I have a coin from 1864 (large motto) that has F-EF detailing, however, the coin is heavily corroded. Wanted a little advice on whether to clean the coin or leave it as is?
Can you post a picture of both sides to see the extent of the corrosion? Was it a metal detected 2 Cent? Sometimes there is not much you can do about environmental damage.
Read up on coin conservation. There are plenty of tips out there to help. Use the Search tool here at CT to read up on methods to try...and to avoid. Many of those that are into Ancients have advice and techniques that really can be shockingly good. Don't rush into it: easy to foul up a good coin doing bad things to it. It's a process...not a race. Start out with the least aggressive method and step your way up as you need to. But enjoy the learning and be sure to post before-and-after photos if you decide to do it.
I like the Olive Oil method for 2 cent pieces the most . Others may recommend things like Acetone or a product called Verdigris . I would try the Verdigris first personally .
fretboard, posted: "Distilled water first, then Acetone if needed. After that post more pics for further information!" Please give us some of your further information NOW because nothing you have suggested will change anything on the coin.
Olive oil soaking does usually work well with copper coins and relics, although it takes time. But it is gentle, and is also what I do with such coins and relics found metal detecting. The green residue that is often found on copper coins that have been in the ground for an extended period of time is known as verdigris, the product that can be used to remove this encrustation is known as Verdi-care. It is apparently produced in limited batches, and is not often available. Hopefully more will be available in near future, as I would like to purchase some.
Find a small glass jar with a screw-on lid - fill half way with extra virgin olive oil & drop your coin in - cap the jar and let the coin 'marinate' for a long time (months or years) - check it periodically for any progress and flip it over with a toothpick. I've had a dozen old green IHCs & wheaties soaking like that for over a year - no discernible improvement
If I were gonna try it, I'd just do what this guy is doing, slow and steady wins the race, it's been neglected for a long time and it won't turn around for a long time either, there will be nothing you can do about the pitting from the corrosion, but you can get it cleaned up without destroying it completely. other than that, you'd likely need to do the things the ancient guys sometimes do, and that involves killing it to remove encrustation, then recoloring to make it market acceptable in order to make a buck off selling it to a collector that just wants one to look at that's not all gunked up.
I was really surprised to see how effective distilled water was at conserving coins found metal detecting. I would start there and graduate up. Verdicare is great to stabilize verdigris. But lifting what can be lifted by the distilled water is always my first step.