I going through my coin collection yesterday and found a very old penny from 1856-1909. I was wondering if there was anyway to clean it up without damaging it?? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Rob...
Sorry to say, but it's pretty much shot. The surface under the corrosion layer will more than likely be pitted and discolored. You could try soaking in distilled water for a week or so and brush with a soft brush (toothbrush). Change the water every time you brush it. In a few months some of the stuff may come off, but based on the pic, I don't hold out a lot of hope.
Appears to be a "dug" coin, no not much hope. But okay to play with as said above. Maybe it can be used for a space filler.
Thanks for the quick reply I really appreciate it. I took a quick pic of some of the others in my collection. I know they're probably not worth much...lol I also have a dollar bill, it's a 1928 series A. Oh and that steel penny wasn't minted properly.
It's too hard to tell what they are from your pic, but there doesn't appear to be anything that looks interesting. The best thing to do is take a good, clear pic of both sides of each coin. We would need to see the date and if there is a mintmark (these can be various places depending on the coin). That means a lot of pics and there is a very good chance that nothing has any value beyond a few bucks. Drop 'em in the "What's it worth" forum and see what happens.
The coin itself is probably toast. If you feel like experimenting with it. Put some baking soda and ash in a plastic bottle with water, stir it up some. Put your coin in it and change it out once a week. It'll likely take off your patina, but the coin is already gone. It'll be very dry when you take it out, oil it with a Verdi care type oil.
First, welcome to the neighborhood! Your 1943-S Steel cent looks like it is missing part of the 4 from a partially grease-filled die. Is that what you meant? Chris
Use a torch after a hot sauce / tooth paste rub. That will get her shinny, and if it doesn't, there is always the wire brush.
This coin is best left "as is". It's not valuable and the corrosion is very heavy - some deep pitting. If you do anything to it, it will look worse IMO.
