Was looking for Draped Bust LCs on Ebay and saw this piece up for auction. As a Style 1 Hair, it had to be 1796-1798. Ran through the varieties and it’s 1797 S-140, a common variety with the broken T in LIBERTY. Although corroded, it had really nice details. Put in a low-ish bid and won for $15 + ship. This is what arrived in my mailbox today: The obverse was covered in green stuff that came off very easily. Easily enough that a very light fingernail scratch took it right off. So I grabbed some acetone and a bunch of q-tips and got to work, slowly melting the green stuff right off. After a very quick conservation, this was the result. So this is my 1797, Reverse of 1797 large cent. Corroded and damaged, but has the details of a Fine. Not a bad purchase for under $20! What say you @mrweaseluv?
Nice score. Question for you. The 'before' pix of the obverse show no hairline scratches below the neckline. Your 'after' pic shows quite a bit of scratches going on. How did you clean that area? Were those hairlines there before you went to work on it, and maybe didn't show in the pix? Or were you a bit aggressive in your cleaning?
Good question. The obverse was filthy, and the missing detail below the neckline was very apparent before the conservation as well (and is seen in pre-conservation pics). I went slowly and gently throughout the conservation, and using the same tactic on the upper part of the obverse led to no hairlines. When conserving a coin you have to consider the possibility that the dirt and grime you are removing is potentially hiding other issues.
See I never thought it would be worth 15.00 or be able to do the conservation on it. Great job Omegaraptor
