My first really old coin

[Tcpa15]

Yesterday I was able to detect on an 1830's farm. I found some cool buttons, buckles, and horse tack, but my best find was a large Cent. This is the oldest coin I have found so far, unfortunately, its in pretty rough shape. The pictures from my phone aren't very good, but I can clearly see "One Cent" on the back. On the front I can see traces of a left-facing bust, but I can't see much of the date. Is it worth trying to clean more ( I only used a tooth brush and a tooth pick) , or should I just leave well enough alone?

 

[JimmyCT]

Super nice find!! Electrolysis will help clean it up.

 

[fwcrawford]

Nice find... too bad they do not hold up well in some soils.
Pretty much anything you try will remove what little detail is left due the corrosion taking the place of the material.
At this point you have nothing to lose.
Electrolysis or hydrogen peroxide may be worth a try.

 

[Ronstar]

First look in a coin book and see if there are any dates worth way more than others. I had a 1914D penny that I couldn’t read the date on and got a bit over zealous and my cleaning process ruined the coin.
Find that old coin like that means more are still there. Kinda like the saying “where there is wheat there is silver”!

 

[Hank68]

That is great, and glad you found a old coin , awesome!!

 

[jim tn]

Good on the old large cent.

Its a dug coin and if you can't read the date, working on it to try and achieve a date won't hurt it's value. Good luck! HH jim tn

 

[T-DUB]

Largie for your first old coin, great way to be that first, congrats!

 

[Mark kus]

Nice find looks like most of the largies I find.
Mark

 

[MuddyMo]

Nice find!
It up to you on how much you should clean it up.

 

[autopilot42]

Sweet