Greetings to all...and a question

[OzarksMike]

My name is Mike and I'm from Des Moines, Ia. I started detecting in the late 70's when I bought a Garrett ADS. I hunted regularly until my hunting buddy moved to Fla. a few years ago. He came back for a visit last fall and I got the bug again. We had just moved into our home, which was built in 1918. I hunted the grounds with my ADS and found all the usual clad and junk. My buddy brought his MineLab with him and I let him try his luck. He popped out a V nickle and an Indian Head at about 6" and maybe a foot apart. I'd been over the same spot and got no signal at all, so I'm thinking about upgrading. My ADS still works good but seems like all of the good stuff must be beyond my machine's depth capabilities. Plus, it takes six nine volt batteries, which can be a bit expensive.

Anyway..to my question. I have an 1851 large cent and a 1942 German coin that has an eagle and swastika on the back. I'd like to clean these but am not sure how to go about it without harming whatever value they may have. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.
Mike

 

[JoeinMemphis]

Cleaning is generally not looked upon favorably on this forum I have noticed, unless you are cleaning recent clad. For something old like yours I would just clean it in water and maybe use a soft toothbrush. I drop most of my stuff into an ultrasound cleaner, but if the surface of the coin is corroded it comes out looking like the surface of the moon, the ultrasound machine removes all of the soft material and leaves small pockets. Also there are some folks here that recommend a soak in olive oil, but I haven't had much luck with it (I have an Indian head in some now) Whatever you do DON'T use anything abrasive, and NO Brasso! Post a pic of your find if possible.
HH
Joe