Should I clean on 3 center anymore?

[JUNKYARD DOG]

I dropped it in a small bowl of hot peroxide for a minute or two then worked on it with a tooth pick and a cotton swab, but still cant get all the crud off it. Im thinking that since it has a hole anyway that maybe I should try a silver cleaner or something else thats stronger. Your suggestions will be considered if you care to weigh in. Its still top shelf with me no matter what I do, but I sure would like to see more detail of the one side. It turned out to be a 1853 which is cool with me, makes it my oldest U.S. coin yet. Heres a couple of new pictures of it and a couple of pictures of that arrow deal I found cleaned up, I have it posted on What Is It and had a couple of replies that it may be a paper clip or book clip type item. Very well could be, I very well might just find the other side, who knows.. Thanks for all the great replies on my finds, and good luck to everyone. Wes. JYD.

 

[Goes4ever]

if it is silver why not try some baking soda

 

[Yarrum]

I think it looks pretty good now, I wouldn't muck with it anymore.
Just my 3 cents

 

[hogge]

try the peroxide again for about 15 mins. It's not going to hurt it. Probably didn't leave it long enough. Small bowl to cover the coin by 1/4" or so. Heat the peroxide in micro just until it starts to boil. Then Drop Drop Fizz Fizz. The Hogge Do NOT use silver cleaner! After the peroxide just soap it with dish liquid and clea with a toothbrush.

 

[allen]

sweet coin...leave it as it is...

 

[SusanMN]

You can try mild electrolysis - lay the coin on a piece of tin foil in a bowl. Cover with baking soda and salt and then pour boiling water over the lot and let it sit til it cools. Then wipe the black off with a cloth.

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Be careful, I've sen those 3-centers snap in half.

 

[Leon]

Wouldn't want to tell ya anything about the cleaning. I guess it's a personal choice on something like that, but it's a great find, Congrats!
A (3) cent'er is still on my wish list...
Continued Good luck, & happy hunting~

 

[crankyolman22]

Something that works for me on sterling is tarnx. I didnt believe it untill someone told me it works so I tried it and it does. It doesnt give the shine of silver polish but it does work. I know sterling is .925 and coin is .800, I have used it on both with flat ware with good results, but I have never tried it with actual coins so take it for what its worth.

 

[hogge]

Something that works for me on sterling is tarnx. I didnt believe it untill someone told me it works so I tried it and it does. It doesnt give the shine of silver polish but it does work. I know sterling is .925 and coin is .800, I have used it on both with flat ware with good results, but I have never tried it with actual coins so take it for what its worth.

Wanna see some tarnish on a coin. Use Tarnx. About a month after you use it, thats what you'll see!

 

[crankyolman22]

like I said. I never used it on an actual coin. nice to know it can damage it.

 

[Mirage]

Nice coin. A little more cleaning on the III side. I would use mother's mag polish with a q-tip. Just take off a little of the black. I like to leave some of the tarnish on to give it the "authentic" look. If you clean old silver too much it looks "wizzed".


BOb

 

[Nana40]

That three cent'er is still on my list too! It's cleaning up great, JD! Awesome find!

Nana

 

[N.J.THer]

Since it is holed I would not worry too much about ruining the value but I would also not use any cleaners. Maybe another hot peroxide bath like suggested but I would not do much more then that.

Nice find.

NJ

 

[artorius]

Nice find!

I have had good success cleaning ancient silver coins with diluted household vinegar. Use common white vinegar, and cut it with water to a solution of no more than 25% vinegar to 75% water. Let stand overnight, and then rinse. Repeat treatment if needed.

Several years ago, I obtained a small hoard of encrusted Roman silver denarii (late second to early third centuries AD) that were recovered in the mideast. The vinegar method produced spectacular results. It turned out that most of the coins were mint state or nearly so, and cleaned to lovely, attractive specimens.

The vinegar method sometimes induces porosity on hightly debased silver cons (such as coins which are less than 30% silver), but U.S. three cent coins are of much higher purity - even the earliest type (which I recollect is 75% silver).

I stay away from silver polish - at best it leaves an unattractive, excessively bright sheen to silver coins.

BTW, I never use vinegar (or any other acid) on copper or bonze coins.

Artorius

 

[history hunter]

That's a great find!!!! Just leave it as is, it looks fine. I would love to find one of those some day! Congrats!!!