Second week back after a year of no detecting first large cent!

[broadestpower]

Well the Ace 350 picked up a strong signal at about 5 inches down. Interesting find. It bounced from quarter dime to half dollar but the signal was so strong I had to dig it. The coin was the size of a Susan B Anthony US dollar. I knew it wasn't one of those, because it looked far older. I had to wait until I got home to identify. I brushed and rinsed the large cent. I am wondering if I should apply a little electrolysis, any wisdom would be appreciated.Thanks

 

[broadestpower]

It's a little beat up, and it took a while to get a majority of the crud off! It's nice to have found one, only ever saw other peoples large cents!

 

[FrankG]

Very nice find.

Regarding your initial post on electrolysis.... Over the years, I've tried electrolysis on a few coins which (for me) ultimately did them more harm than good, even to the point of pretty much ruing a nice King George half cent which I managed to transform from bad to very bad. Perhaps others here are more skilled at the electrolysis process and have more success. Electrolysis can be pretty harsh.

As for myself, I've given up on electrolysis and find that various, soaking, ultrasonic, and tumbling techniques seem to work the best for me. It takes patience which I often seem to lack. LOL

 

[JoeinMemphis]

I only use electrolysis for iron objects anymore, like Frank said, it just makes bad things worse. I very seldom do more than a dry brushing, the patina seems to hold most of the detail on the old stuff, when you remove it so goes the detail.

 

[broadestpower]

Thanks guys, this coin was quite beat so I wasn't to worried about doing damage to it! It was completely unrecognizable when I started, now at least I am able to date it! I bathed it twice then waxed over the top of the coin.