Unexpected find at 1940s silver school-a 1st for me!

[TMac]

Hello all!
Went detecting at my favorite school that I've now pulled 21 silver and around 150 wheats out of, and got my oldest coin yet, and a first for me-a 1838 large cent! I couldn't believe it! I thought for sure i was digging up a silver quarter, it sounded so good hitting 15-46 to 17-46 on my etrac 8" down...i was much happier seeing this! Question for you all- I've read that some of you soak your old coppers in olive oil. How long do you soak it for? Do you just rinse it after soaking it? What exactly does this do? Thanks all for reading, happy hunting!
TMac

 

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[ironhorse]

I agree with you 100% and if i ever dig another one i know what I'm not doing =)

thanks

so many diggers are so keen on 'cleaning' the old away from their finds, I like the old patinas and am a fan of the look of age from the soil

stay green and never clean haha!

 

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[TMac]

thanks

so many diggers are so keen on 'cleaning' the old away from their finds, I like the old patinas and am a fan of the look of age from the soil

stay green and never clean haha!

My new motto

 

[jewelerguy]

awesome find. I'd love to dig one of those.

 

[WHADIFIND]

My new motto

I gotta say that when I saw your coin initially, I said there's nothing to improve!
I liked it just as it was but, figured if you were going to clean, well, to try and slow you down.

It can be quite surprising just how quickly a coin can go from nice to crap! Even with the simplest methods!

But, with that said, there are cases where a coin can be greatly improved. With a proper technique.
The trick is experience. One starts to recognize which are good candidates and which are not. If I got to have a default, it would be to not clean.
Only when I see something that has great potential and solid construction of the patina, will I consider trying to improve.

At least you can still see your detail. Put it up for display and check back in about a year, I bet that one will improve just sitting there.

HH!

 

[TMac]

I gotta say that when I saw your coin initially, I said there's nothing to improve!
I liked it just as it was but, figured if you were going to clean, well, to try and slow you down.

It can be quite surprising just how quickly a coin can go from nice to crap! Even with the simplest methods!

But, with that said, there are cases where a coin can be greatly improved. With a proper technique.
The trick is experience. One starts to recognize which are good candidates and which are not. If I got to have a default, it would be to not clean.
Only when I see something that has great potential and solid construction of the patina, will I consider trying to improve.

At least you can still see your detail. Put it up for display and check back in about a year, I bet that one will improve just sitting there.

HH!

Awesome advice that i really appreciate..i wish i had asked before i dropped it in the olive oil..but live and learn..I'm still syched to be it's custodian and would be even if it had no detail...so in the end it was a pretty cheap but valuable lesson

 

[cjon455]

still has some nice patina left on it, id say leave er be and do no more, but from your posts it sounds like you already know that.

 

[Thigh66]

Nice find tmac - I'm near Newtown, where in CT?

 

[TMac]

Nice find tmac - I'm near Newtown, where in CT?

Right outside Hartford, hello neighbor.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[pong12211]

Great find.. Congrats and thanks for sharing..