbed my digger and stuck it in the ground to open up the hole when I heard that "TAP" sound when you use a brass coin probe. I said to myself uh oh that had to hurt. I did find the coin after that "TAP' sound and saw exactly where it was, right on the side of the original hole. I pulled the coin out of the hole and said to myself "whew that was a deep quarter". I looked at it some more and thought to myself," wait a minute, that is a weird looking quarter, why is it brown?"
I looked a little closer and I could read on one side "Un Centavos" Ithought to myself "Way cool". I flipped it over looking for a date and I Could read the numbers "1892". I jumped up and screamed at my buddies to come check this out. I realized as I started to run over to my buddy that I was paralyzed fom the waist down. I was so excited I could not move. My buddy walked over and I showed him the coin. He looked at one side and flipped it over and looked me in the eyes and said, " where did that scratch come from? Did you hit it with your digger?. I grabbed it from him and saw a nice scratch on the edge about a 1/4" long. I almost started to cry right in front of him realizing that I just ruined my first 1800's coin. Then I thought about that "TAP" sound I heard and came to the conclusion that when I stuck my digger in the hole I hit the edge and ruined it myself. What a bummer. Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Sorry this was so long. I don't have a camera take pics. either, Sorry.


Happy Hunting, Brian

 

[harpp]

big scratch across the front of a perfect 1891 seated dime w/ my screwdriver!! ouch!! i didnt plan to find that! in a local park? that old?!! it was only an inch down..... come to find out the park has been there since the 1880's... we dig/ we learn ........

 

[kane23]

I found an AU 1892 dime,it was only two inches, I thought it was to shallow to be old,I put a deep scratch all the way accross the front. I also at another time did the same to a 1847 seated quarter. I was not happy! Kane23

 

[tymcmurray]

Thanks for sharing all of the stories. Believe it, or not,
it make everyone who has messed up a coin feel a litle
better knowing that they are not the only one to "Screw
a Coin"!!!

Let the Healing Begin!!!

 

[nc-joe]

I have a couple stories....... I tumbled some clad I found at the beach. I did not seperate the pennies from the dimes/quarters. All the coins came out looking like copper.

The second batch, I ran just pennies, overnight. I put like 30 pennies in and got 20 out. 10 were completely crushed into powder.

I trashed an Indian head by dipping it in Coin cleaner and then cooking it in Peroxide. I don't know what's in the coin cleaner, but it does not mix with peroxide!

And finally, when the Walking Liberty half came up as a quarter and 4 inches, I was suprised to find the Half Dollar at 2 inches and put a nice stratch across it with the digger.

 

[romeo-1]

See the big scratch down his face...who would have thought that an almost mint 8 reale would only be three or four inches down...thought I was digging a can!

 

[QUICKSILVER (appletree)]

Oh yeah!!! Pin point and ram that trowel home, done it a few times, to not only coins either! QUICKSILVER(appletree)

 

[strike it rich]

See the big scratch down his face...who would have thought that an almost mint 8 reale would only be three or four inches down...thought I was digging a can!

Im in tears at this cant imagine how u feel

 

[Kas]

Sorry TY, been hunting all day.

Yep, I think we've all done it. Here's the first LC I ever found, and cleaned. I think it was 1984 or '85.
Ain't she purty. I thought so at the time. LOL.
Live and learn.