Metal detecting: Incredibly SAD story

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021.

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  1. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    I'm going to start by calling a few members here to cry with me.

    @paddyman98
    @lordmarcovan
    @Michael K
    @SensibleSal66
    @Chip Kirkpatrick

    I'm a member of a metal detecting forum called Friendly Metal Detecting. I don't participate much, I'm more of a lurker. However, this story made me want to cry.

    Not a long thread. Not much to know other than the finder of this amazing coin supposedly cleaned it, knowingly. As he said.

    1811/09 Overdate Capped Bust Dime

    Crappy pix, but from what I can see, it could possibly have come back with MS60, maybe even MS61. Now it is blast white. :( Like I said, I want to cry.
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  3. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Cleaned that? Oops!

    Hey. The webpage link does not show for me :(
     
    paddyman98, Mar 11, 2021
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  4. thomas mozzillo

    thomas mozzillo Well-Known Member

    thomas mozzillo, Mar 11, 2021
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  5. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    I can see that being a multi thousand dollar oops!
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  6. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    Did the link @thomas mozzillo posted work for you? Both his and mine work for me.
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  7. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    I see it, though I only peeked at the pics and haven’t read the article yet.

    Sure, it probably could’ve been cleaned more carefully, but one does need to remember (if one is coming from the viewpoint of the “mainstream” numismatic community), that relic coins (dug coins) are a horse of a somewhat different color (no pun intended).

    Cleaning of dug coins is often a “necessary evil”. There’s no telling how that looked when it came out of the soil after nearly two centuries. Ground conditions and levels of preservation vary widely. Sometimes- often, in fact-
    you’re dealing with something that’s already a “problem” coin by mainstream numismatic standards, due to environmental damage, and a little careful cleaning can improve its appearance.

    Careful being the key word there. Just enough and not too much. I will confess to having made many mistakes in that process.

    So who’s to say? Very cool find, regardless- if rather overscrubby looking now. Electrolysis or ultrasonic cleaning might’ve been a better way to go about that. But who knows.

    Side note: a buddy of mine found a nice 1820 dime here once, with the STATESOFAMERICA reverse that had all the lettering crammed too close together.
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  8. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    Gotta read his post. He posted pix of the coin as it came out of the ground with only RO to clean it. It was beautiful! Could have been environmental damage, but we'll never know now, will we?
    He decided to do a 'gentle' baking soda clean. That's where it goes from beautiful to blast white, with I'm sure hairlines all over. Pix are not good enough to see that detail.
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  9. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Baking soda. Ouch. :(

    Yeah, I’ll read later. At work now. Typed that last long reply during a short break.
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  10. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    Here's RO water cleaned obverse:

    front-of-coin-s.JPG

    Here's baking soda cleaned obverse:

    IMG_2204 (2).jpg

    Reverse with RO only:

    back-of-coin-s.JPG

    Reverse with baking soda:

    IMG_2206 (3).jpg
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  11. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    “RO”?
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  12. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    Reverse Osmosis
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  13. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Yeah, OK. Ouch, indeed. That was a fumble.
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  14. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    He scrubbed helloutofit, didn’t he? :(
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  15. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    In his words, gentle. Potato potahtoe
     
    masterswimmer, Mar 11, 2021
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  16. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Sad confession: I’ve done it myself, though on stuff like common, heavily worn Barber dimes rather than rare early stuff. Yeah, even baking soda, though I was more of a toothpaste user. This was 20-25 years ago. I should’ve known better, even then. I’ve been a coin collector for 44 years.

    A lot of my finds have fortunately retoned in my album over the decades. I wasn’t brutal with all of them.
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  17. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    I heard a secondhand story about someone bringing a Mint State 1794 dollar into my first dealer mentor’s shop one day.

    “Yep, I hit ‘er with Tarn-X before I brought ‘er in, so she’d be nice n’ shiny for ya.”

    Something along those lines. A four- if not five-figure mistake.
     
    lordmarcovan, Mar 11, 2021
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  18. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    Ok ,I read briefly all the replies here so excuse me if I repeat something .
    First of all , I'm a member there . It's been over 5 years since I visited there , wow . Alot of those guys are mostly Detectorists , not Numismatic guys . They dig, clean and mess up coins half the time . I used to tell them, "don't clean your coins" , they didn't listen . Then they look up their finds last . There is NO Need to Clean Silver finds . EVER !!!
    Case in point , My best Silver coin "DUG" , Never cleaned .
    1892S Barber 25c-obv-horz.jpg
     
    SensibleSal66, Mar 11, 2021
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  19. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    The day I dig something other than a memorial cent, I will be a fulfilled man..... What a wonderful find.... Cleaned or not.
     
    Randy Abercrombie, Mar 11, 2021
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  20. Treashunt

    Treashunt The Other Frank

    sad story.

    When I go dirt digging I always carry a small plastic bottle with water in it.
    If you dig silver it'll keep the soil soft and easier to remove, carefully.

    If you dig copper- say a large cent, it keeps the soil from permanently adhering to the coin, and sometime nothing gentle will remove the crud.
     
    Treashunt, Mar 11, 2021
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  21. Robert Ransom

    Robert Ransom Well-Known Member

    Can you post a photo of the coin in it's 2X2?
     
    Robert Ransom, Mar 11, 2021
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