I dont know how I didnt realize it but I had found 4 woodies and by accident I cleaned them with some wheats and other pennies. They werent cleaned with anything harsh, a 5 second diluted vinager and salt bath, then dried and polished. Unfortunately the Wood grain is now gone, some lines have reappeared faintly, but only on one penny. I would like to re-tone them, how could i go about doing that. I got the faint lines to reappear by holding onto the cleaned coins for about an hour, and since I dont feel like doing that again, can i gently cover them in plain soil for a few days or maybe the oven. Its not like they'd be fake, they are woodies, and i dont have any intention of selling them so anything safe for the coin would be nice. Any serious opinions are welcome, thanks
You have completely ruined the numismatic value of your wheat cents by dipping them in vinegar then polishing them. DO NOT ever clean your coins.
they have no value, I could care less about value, i only collect wheats for their artistic imagery, as for the accidental dipping of the woodies, can either of you help. Btw I tested a pre-82 and post-82 penny before and after a 12+ hour vinegar soak and under intense magnification, it was unchanged, not a pit of abrasion, i do not use straight vinegar, its diluted by over half in plain water. Btw I dont clean clean important coins with anything, the woodies were an accident
You cannot unclean a cleaned coin. Once the damage is done, it's an irreversible process. Polishing will leave hairline scratches on the surface. Using vinegar with the copper cents makes a chemical reaction that strips the 50+ years of patina off the coin. The only thing you can do is put the coin in a manila envelope and put it in the oven on 300 for 30 minutes. Forget about dirt. It would take over 2-3 months outside. Inside, it would be useless.
well i just looked at the 4 woodies and in just the days since they were cleaned, half of the wood grain has returned, thanks
also, i have only recently begun using diluted vinegar, 98% of my wheats are done with soap and warm water, they still retain their patina.
I found a 1981 woody penny and I've been looking everywhere to see if they have any value. I'm new to collecting and would appreciate any help
1981 copper is worth about 2¢. It you find the right person and it is a nice coin, you might get 50¢ for it, but they are few and far between.
The 1981 woodies are pretty common, especially when it's on only one side. A nice, 2-sided example might fetch a buck from a collector looking for such a coin.
Hello, I'm really new to this whole coin hobby thing, but I'm having lots of fun discovering the joys of coin collecting, yet I'm short of the information I need. I found a coin while hunting, that I'm not at all certain would be called a "Woody", however, it's so beautiful I'm certain someone would want to purchase it, but am not sure how to go about selling it. Any ideas?
