Went out to some foundations we had done before. Started out rough for me. my two buddies were finding buttons, an Indian, a Barber dime and me?, Nothing!! But as the day went on, I finally hit the 1818 Large cent about 4" down. Then I started finding large cloak buttons and a nice engraved Tombac. And finally I had a solid hit and got this gorgeous 1827 Large cent at 10 1/2". So my drought is over. I'm happy and I can stop complaining about my machine. HH

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It will be pretty warm - careful. Put the coin in and it will start to fizz. Let it go until it fizzing is minimal. 5-6 minutes should do it. Pull it out and wipe it with a cloth. Be aggressive. Then I use #0000 or #000 steel wool and dish soap. A little soap and a generous amount of water. Rub aggressively to get rid of the remainder of the dirt. It should brighten up. Now the fun part. After drying, I use some petroleum jelly and Sulphur (yellow). You should be able to get a small amount from a drug store. Ask around. It doesn't take much Sulphur to mix with a little amount of jelly. Rub aggressively on the coin concentrating on the brighter areas. Add more Sulphur if needed, but not too much as it will darken too much. More rubbing, less sulphur is better. It can darken instantly or in a couple of minutes. It depends. Once you see a dark color, wipe clean with a rag or paper towel, but do not detergent clean. Just rub off the excess well and put it down. The color looks even better over night as the sulphur finishes reacting. If you are leery of any part of this, make the husband do it. My wife tells me men are expendable