1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

[mtntrekr2]

1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Got out Thursday night for a little bit and decided to try a new area at our favorite hunting spot. about a half hour later Kathy comes over to me with a nice 925 mans ring .26 oz. A little later she has another, a little smaller but still silver. I need to set my machine like hers all I am finding is clad.
It is hot on this hillside and I decide to find some shade to take a break. She comes over and shows me a nice 925 earring with a 4 ct size stone. I am really getting my butt kicked. Then she lays down her so called slug.


It is slick but still was a large cent.

Saturday we head back and I found a set of silver earrings about a foot apart.
A little later about 50 feet away from where she found the first earring I found the match. Otherwise more clad and zincs nothing exciting.



Well this morning we head back. This place is old I have a map dated 1770 with a large farm shown on it not far from where we are hunting. At the same time I know it has also been pounded by lots of other hunters over the years.

We head out to a little bit different corner and after about 4 hrs. and a few pounds of pulltabs and bottle caps. We have collected a little over $6.00 in clad. I get a nice 42 -44 signal on my xt-70. My first thought was another bottle cap, maybe a quarter, but maybe, just maybe a half dollar.

Never did I expect to find this.





1793 Flowing hair wreath type. This was about 5" deep.

Now I just have to figure the best way to try to clean it a little better. So far all I did was wash it off with a little soap and a soft tooth brush.
Maybe I will not adjust my detector to her settings. We have been finding a lot of clad and silver jewelry. So far only two silver Rosie's. This is the third large cent for the area. There has to be more older silver here.

 

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[DANGLANGLEY]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

You sure have been tearing it up. Nice finds, both of you

I can't help with the cleaning. I haven't learned how to keep from making them a slug

DANGLANGLEY

 

[testing123]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Superb find! Must've been a thrill pulling out 18th century copper!

I'll not throw in my recommendation for cleaning because I haven't cleaned too much early copper. Check to make sure it's not a Strawberry Leaf though! That'd be even sweeter.

 

[SilverFinger]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Get the loose dirt off with plain soap and water then drop it in undiluted white vinegar and let sit for a few days. Buy a toothbrush sized wire brush with BRASS (it has to be BRASS!) bristles and rub lightly. Brass is softer than copper and shouldn't scratch.
Nice find!

 

[creeper71]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Get the loose dirt off with plain soap and water then drop it in undiluted white vinegar and let sit for a few days. Buy a toothbrush sized wire brush with BRASS (it has to be BRASS!) bristles and rub lightly. Brass is softer than copper and shouldn't scratch.
Nice find!

altho this method above would work on a coin not as corroded as your DO NOT use this method or you will lose what detail is left on the coin...

 

[Narthoniel]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Wow, what a nice LC in great shape! Looks like a killer spot to hunt for sure!! Way to go .

I would not suggest using any kind of brush to clean this coin - not even a toothbrush. Don is the copper cleaning master, seek out his guide and use his peroxide method. I have had mixed results with it, but on your coin it looks like it will do very well.

Anthony

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

It looks like you have already cleaned the coin. Water IS a cleaning method.


Nice find though.

 

[MinelabSwinger]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Amazing find! Darn shame it is in such rough condition. If it were only a strawberry leaf.... oh man oh man! My banner vote has been cast!

 

[HCW]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

steel wool and grinding wheel ... just kidding!

 

[hogge]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Clean ALL my coppers with heated hydrogen peroxide and soft bristled toothbrush. Don inSJ recommends this method and I have used it with great results. You don't use ANY kind of "wire" brush on ANY coin . GREAT find. It looks like the coin still has quite a bit of detail, and surfaces look reasonably good. This method should work. Good Luck Hogge.

 

[nova treasure]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Awesome Finds Mtn,

, Nova Treasure

 

[IronSpike]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Can't wait for this Banner coin to be cleaned up

 

[johnnyi]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Wonderful find. I agree with the other poster though, DO NOT get vinegar near it!! Letting it soak in olive oil won't damage it, and you may have to soak it for weeks if not months, while occasionally brushing it lightly with a soft toothbrush. Again, great find and congratulations.

 

[creeper71]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Wonderful find. I agree with the other poster though, DO NOT get vinegar near it!! Letting it soak in olive oil won't damage it, and you may have to soak it for weeks if not months, while occasionally brushing it lightly with a soft toothbrush. Again, great find and congratulations.

the problem with olive oil is the dry copper coin will soak the oil into it's self an leak out oil for a long time...

 

[johnnyi]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

creeper, I think know what you are saying, but that will not hurt the coin. I've treated litterally hundreds of large cents this way with only positive results.

 

[Don in SJ]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Well congratulations on getting a 1793 Large Cent, what a shame it is in such bad shape. I am not sure that will get much better without detail coming off since by the photo it appears very porous and heavily corroded.

I think if I were you I would try a warm distilled water soak for a few hours, then with it wet, try a small area with qtips and see if any of the crud comes off, I personally would start in the date area, if the last digit does not get any better than bad news on trying to clean any more. You already have the dirt off, which is what Peroxide removes, and now it will be corroded metal coming off and not sure if it is exfoliated corrosion or not but sure looks like it, and if so detail will come off since it would be corroded underneath the details.

Regardless, what ever you do, I would never use Olive Oil again, I used it for over 20 years on hundreds of coins and if they were solid coins, it worked great, just like peroxide or other methods, but if porous, the dang stuff leaches out for years and also is acidic and you can never stop the process of corrosion unless it is neutralized and completely void of moisture. So, at minimum, soak it in distilled water for a day or two, warm/to hot works better, this will help neutralize the active corrosion, then you must thoroughly dry the coin, I put them under a desk lamp for several hours. Then you can apply a wax, or Blue Ribbon Coin Conditioner, or if you want, a light coating of mineral oil, or some vaseline, But it must be completely dry before you do so.

So sorry it is in that shape, I know the feeling, earlier this year I found my second 1793 Half Cent and did not even know it was one until I cleaned it in peroxide and then saw the details identifying it. It hurts to find a coin that could have been worth a thousand or more to be in such sad shape, but we must take the good with the bad.

Here is the post I made earlier this year of my 1793 and with before and after photos, not muchcould be done on this coin due to corrosion.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,227010.0.html

 

[johnnyi]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Don, I take to heart your experience with olive oil. I was aware that olive oil contains a fatty acid, however I was unaware that this particular acid would corrode after a long period of time. I have coins which have been treated for thirty five years or more, and perhaps I am lucky to never to have seen any further deterioration. I know that there has been debate about the use of olive oil, and I'll concede that on a coin of this rarity, and with little to guess at regarding its porosity, you are probably right to play it safe. The "turban heads" have always been the most porous of the alloys, so I'll recheck mine and see if they have deteriorated over the years. Come to think of it, my 1795 "jefferson head" in "best coin and button finds" seems to being showing a little green where I don't remember seeing it before. Oh my!

How does one neutralize a coin after treatment? I'm assuming a baking soda bath, as well as a very low temperature heating afterwards? I think I have a lot of work to do now! Regarding your 1793 half-cent, if it makes you feel any better I dug a 1793 chain back. The chain was completely visible, as was the "one cent". I dipped it in a nearby mud puddle and in an instant every single detail of the coin was gone! What detail I had seen before the dip was made of nothing but the fluffy talcum powder like residue of the 200 years of corrosion process.

 

[allen]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

congrats on that great looking oldie !!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Don, I take to heart your experience with olive oil. I was aware that olive oil contains a fatty acid, however I was unaware that this particular acid would corrode after a long period of time. I have coins which have been treated for thirty five years or more, and perhaps I am lucky to never to have seen any further deterioration. I know that there has been debate about the use of olive oil, and I'll concede that on a coin of this rarity, and with little to guess at regarding its porosity, you are probably right to play it safe. The "turban heads" have always been the most porous of the alloys, so I'll recheck mine and see if they have deteriorated over the years. Come to think of it, my 1795 "jefferson head" in "best coin and button finds" seems to being showing a little green where I don't remember seeing it before. Oh my!

How does one neutralize a coin after treatment? I'm assuming a baking soda bath, as well as a very low temperature heating afterwards? I think I have a lot of work to do now! Regarding your 1793 half-cent, if it makes you feel any better I dug a 1793 chain back. The chain was completely visible, as was the "one cent". I dipped it in a nearby mud puddle and in an instant every single detail of the coin was gone! What detail I had seen before the dip was made of nothing but the fluffy talcum powder like residue of the 200 years of corrosion process.

That's a heartbreaker story. Great coin find you have. I'll be interested in seeing what Don has to say about neutralizing the olive oil on copper coins.


Best Wishes,


Buckles

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Re: 1793 Large Cent need some suggestions on cleaning

Clean ALL my coppers with heated hydrogen peroxide and soft bristled toothbrush. Don inSJ recommends this method and I have used it with great results. You don't use ANY kind of "wire" brush on ANY coin . GREAT find. It looks like the coin still has quite a bit of detail, and surfaces look reasonably good. This method should work. Good Luck Hogge.

If you do clean it, do it in short intervals. You may begin to lose detail if it is corroded away beneath the dirt. I clean some of my Large Cents just enough to ID it. IF I see it begin to flake away, I stop.