I Found A Coin In My Yard It Says Good For 5 Cents In Trade. I Don't Know What It's Made Of. The Symbol For Cents Is There Not The Word. The Other Side Has To Be Cleaned Before I Can Give You Details. If It's Worth Keeping How Do I Clean It?
to CoinTalk Sandy. You have some kind of privately made token. From the description my guess is that you are in the US, meaning it could be as new as last week, or as old as Civil War times, or possibly even earlier. The vast majority of the billions of such tokens created over the years are worth a few cents, at most, in anything but absolute pristine condition, but there are some varieties of Hard Times or Civil War Tokens that could be worth a few bucks, even in poor shape. The general rule of thumb for cleaning coins and collectible tokens is DON'T!. We do have some members with a great deal of expertise in the token field, so try posting a picture.
but he found his coin in his yard in the ground. i dont think anybody is against cleaning of coins from the ground??? if the coin was never in the ground, but from circulation etc... the you should not clean it. this is different.
Well, there's cleaning and then there's cleaning. Some judicious cleaning on a buried coin to remove the majority of the dirt is, I would think, acceptable. Anything beyond that would be too much.
Yes, Welcome Sandy. Definitely keep the coin. If you could scan it, then it would help all the TAMS (tokens and metals society) people here to identify it. Sounds quite interesting and in decent shape for being in the ground.
It is worth keeping if you like it. That is a different subject than is it worth any money. It probably is not worth much money. But if you like it and enjoy it keep it. Just because it isn’t worth any money doesn’t mean that the artwork or the design of the coin is worthless, if you like the way it looks keep it. That is the basics of collecting. And you have crated some history with that token, you found it, you did not have to buy it. When you look at the token you can enjoy the fact that you found this in the ground. that give the token some provenance.
For cleaning it. I would suggest you just use a mild dish soap and water to get loose dirt off to see what it really is. Do NOT rub with soap, just let it soak for a few minutes. Rinse well and if possible, rinse with distilled water. As to keeping it. That all depends on how old you are. If your really, really old like me it is best to find a relative that is interested in coins and give it to them. Just kidding. If your old they will get it eventually anyway.
Hmmm, was hoping to see a picture or at least some description of the other side. This is highly likely to be post Civil War. The single most important feature is that if it is an attributable token as opposed to a maverick (a "generic" or token of unknown origin or issuer). If it has a merchant's name/location, it would likely be worth at least a few dollars at the low end, or possibly hundreds at the high end. Typically identifiable "good fors" sell on ebay in the $4-$10 range, but occasional values of $40-50 are not all that uncommon for some tougher issues. Some types such as brunswick-balke and saloon tokens often sell for at least $50, and go up from there. If you can provide some more info, I will try to help you further. Condition is not as crucial to a token's value as with regular coinage. What it is carries more weight than how nice it is.
i suggest soak it in distilled water for bout 2-3 days then if its still dirtysoak it in olive oil for 1 day ect....
I don't classify washing off dirt as "cleaning" as it is typically defined. Just do it very gently as described by others above. Most circulated coins and tokens receive rougher treatment than that before they reach the collector's 2x2. I think all discontinued tokens are worth keeping. Even if it isn't particularly valuable now, that could change. Everything is potentially collectible. It just might not achieve its potential during our lifetime.
