..I found this at an old farm house 5 inches in the ground 2 years ago. I could tell by the way the dirt had caked on the coin that it would be in good condition, depending of course on what condition it was in when dropped. I went home and rinsed the dirt off and right away I could see it had great detail. I gave it a quick hydrogen peroxide bath and this is the results. Wish they all came outta the ground lookin this good. If you guys would rather me not post my coin finds from metal detecting here just let me know I will not be offended. I just like sharing/showing off, these cool old coins. Jim
Nice find! What does the hydrogen peroxide bath do besides bubble into the crevices to get embedded dirt? Are there safe uses of hydrogen peroxide in non-metal detecting methods (ratty dirty coin picked up for almost nothing...)
If you know what the coin is and know it's not worth much - and sometimes you need to know a lot to be able to determine that - then try what you will. But I would never recommend it. It is all too easy to damage a potentially valuable coin.
That's a mighty fine coin, I don't think I've ever found a clad coin that looked that good. And most of the copper I find isn't worth finding. What part of the country are you in?
Thanks all, Hey Cohiba, I only use hydrogen peroxide on copper/brass coins. I don't like leaving the coin in too long because it can give the coin a dried out look. Its great on getting the hardened on dirt off the coins that have been in the ground for years. Some heat up the peroxide just to quickin the process. Hey Joecoin, I live in Michigan. The Michigan soil seems to protect most coins BUT I believe why the coins that I find come out in such good shape is because of where I find them. Old home site. Most metal detectorist hit mainly parks and such. They have had a lot of fertilizer put into the grounds at such places which really eat up the coins. Most home sites are pretty clean and the coins come out nice. Just something Ive noticed. Jim