Or should I have called the thread "I'm going to burn in hell for this aren't I...I know, I know, I was told to leave well enough (bad enough) alone with regard to my pretty little IHP. I just kept looking at that horrible "huge" fingerprint in the middle of both sides of the coin. Look at the before and after and see if in your opinion I've made matters worse. Meanwhile I'm going to fill my hydration pack cause I know it's really hot down there and I'm probably going to burn for what I've done to my pretty little indian. Thanks for the advice and the input all. Sorry I couldn't leave well enough alone... Oh, I reposted the shots so there are before and after...
stunning difference. I don't/haven't ever clean coins and while the print was a nasty thing to impossibly look past that old yellow tone was nice, now gone. but what do you think now that it's done? can you post any close up shots?
I will but unfortunately I'm not through with it yet. The polishing cloth I used to dry the coin after I rinsed it (new one at that) introduced a new scratch. There is also still a little evidence of the print and I need to balance the polish all the way out. I will post some tighter shots tho... PS... A lot of that old yellow tone was woor white balance... I'm getting a lot closer to the correct lighting temp now...
Actually, take the cent with you, as the heat and sulfur will re-tone it rather quickly, but I am sure it would be artificial toning I personally like it better as it is ( except for the scratches). I suspect it had been played with before you got it.( unless the photo colors are off). Jim
Did not polish it with the cloth. It was the softest thing I had to dry the coin with after the rinse. And yes, the colors were off on the first round... The color of the Liberty and the clear flip are a lot more pleasant to me now..
What did you use on it? It really bytes when I'm roll searching and I find a nice, red BU cent with a big black finger print on it. It's like the only person that ever touched it was a mechanic on his lunch break. LOL
sure, it looks better now that you polished it, but its collectible value was higher before you cleaned it.
i think it would be really cool if you update this thread with new pics of the coin in say 3 or 6 months to see if it still looks the same... not sure whether it will or not, but I hear that copper can react a bit when messing with it.
As long as it get's properly rinsed in distilled water I would imagine it should be OK but I agree, new pics in a few months would be cool.
It's a shame.. especially seeing as how it's a misplaced "something" 12 - 2 Oclock on the after pictures obverse. Definitely something going on there.
My personal opinion is - while the print is gone, the picture now shows a "questionable" color IHC. Like Jack I thought it was dipped. Put it in an album and maybe let it retone over the years.
