A
Anonymous
Guest
I found a trick that works well but if the crust is real bad it has probably eaten into the coin and will leave pits.
The trick, HEAT. I had a coin that was so crusted over I couldn't even tell if it was an indian or a wheat.
I heated the coin with a propane torch until the edges of the crust started to turn red, let it cool slightly (to prevent burning the skewer too much), and scraped the crust off with a bamboo barbequeue skewer. I got all the crust off and finished cleaning it with a light brushing with a brass brush under running water after it cooled off. It came out readable and really not looking too bad. I don't think this would do much for the value of any key coins but if you have a crusty one you can't identify and want to know just what it is give it a try. I laid my coin on something fireproof of course and held it down with a wooden rod while scraping.
Don't burn yourself.
Dan
The trick, HEAT. I had a coin that was so crusted over I couldn't even tell if it was an indian or a wheat.
I heated the coin with a propane torch until the edges of the crust started to turn red, let it cool slightly (to prevent burning the skewer too much), and scraped the crust off with a bamboo barbequeue skewer. I got all the crust off and finished cleaning it with a light brushing with a brass brush under running water after it cooled off. It came out readable and really not looking too bad. I don't think this would do much for the value of any key coins but if you have a crusty one you can't identify and want to know just what it is give it a try. I laid my coin on something fireproof of course and held it down with a wooden rod while scraping.
Don't burn yourself.
Dan