I have this 1828 half cent which I'm certain has been buried for quite sometime...I know I am not supposed to clean any coin. So my question is, " is there an exception to this rule?"
Good morning Joy. If you don't know what you are doing then you could devalue that HC even more than it already is. If you try anything do not rub or scratch it with anything. Soaking in Verdicare would be the only thing I would try.
If what is on it is dirt and not corrosion, you might try a soak and rinse in distilled water, then carefully pat dry with a soft cloth that was not washed or dried with fabric softener. Whatever you do, as mentioned above, don't rub at all. If the stuff on it is corrosion (and it appears at least some of it is, but it's hard to tell from a photo) there is nothing you can do that will not do more harm than good. There are other threads in CT that go into more discussion of the pros and cons of various cleaning solutions. The general rule of thumb is, don't. But if there are chemicals on the coin that will eventually cause more damage, I believe it is best to remove them if possible, and if you have dirt from the ground on your coin, you don't know what chemicals it might have.
Even though your coin is dirty, it really has good details. If I was to guess from a picture it has probably XF45 details. I would rather have an original surfaces coin, even if they are corroded from history and age, than a coin that has been cleaned in the wrong way. Speaking of Half Cents I need to find this one and get it under the lens again. This one is in the XF range.
