Metamorphosis Of A Civil War Era Scorcher :yikes:

[Erik in NJ]

Found this two-cent piece the other day with capri_auto at our new site. Here are the before and after photos....looks really sweet in person and can probably be cleaned a bit more. The soil damage after being buried 146 years is minimal for our area....coin still has some mint luster which for a large copper is an extreme rarity and the chocolate toning is just about perfect! It's my second 2-center in ten years (these are not easy to find) and by far the better of the two.

Before:

[attachment 172411 2CentPiece1864obverse002.jpg]

After:

[attachment 172412 TwoCentPiece1864obverse002.jpg]

[attachment 172413 TwoCentPiece1864reverse002.jpg]

 

[captn_se]

Wow! That's about the darkest toning 2-Center I've ever seen, Erik!

It looks good the way it is....I'd be worried about trying to clean it any more than that....those little zits on the coin could expose nasty orange colored spots on the coin if you try to clean it any further.

I think you have a lot more better chance of finding a 2-Center in your area than I do in mine (S. Cal). Your area is a lot older and urbanized way before my area was.

Thanks for sharing!

CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[Tom_in_CA]

VERY nice restoration job. You can't even tell it's been cleaned. So we won't even use the nasty "cleaned" word anyhow, and use "restored". Your before and after pix here are a perfect example of why the old mantra "never clean your coins" is not always true. That mantra was, no doubt, born out of dingbats who cleaned grandma's gold coins with ajax or something. So the real question is, not if it's ever ok to clean coins, but HOW you clean coins. Because let's face it: You'd be laughed out of a coin store if you brought that 2-center in, as shown in the first photo, right? No coin collector would buy or touch that. But in the second one, you'd get some potential collector interest. So great job!

And Captn. Fi is right. Those are hard to find in CA. I think I've gotten 5 or 6 of them in ~35 yrs. at this.

 

[montanagold]

nice!

 

[DirtFlipper]

I'm guessing you used hydrogen peroxide? Be aware that it will darken coins quite a bit (unfortunately). I've had better luck using Magic Eraser (the Mr. Clean white sponge stuff). Does a great job, and doesn't darken the coin.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Tell me more on how you use it to clean coppers! Yes I have been using boiled hydrogen peroxide. Found two more Large Cents today from a different site and I need to clean them very gently. Thanks!

 

[DirtFlipper]

Tell me more on how you use it to clean coppers! Yes I have been using boiled hydrogen peroxide. Found two more Large Cents today from a different site and I need to clean them very gently. Thanks!

I seem to recall posting about it mre than once - was able to find this one:

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,1238056,1239409#msg-1239409

On those really old coppers that may be flaking, I'd be extra careful. A lot of the remaining detail is surviving just in the flakes. Any kind of cleaning can quickly kill it.

 

[stubbs1]

Nice 2 center Eric Congrats

 

[Markdb61]

really nice looking 2 cent piece. I have never had the pleasure of finding one.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I may try the Magic Eraser tip as the last step in the "restoration."

 

[greasecarguy]

very nice Erik...I only have found one of those.....you are killing it at that site...good job in finding the site as well

 

[capri_auto]

I'm guessing you used hydrogen peroxide? Be aware that it will darken coins quite a bit (unfortunately). I've had better luck using Magic Eraser (the Mr. Clean white sponge stuff). Does a great job, and doesn't darken the coin.

Actually, try putting a pocket find wheat in peroxide, it will not darken... this is a misconception. What happens is you get the lose green patina on dug coins and end up with the nice dark patina under it. If the green patina is the shiny solid kind, it will stay. If its the flaky or powdery stuff, it will come off. I have been playing around with this cleaning method and it's the best I've tried. You can see the dark patina before Erik cleaned the coin coming through the green powdery patina.

The Mr. Clean eraser is basically like using a rubbing compound, like toothpaste or baking soda. Probably great for toasted coppers, but not on something like this 2-center. I'll try this out though, thanks for the tip!

Coins that are caked with concrete like dirt are nearly worthless. A coin carefully cleaned not only looks better, its worth considerably more. Just look at the pictures above, which coin would sell for more?

Great coin BTW Erik, post some scans of the 4 LC's you found all cleaned up.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Chris makes some good points - maybe someone can take a regular clean pocket change copper cent and bathe it in boiling hydrogen peroxide and take before and after pics to see if it does actually darken it. I thought the patina on the 2-center looked quite natural for such an old coin.

 

[DirtFlipper]

The Mr. Clean eraser is basically like using a rubbing compound, like toothpaste or baking soda. Probably great for toasted coppers, but not on something like this 2-center. I'll try this out though, thanks for the tip!

There is one difference I've noted - the Magic Eraser stuff is melamine foam, which is basically like a micro fiber cloth and has no 'grit' to it; it works by getting into the crevices and lifting the dirt out, whereas a rubbing compound approach has some type of 'grit' element to it and works as an abrasive. The melamine foam works best on getting only the dirt off; coins that are truly 'toasted' (pitted, corroded, crud encrusted) it won't help much. When I use it on Wheats, they return to the color of Wheats I see from circulation.

I do want to be clear though, that I don't suggest using it on silver, only copper. And I'd suggest trying it on a Memorial cent first!

Just as an example, here's a 'peroxide' Wheat (1929) from a couple years ago, and recent a 'magic eraser' Wheat (1924). The 'peroxide' Wheat was not dark before soaking it. Maybe it's an effect on small cents only? All the Wheats and Indians I've soaked in peroxide went to the chocolate brown color, which is why I stopped using it. (And sadly, Wheats and Indians are the only coppers I find...)

Has anyone gotten a cent out of peroxide that has not darkened to chocolate brown? That would be interesting.

 

[capri_auto]

The Mr. Clean eraser is basically like using a rubbing compound, like toothpaste or baking soda. Probably great for toasted coppers, but not on something like this 2-center. I'll try this out though, thanks for the tip!

There is one difference I've noted - the Magic Eraser stuff is melamine foam, which is basically like a micro fiber cloth and has no 'grit' to it; it works by getting into the crevices and lifting the dirt out, whereas a rubbing compound approach has some type of 'grit' element to it and works as an abrasive. The melamine foam works best on getting only the dirt off; coins that are truly 'toasted' (pitted, corroded, crud encrusted) it won't help much. When I use it on Wheats, they return to the color of Wheats I see from circulation.

I do want to be clear though, that I don't suggest using it on silver, only copper. And I'd suggest trying it on a Memorial cent first!

Just as an example, here's a 'peroxide' Wheat (1929) from a couple years ago, and recent a 'magic eraser' Wheat (1924). The 'peroxide' Wheat was not dark before soaking it. Maybe it's an effect on small cents only? All the Wheats and Indians I've soaked in peroxide went to the chocolate brown color, which is why I stopped using it. (And sadly, Wheats and Indians are the only coppers I find...)

Has anyone gotten a cent out of peroxide that has not darkened to chocolate brown? That would be interesting.

Very interesting. I left a wheat in peroxide for a few days and it did not darken, actually lightened a bit. I think more experimenting is in order (i didnt boil the peroxide). I will also pick up a magic eraser to test on some dug wheats. So instead of an abrasive it has cavities which take in the dirt (rather than scrubbing it off), that may be great!

Thanks for replying