I don't have any pure acetone or e zest to clean this but is there a common household cleaning supply that can remove the rust?
Naval jelly from a hardware store might work, but it would cost more than the coin would be worth, before or after. Probably not a whole lot you can do to help it, but it's a neat find. I have found rusty steelies in circulation twice. One was in one of those "leave a penny, take a penny" dishes on the counter of a convenience store. I thought it was a fried-out zinc cent at first, but since there was no copper visible I realized it was a steel cent. No beauty contest winner there, but a fun discovery.
