Thanks!
Lots of good questions.. I will give an abbreviated run down of what happened.
I explained how I had found the coin in some of my earlier posts so I will skip that part. When I dug it, I knew it was something special. I was a bit confused though since for that year I was expecting a chain cent. It was the Liberty Cap that threw me off. At some point in the past I probably saw it in the Redbook but due to the rarity I never thought I would see one in person, let alone dig one out of the ground and so I wasn't exactly sure what I was holding.
While I was in the field I posted the coin on another forum I frequent, and within minutes started to get replies letting me know that it was something REALLY special. By this time I had already wrapped it up in my cotton ball filled container and set it aside the field since I didn't even want it bouncing around with me while I continued detecting. However I only detected for a bit longer, I was excited ya see, and I wanted to look at the coin again, that is when I took my selfie in the field while holding it.
I did wash it. To do so I let it soak in water for a while and ever so gently used a toothbrush to clean off the loose debris. Thankfully the obverse of the coin held up well enough to let me do so, otherwise even that light toothbrushing could have wiped away detail, If you see the back of the coin it didn't fare as well for some reason, perhaps that was the side facing up all these years, who knows. I also ever so gently took a toothpick and removed some of the dirt that was stuck in some of the raised detail on the coin. I did this while it was lying in the water, while using a magnifying glass. Afterwards I patted it dry and started researching what to do with it. In the end, it appears that what I did to clean up the coin was the best course of action, I am glad that I didn't send it out for conservation, or preservation, etc. If the new owner wants to do that, feel free. In the auction photos, I noticed no difference in how the coin looked from when I had it, I spoke to the person at the company holding the coin, and he said there was nothing else he could do with it.
The coin received quite a bit of publicity, and there were many folks that offered good advice, that helped me come to the conclusion that I should consign it. I contacted several large auction houses but only one impressed me and so I went with them, they sent me the contract, I signed it, wrapped up the coin, and put it in the mail, the rest is history.
