First large cent
- Thread starter tom
- Start date
ToddB64
Elite Member
tom said:
Welcome to the forums tom !
.......and congrats on your find !There are plenty of hints in the "Cleaning Your Finds" forum in this same board, i.e. Everything About Finds.
You'll find recipes for copper and silver coins and everyone seems to have their favorites. I've hard copied quite
a few over the past year for my metal detecting scrap book..........I'll try to pm some of this to you one day this week.
Meanwhile, you may wish to check out the above mentioned forum.
Todd
bearbqd
Elite Member
Great going Tom. I've only found one of those to date and I about fell over when it came out of the ground at only 2 inches. I thought it must be a soda can at first. Good job!
X
Xray
I personally would not do anything more to it that a good toothbrushing [with soft bristles] with dish soap & hot water, rub with soft cloth, repeat until hopefully you can at least get a date.
After that I would soak it in olive oil for months, and give it another toothbrushing and see if any progress was made.
There are really no good ways to clean an old dug copper without trashing it, and trying to make it into something it is not.
Post a pic when you can [scans work just fine too if you got a scanner].
After that I would soak it in olive oil for months, and give it another toothbrushing and see if any progress was made.
There are really no good ways to clean an old dug copper without trashing it, and trying to make it into something it is not.
Post a pic when you can [scans work just fine too if you got a scanner].
mxtswinger
Elite Member
Congrats on an awesome find. I'm with Xray on the cleaning. The least you can get by with until you are sure it's not a key date or rare variety. There can be dozens of variations in a single mint year.
Scavenger
Full Member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 176
The most effective method I've found for cleaning old coppers is electrolysis. http://www.detectorsplace.com/treasure/clean/
Monitor the process every 15 minutes and stop when you like the way it looks. Don't be afraid, this is what professional restorers do. You can even reverse the process and recolor the metal.
Monitor the process every 15 minutes and stop when you like the way it looks. Don't be afraid, this is what professional restorers do. You can even reverse the process and recolor the metal.
