1795 Liberty Cap Large Cent! (Need some Advice)

[mparis]

Hey Treasurenet,

I've only posted here a few times, but today I come to you with my oldest US coin ever! I was hunting a very large park here on Long Island yesterday, and at the far end (in a wooded area) I got a solid quarter signal at about 7 inches on my VX3. Considering I was getting a lot of clad, I really wasn't expecting this. It is very corroded unfortunately, but I was wondering if it would be best to leave it be or attempt to clean it through a peroxide bath, olive oil or some other method. The reverse is completely toasted, but definitely can make out the bust on the obverse and the *795 date at the bottom. Anyway thanks for looking and HH.




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[dutchtoga]

I wouldn't use a peroxide bath or run it under water. Put it in a shot glass of extra virgin olive oil and let it set for a long time. Very nice LC you'll get more detail letting it soak and it won't hurt the coin. Nice recovery!!

 

[mparis]

Thank you very much dutchtoga!

 

[huntsman53]

I wouldn't use a peroxide bath or run it under water. Put it in a shot glass of extra virgin olive oil and let it set for a long time. Very nice LC you'll get more detail letting it soak and it won't hurt the coin. Nice recovery!!

I agree! However, it might be necessary to quick dip it in Acetone, then rinse with water and pat dry between the soft folds of a towel before going in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil soak. The verdigris needs to be halted on the coin and the Acetone might just loosen the grip of some of the corrosion on the coin.


Frank

 

[park pirate]

Thats what i do with correded copper coins, i have one LC and two 2 centers sitting in olive oil after one year i can now read the date on the LC but it takes a long time after a year or so you will see the oil turn green..Good luck..

 

[mparis]

Thank you guys. Yea I have no intentions on selling this item. Ultimate goal is really just to get as much detail as I can/enhance existing detail without damaging the detail that the coin already has. I've seen a lot of before/after large cents after olive oil and also have seen results with peroxide. What i'll do is test a few things on other lesser valued finds and see what works best. I do think though the long-term olive oil bath is the safest option.