No silver in the park so started hunting nickels...

[Gimmie The Loot]

Spent a few hours in an old park down south that has been hit HARD. No silver, and hardly any clad so I tried to pay full attention to nickel sounds hoping the old timers skipped them and left a buffalo for me. First few 11-12, 12-12s were beaver tails but then got my first nickel. Couldn't tell what it was until I finished my hunt and put some water on it. Stars! Shield! I can't beleive I found a shield nickel! Not sure what the date is yet. Anyone have experience cleaning these? It's pretty toasted but I at least want to see the date.

HH!

 

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[p2c]

Awesome Find! Those are very rare finds indeed and the nickel strategy is a great one to employ. In the last year and a half, I've found about 30 V's and only one shield. The very best way to clean nickels in my opinion is a sonicator. I like it because typically it cleans off the rust without taking off detail, it will leave it red. Looks like you have a partial date right now (188?). It may not take off the green stuff, my shield nickel is like that, and most that stuff did not come off.
Others may use something acidic, like really warm hot sauce or bbq sauce and toothbrush it. If you do it right, you are okay, but if you go too far, you start taking off detail. This method will change it to a gray color. You could try a coin cleaning product (which is acid as well like nick-a-lene). Either way if you go an acid route, be sure to be careful and not go too far and also use baking soda to neutralize the reaction so it wont continue eating on the coin. Also if you go this route, you may want to coat the coin with a thin layer of bees wax or even better renaissance wax. Watercolor is a master at the clean it with sauce and coat it with wax, his look really good.

Either way (sonicator or sauce/acid) be very careful, that coins been baking in the ground for years! And although it is not worth much due to that, still its an awesome rare find and should be worth a lot to you.

 

[p2c]

actually looks like 1882 to me from your photo...

 

[Pocket Spill]

Congratulations Jason! Fantastic tougher coin to find!

 

[Tuberale]

At first I thought the shield was from the 1880's. Then I saw the obverse, and the rays. There is no question your coin is from either 1866 or 1867. Those are the only years the Shield nickel had rays between the stars on the reverse. I would vote for 1867 myself, as I think I can see the 7.

However and whether you decide to clean this, I urge you to be GENTLE. I wonder if hot peroxide works on Shield nickels. But don't try it until someone who has actual used it on shield nickels speaks up.

 

[Lowbatts]

Going with Tuberale on that one. Took Neil to a spot one day and he pulled 2 '67's I believe, one with and one w/o rays if I remember right.

Very nice find!

 

[Clad the Impaler]

Awesome find Jason!! I think it's a 1867 as well. I didn't know that about the rays between the stars on the reverse. Now I need to check mine that I found last year. I can make out 186? But would really like to know what the full date is. Like yours, mine is VERY toasted.

 

[Gimmie The Loot]

At first I thought the shield was from the 1880's. Then I saw the obverse, and the rays. There is no question your coin is from either 1866 or 1867. Those are the only years the Shield nickel had rays between the stars on the reverse. I would vote for 1867 myself, as I think I can see the 7.

However and whether you decide to clean this, I urge you to be GENTLE. I wonder if hot peroxide works on Shield nickels. But don't try it until someone who has actual used it on shield nickels speaks up.

Thanks for pointing that out Tuberale! Now I might not bother cleaning it since we can confidently know its either an 1866 or early 1867. I think thats all I need to know. Either way I am excited to have a shield from one of the first two years of minting! My oldest American coin found also.

 

[soupie]

Congrats on your first shield

I have finally begun my fall hunting season down here...will be posting some items soon.....

Great find ....

Soup

 

[filthyflyer39]

I found a shield earlier this year, and honestly nothing we really did worked to well. It ended up a little lighter of a color but thats about it, and I still havent gotten a date off that one. At least it looks like yours is going to have the date! I think we used Worscesher sauce or something like that. didnt hurt anything but i'm not sure how much it helped either

 

[Dirt fishing Wolf]

Grats on getting a shield GTL. Your doing a great job hunting for the goods.

 

[Gimmie The Loot]

is that a square nail i know a guy in rockford that will pay me .50cents per square nail.I found 34 of them in a old attic...

Good eye spoon - i think there was a square nail in there.

 

[rob.s]

Your killing it Jason,with every outing and I'm having a GI harvest ale right now,so cheers

 

[Gimmie The Loot]

Cheers Rob! I'm having ice cream tonight lol.

 

[Tuberale]

is that a square nail i know a guy in rockford that will pay me .50cents per square nail.I found 34 of them in a old attic...

Wished I had known that 20 years ago. My parents, along with their kids, tore down an old, old barn composed completely of square nails, and it was the kids job to patiently pound the nails out of the boards so the boards could be re-used.

Can't remember what happened to the nails, but I think they all got garbaged. Several thousand of them as I remember.

 

[AmericanCoinHunting]

Cool Shield Nickle & silver...Congrats man !