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1802 Large Cent - cleaned up nice

D

doninbrewster

New member
Many large cents that come out of the ground are very corroded. There's nothing you can to if the metal is no longer left on the coin. Many times the details are not much more than a crust on the coin. Clean it up and you have zero details left. On occasion you get one that does clean up well. It's even nicer when it's a draped bust variety. Here are the before and after pics.

This coin came from a small triangle of land that was 1/3 old cemetery (which has been detected by everyone and their brother) and 2/3 woods, most of which is covered by vinca, thorns, bushes, downed trees and every other kind of obstacle. I didn't have much time and it was close by so I thought I would give it a shot. This 1802 LC is the result. Although worn, it really did clean up nice.
 
Looks great !
 
What cleaning method was used?
 
I started with an old toothbrush and some liquid soap and water. I took a closer look with a magnifier and it didn't appear very corroded so I put it in some very hot hydrogen peroxide and let it sit for about 10 minutes before going back at it with the toothbrush. It cleaned up a little more and after taking another closer look I tried scraping off some of the encrusted dirt with my thumbnail. The crud seemed to be coming off so I got an o-cello sponge which as a nylon mesh backing. I scrubbed it with that along with some more liquid soap and it cleaned it up. I then put a little Care coin conditioner on it and cleaned up the residue with a goat hair brush. A lot of long time copper collectors use a goat hair brush to brush off their coins. Usually they have several, one for using on a coin that had just had Care applied, one to clean it up a little better and one that's like new for those pristine coins. It will bush off those light dirt or dust particles you don't want before you put your coins away. I've used it on uncirculated NJ's and CT's with no problem.

Stever0812 said:
What cleaning method was used?
Click to expand...
 
Don -

your "give it shot" paid off! Nice 1802 LC!
 
Wow that is alot of cleaning! I feel bad leaving my coppers in peroxide for more that 2-3 mins cause I feel like the patina or corrosion will be blasted off. Some of my 1798 large cents were sort of ruined even with only soap/water and light brushing. Good thing they were already pretty worn when I found them. I got decent results on 2 crusty large cents doing only the olive oil soak for a few weeks and using a tooth pick to scrape off the gunk and got dates and details that were previously unreadable. However, I did notice this method did scrape off some green patina in places.
 
Stever0812, I would do many of the things I did if I didn't think I had solid copper instead of corrosion. You have to examine the coin closely to try and see what you have before you start. There are some coins that may be better off if you did nothing to clean them. I found a 1797 LC years ago that only showed the profile of liberty and a clear date. It's kind of crusted on and I think if I tried to clean it there would be nothing left. See the pic. Some you clean a lot, some a little and some not at all.
 
Actually Mike I had to send my CTX back for repair. It would only turn on when it felt like it. I found this with my backup machine, the good old XLT. Although it may not have quite the depth of the CTX, it's a real workhorse and I've beat it around for more than 10 years without a problem other than replacing the toggle switch which I did myself in 10 minutes. I love the CTX, but it sure is nice to have the XLT as a backup. Like yourself, I started out around 1979 with a White's 6DB, than 6000D and 6000DiPro. Those old White's machines didn't have the depth you get today, but they sure did have a sweet tone when you went over a piece of silver. Back in those days there was silver everywhere.
 
Looks nice!
 
yea i didnt do enough research on cleaning when i first found those large cents this year. now I know better!
 
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