1942 WHEAT NEEDS SOME HELP

I found this 1942 wheat while roll hunting and wow...It's in bad shape. What do
you think I can use to clean it somewhat? Acetone? Or something a little
less powerful? I only posted 4 full images of this coin but I see a whole bunch
of smaller images as well as the large ones..???....Anyways, sorry there is so many
pictures

 

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It appears that this coin is severely environmentally damaged. It may be too far gone to restore. Some people would give it a very long soak in olive oil. Others would warn against this because olive oil is an organic substance and it will rot if not completely removed. My advice is to leave it alone. A 1942 cent restored from that condition will never be worth more than 5 cents.

 

SPC CENTS, I appreciate your advise and opinion

 

generally, acetone will only work on organic junk stuck to the coin. If the actual metal in the coin has reacted, acetone won't do anything. BTW: Olive oil works a lot like acetone. If it's built up dirt and junk from being buried (think ancient coins) it might help, but if it's corrosion, don't bother

Honestly, it looks shot, so you really can't hurt its value by experimenting (unless you soak it in acid for a while ). I would leave it alone as well. Not because it would hurt the value, just because I can't see putting the effort into something that probably won't work. But whatever you want to do is acceptable IMO

 

Why bother it would be a good practice coin for cleaning, although I'm totally against cleaning. LOL
Dave

 

Olive oil, vinegar, a little crushed garlic, herbs, spices; you're good to go. Then add lettuce, maybe a few tomatoes ...

 

Don't forget bacon bits and sunflower seeds.

 

Throw it into a jewelry polishing machine. It'll be all sorts of shinny when you're done with it.

 

What? No Pasta?

 

That was bad ass . . . and hilarious!

 

Good Idea.....I like bacon bits....

 

Thanks Guys! I appreciate your advise!....Especially the little crushed garlic, herbs, spices; you're good to go. Then add lettuce, maybe a few tomatoes ..and of course
bacon bits ....

 

"I don't think she'll miss this a bit."

Famous last words.
Also, avoid that darker cat litter.

 

Make a little mark on it, toss it back into circulation and I bet it shows back up here someday.

 

Since you have a coin where you have nothing to lose, try a brass or copper brush on it. These are used on ancients, so give it a try. Whatever you do, let us see.

 

Spend it. At least you get your money's worth.

 

I sign all my metal detector coins and roll them for circulation lol my name with a smiley face.post if you find!

 

I found a similarly nasty 1942-D about like yours that I could barely read the date. It looked like a metal detector found coin (dug from the ground). Since I have a number of these, I decided to try to clean it as an experiment since it wasn't worth much as is. First I tried dipping it but it did not help very much as it was environmentally damaged. Then I thought "what the heck" and tried out my new cleaning "pencils". First time I used them and, just so you know, they are very abrasive, even the one marked "Fine". I forgot to take a picture of the obverse before I started with the pencils, but I did of the reverse and it was equally bad. I do not recommend this for coins you want to keep for your collection but it was a fun exercise nonetheless (and fairly laborious). Probably could have gotten it even "cleaner" but I got tired. I may try this on my detected coins that are so far gone I can't read the date, lol.

 

And you'll need to deep-fry it to make it crunchy and palatable.