1883 Indian Head Cent (Opinions Please)

Net VG??? Wow, and I thought I was a tough grader. I must disagree. Even if that coin has been previously cleaned and does have a small amount of corrosion; it still has VF/XF details, no damage, has been nicely retoned, and has great eye appeal! This coin at worst would grade a net F-15.:rolling:

 

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Acetone and H2O2 work completely opposite of each other. "At room temperature, hydrogen peroxide is a pale-blue, syrupy, weakly acidic liquid." Acidic - vinegar. It works by oxidizing (bleaching) the dirt while the acid reacts (eats away) with the metal. Acetone cleans by dissolving the grease and oils allowing the dirt to float away. You can see the other threads and make your own own mind as to whether acetone reacts with the metal, but I guarantee that H2O2 WILL.

 

I say VF30 - mainly because I can not see the diamond detail, liberty not bold, hair tips, etc. A dealer would certainly list this is XF40 especially if there is more diamond detail than the picture shows. Has it been cleaned - not sure, but maybe lightly cleaned. For $5 bucks you did pretty good. The only think I do not like is the green stuff as others have stated.

 

Hydrogen Peroxide (concentrated) is recommended for cleaning the gunk and grime off of the delicate ancients, H2O2 then olive oil in that order. It won't do any good the other way around. Here are a couple of pics which show two pennies I had soaking just last night and the 1883 now.

Good Luck and ONLY experiment with your OWN coins.
Ben

 

Even with all the soaking it's a very nice coin for $5.

 

Ben,

Just curious, how long did you let it soak in hydrogen peroxide and how long did you let it soak in olive oil?

 

About 5 minutes in H2O2 and never used the olive oil. It fizzed like an Alka Seltzer. Still has a reddish brown tint when under a neon light too.

 

I think it looks good! Not that it looked bad before the soaking...

 

H2O2 is an oxidizing agent, and strong too... that's why they dilute it down to 3%. That fizzing means it oxidized some organic matter to CO2. Maybe some oils from fingers.

When I first saw it, I thought VF-35 cleaned.