1856 3C silver coin

Hey. I found this detecting. It keeps toning as the years have passed , what can I do to stop it . I currently have it in a "do it yourself " slab. Also, what should I expect to get for it ?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Thanks. I never fully cleaned it. Just warm water in a soak . I didn't want to scratch it . It was in about 7 inches of very dark loose soil . I never weighed it but its so small and thin.

 

That’s why back in the day the folks that used this coin lovingly referred to it as a “fish scale”. It was just as difficult as a fish scale to pick this coin up from a merchants counter.

 

wow. You learn something new everyday.

 

I am an encyclopedia of useless Jeopardy information like that. I wish sometimes that my brain had a delete button.

 

The obverse looks like it was lost to the ground as an MS coin. I can't really understand the reverse. Pretty cool to dig a coin like this.
Could you post a few more images?

 

Idhair. I will do it by this afternoon .

 

Great find, nice looking coin.

 

Give it time. Your brain will grow its own 'delete' button.

 

A nice looking coin and a great find. I don't think you can stop the toning but an airtight might help.

 

These are for Idhair , have fun . Here's reading also :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_piece

 

I currently have in a "Do- It - Yourself " slab. Is that what your talking about.

 

It's called an airtight but a slab might work just as well. It would only slow the toning but it won't stop it.

 

Nice old coin. Looks like a bit of clash marks showing on the reverse.

 

I call it a dimple

 

any silver coin exposed to the air will tone over time. If the coin is stored in paper or with papers, the sulfur in the paper can add to the toning. As others have said, I wouldn't worry about the toning. If you think there is a possibly that the coin has something on it, causing the toning, give it an Acetone bath. Acetone won't change the toning, but it could remove contaminates that are causing the toning. In fact, I would recommend that you treat all of your coin finds with Acetone after giving any kind of water bath. I use 2"x2" flips (paper coin holders with Mylar windows to store many of my coins. These are a good way to protect your coins. Just pick up some of dollar size and quarter size and they will work for most coins you may have. Staple them on all three sides. These can be purchased online or from a coin shop for only a few cents a piece. Also note coins like a dry environment, so keep that in mind with where you store them.

 

Stopping or nearly stopping the toning probably can be accomplished. The key is moisture. The reaction that causes the toning requires water to proceed and the water vapor in the air is enough to cause it. The self slab shell is a good start but it isn't air tight and the key is as dry an environment as possible. So you need to create a microenvironment Put the shell inside a ziplock bag with some freshly recharged silica gel and seal it up the silica gel will absorb almost all the moisture out of the air in the bag so any air that gets into the slab shell will be as dry as possible.

The ziplock isn't completely air tight either so eventually the silica will be come saturated and need recharging. You can delay this with a defense in depth strategy. Put the slab and bag in a tupperware with more silica gel in the tupperware with the bag. Air and moisture will take a long time to get into the tupperware where the silica will absorb the moisture. Any air that then get into the bag will already be very dry, and the silica in the bag will then absorb that before it can get through the shell to the coin.

This also has the advantage that when the gel in the box get saturated while you take it out and recharge it the bag and its gel will still be protecting the coin.

 

OP's coin more likely AU Details. I'd need a higher res image to be sure, but I'm not seeing wear on the obverse high spots and just a bit on the diamond and the C itself.