Corroded Large Cents

I inherited 90 large cents from my mother--I didn't even know they existed. However, some of them have at least a little corrosion. Should I take the corroded ones out and burn them (joking, of course), or do they have some value?

 

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They'll have some value. It would depend on the years and varieties. Even damaged key dates will carry a premium but don't be surprised if a $100 BU coin is only $10 with the corrosion.

 

Any Bust coins in the group?

 

More information and good pictures would help, Corrosion can be anything from microscopic and having little negative value to completely destroying the coin returning it to the ore from whence it came. I suspect it's somewhere in between. Good pictures make many coins identifiable, even without dates. I particularly like coins before 1840 and can offer my assistance with those. Later dates generally need to be in better shape for identification.

 

Corrosion (verdigris) on copper coins is very common. It is classsified as light, moderate and heavy. Heavy corrosion cannot be removed without permanently damaging the surfaces. Light to moderate verdigris can usually be successfully conserved.

Any coins with verdigris should be separated and kept away from non-verdigris coins. Verdigris from one coin can provide feed materials to other coins prompting them to also corrode. Here's an example I found in a roll. The brown coin had verdigris which spread to the reverse of the red coin next to it in the roll.

 

No, none of the bust coins I have is corroded (I didn't inherit any of those). The corroded ones are all matrons, young heads, and braided hair.

 

Here would be an example.

 

Primarily light to moderate verdigris, some of the spots on the portrait appear to possibly be pitting, hard to fully judge from the pictures. Overall, this coin would respond well to conservation efforts IMO.

 

What sorts of conservations efforts?

 

Well, how about if I list the stuff you should NOT do and many other collectors will tell you? It's a good start to make sure you don't screw up.

DO NOT USE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

- Olive Oil
- MS70, CoinCare or acid-thiourea based dips
- Mineral oil, mineral sprits or other household chemicals
- Vinegar (with or without salt)
- Ketchup, hot sauce or other stuff meant to eat

I have no idea about the value of your coins but if you have any worth $150 or more, leave the conservation to the experts like NCS. I've seen hundreds of people absolutely RUIN their coins by listening to folks on the internet. 99% of the advice out there is BAD advice. I wrote a guide for ebay that may help you a little:

http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Remove-Verdigris-From-Coins?ugid=10000000017991989

 

i like that as is! As goofy as it may be, i dig the greens!

 

Thanks for the advice. I recently had someone more knowledgeable than me recommend olive oil.
I’ll take your advice. He also recommended acetone to clean lacquer off of coins.

 

I wish everyone felt that way.

 

This picture is sufficient for identification of early and middle dates. Unfortunately, this particular coin is the first year of the Late dates where attribution sometimes takes a near pristine specimen to identify it. I don't even attempt it and I love attribution of the earlier varieties.

ps Someone with a late date reference will probably recognize the die crack above ATES OF and be able to attribute this one without much problem.

 

I enjoy hearing from the large cent experts.

 

Olive oil is the defacto "go to" for people. It's been recommended for decades, that doesn't mean it's right. I've done plenty of experimentation with it and I absolutely hate it.

Acetone is a coin safe solvent. Depending on the lacquer, it may or may not remove it. As far as verdigris, it will not remove it, however, it will dehydrate it and arrest the progression as long as the coin is stored properly after rinsing/soaking.

 

it depends

I would say that it all depends on the varieties. Different Sheldon varieties can bring money in any condition. My s-75 liberty cap cent is corroded and still has great value.

 

I don't think the 1840 has a die crack at the top of the reverse. I also think it is a N-8.

 

I'll have to see if any of our coin stores carry Verdi-Care.