Looks like lettering us below bow tie So in my grandpas collection there is this penny it’s looks like it says 1972 but on right side of rim looks like it cracked clear through rim. The penny looks super old and feels light you can still see words on back and Lincoln on front but the rim of coin isn’t smooth or even round. Any ideas ? Is there a way to clean it up with out hurting it
The coin has had a tough life. A cleaning can't hurt it but it won't help it either. Corrosion has removed much of the detail.
you know it was made from 1959 to 1982. So it's not that old comparatively to even wheat cents. It's just 100% pure damage. Looking at it something ate away at the surface, plus other damage from shears or some type of cutting action. This can easily make it un-round as any smashing action of course smashes and pushes out material. My "collection" is separated into a couple things .. (a) my coin collection, (b) my hoard as I save all of my change, and (c) damaged stuff that I keep separate as it's just pure junk but I can't get myself to throw it away. If I had a cent like that, it'd be in the (c) pile. Luckily in my will I actually state this stuff and have slips of paper in the containers of what is the collection and what one should just dump in the coinstar-type machine or just throw away.
It's too bad that more collectors don't make these notations. I can't count how many times people who have inherited coins think they are worth something just because their grandpa saved them. Chris
Yes I was replying to her text .... "So in my grandpas collection there is this penny it’s looks like it says 1972 but on right side of rim looks like it cracked clear through rim. The penny looks super old and feels light you can still see words on back and Lincoln on front but the rim of coin isn’t smooth or even round. Any ideas ? Is there a way to clean it up with out hurting" "super old" .. if Memorial cents are "Super Old" ... what are Wheat cents ?
