1856 LC - Unusual Color ?

I've been an eac collector for many years, focusing primarily on the early dates 1793-1814. In my experience, in the condition they are usually found early cents will typically exhibit patinas in varying shades of light brown, tan/brown, all the way to dark brown, with, occasionally, a hint of green.

Bright original mint red is very unusual with the early dates.

This late date cent, however, has a somewhat unusual colour. The pictures are an accurate representation.

It would be too easy to dismiss this as a result of cleaning. In my experience, cleaned large cents usually have bright red, or red/orange hues.




The surfaces show no hairlines which may result from a cleaning.

What do you all think? cleaned?

 

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I'm no expert but it looks like it may have been dipped and has started to re-tone

 

To me it looks normal for a large cent that has been cleaned.

 

I am still voting "cleaned." Sometimes you might see a small cent, which perhaps has more tin and zinc in it than normal, have color that resembles this but these coins were supposed to be pure copper.

This 1856 large has the most original red of any piece in my collection. I think that the red color you see here is normal.

 

I think it was chemically cleaned.

 

Taco bell napkin wrap in olive oil on the window sill time.

 

It has to be Taco Bell? Will White Castle work?

 

No, the sauce remnant on the napkin is very important.

 

Will do. Taco pizza here I come. Are Roland’s still included?

 

Yes.

All kidding aside, most EAC collectors are not going to throw the piece in the trash, especially if a variety. Of course the piece was enhanced along the way...Peroxide, Sulphur, blahblahbah. There is still verdigris. It has not toned, as we describe the toning process, or re-toned (that is not going to happen on a EAC, and certainly not pink). I do think it was coated at one time, not unusual.

All well and good, and the EAC world is a world of its own, and all that is not going to matter to a collector, and a soy or olive oil treatment for that coin is not going to matter one way or another.

That is all I have to say about that.

 

They upped the side dish to Rolaids.

 

A commmercial AU coin but an EAC 45. I can detect no mint luster from the photos. As you said, color is off but not the traditional clown-garish red-orange often seen. So, I would guess cleaned by dipping long ago and it's re-toning/recoloring has been carefully controlled by someone who knows what he's doing. Somewhere along the line post-cleaning, high point rubs have been reinduced.

 

It has that slightly pink tone that I associate with cleaned copper, and since there are no hairlines, probably had a chemical treatment. Looks AU to me wear-wise.