Countrfeit Lg. Cent ? any advice on cleaning it ??

[Mike in Berks]

i was searching a circa 1850's house yesterday found this ? 4 1/2" deep
lifted the plug and it dropped in the hole i saw it was round and 1st thought was
lead picked it up and i saw flaking around the edges and after seeing so many
counterfeit coins dug on t net i thought no, it can't be so i did a little rubbing
with my digging cloth did'nt see anything so i put in the coin tube
when i got home i took it out and i saw a weak liberty on the obverse and one cent
on the reverse i do think this was excavated when they had a cement patio put in
and then buried again when they were finished the whole edge is flaking
i do know she is facing left 1808 -- i need your advice people how should i clean
and preserve this relic ? i do not know if it's pewter or pot metal ? ?
i hope you can see the weak liberty - obv.

and one cent on the rev.

and a side view - flaking


thanks for looking

 

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[BuckleBoy]

That looks like a Matron rather than Classic head.  So 1808 is not correct for the date of the coin, if that is the case. (Is it 1818, 28, or 38?)

In terms of preserving pewter, washed, dried thoroughly, and clear eurythane applied with a small paintbrush evenly to the coin will seal it and prevent flaking.  That's about all I know to do.


Regards,



Buckles

 

[Mike in Berks]

That looks like a Matron rather than Classic head. So 1808 is not correct for the date of the coin, if that is the case. (Is it 1818, 28, or 38?)

In terms of preserving pewter, washed, dried thoroughly, and clear eurythane applied with a small paintbrush evenly to the coin will seal it and prevent flaking. That's about all I know to do.


Regards,



Buckles

Thanks for the reply BuckleBoy i don't see a date on it i looked in the red book and
saw 1808 was the first year the obv was facing left so i figured 1808 or after i'll take your
advice and use distilled water and a Q Tip and hope i can get some more detail to show
i never used eurythane before gotta see if i have it thanks & HH to the " Iron Brigade "

 

[BuckleBoy]

That looks like a Matron rather than Classic head.  So 1808 is not correct for the date of the coin, if that is the case.  (Is it 1818, 28, or 38?)

In terms of preserving pewter, washed, dried thoroughly, and clear eurythane applied with a small paintbrush evenly to the coin will seal it and prevent flaking.  That's about all I know to do.


Regards,



Buckles

   Thanks for the reply BuckleBoy    i don't see a date on it    i looked in the red book and 
saw 1808 was the first year the obv was facing left  so i figured 1808 or after  i'll take your
advice and use distilled water and a Q Tip   and hope i can get some more detail to show
i never used eurythane before  gotta see if i have it     thanks & HH to the " Iron Brigade " 

 

You might want to practice first with a pewter button or (even better) a piece of a crumbly pewter spoon handle.  Make sure you Dry the item WELL before applying the eurythane.  I'm pretty sure the style of head is Matron Head, 1816-39.  (You can google images of the Classic Head, Matron Head, and Braided Hair LC's and decide for yourself.)


-Buckles

 

[Mike in Berks]

That looks like a Matron rather than Classic head. So 1808 is not correct for the date of the coin, if that is the case. (Is it 1818, 28, or 38?)

In terms of preserving pewter, washed, dried thoroughly, and clear eurythane applied with a small paintbrush evenly to the coin will seal it and prevent flaking. That's about all I know to do.


Regards,



Buckles

Thanks for the reply BuckleBoy i don't see a date on it i looked in the red book and
saw 1808 was the first year the obv was facing left so i figured 1808 or after i'll take your
advice and use distilled water and a Q Tip and hope i can get some more detail to show
i never used eurythane before gotta see if i have it thanks & HH to the " Iron Brigade "

You might want to practice first with a pewter button or (even better) a piece of a crumbly pewter spoon handle. Make sure you Dry the item WELL before applying the eurythane. I'm pretty sure the style of head is Matron Head, 1816-39. (You can google images of the Classic Head, Matron Head, and Braided Hair LC's and decide for yourself.)


-Buckles

well, i cleaned it and put under a hot lamp for over an hour rev. looks about the same
the obv. a little more detail in the head it's a shame it's beat up so bad the area where the
date would've been is gone as far as eurythane i don't have any it seems pretty stable
though it'll have to wait until i get some beat up but, i never imagined i'd dig a counterfeit
lg cent it's a keeper thanks for the reply and the info Buckles good luck out there !!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Best wishes to you too, Mike.

 

[Don in SJ]

buy a can of spray clear Acrylic Sealer Matte finish and do light sprays on both side and especially the edges, that is about the best you can do for it, I found a KGII like that and a Capped Bust half dollar, the half dollar I never sprayed for a long time and it literally crumbled quite a bit away, lost the date and most of the edge lettering, so spraying sooner than later is recommended. This spraying with Acrylic Sealer is done by the big time Rev War button collectors also, if the pewter is in bad shape like your counterfeit is.........

Don

 

[Mike in Berks]

buy a can of spray clear Acrylic Sealer Matte finish and do light sprays on both side and especially the edges, that is about the best you can do for it, I found a KGII like that and a Capped Bust half dollar, the half dollar I never sprayed for a long time and it literally crumbled quite a bit away, lost the date and most of the edge lettering, so spraying sooner than later is recommended. This spraying with Acrylic Sealer is done by the big time Rev War button collectors also, if the pewter is in bad shape like your counterfeit is.........

Don

i'm glad you saw this post Don bad shape is right cleaning did'nt help much on detail and i was goin
to leave it as is just got in and read your reply looked at your KGII > it has more detail than mine <
got my loop out and, i was suprised to see it's getting hairline cracks on the inner part of the coin
i did'nt buy clear eurythane yet like Buckle Boy said and now "your" advise is acrylic sealer matte finish
well, i gotta do something quick if the rev war collectors and you use acrylic i'm gonna go with that
sorry Buckles but i'm gonna go with what Don uses i do have 2 questions 1. once it's applied is it a
one time thing......or over time do you have to add a new coat ?
2. Buckle Boy says eurythane you say acrylic whats the problem with eurythane compared to acrylic ?
this is all new to me and i only want to learn here
thanks Don !! HH

 

[Don in SJ]

I have used both, so no problem, it is just the button collector that I have dealt with in the past recommended the Acrylic, but either is fine. I have not recoated mine, but I also have not really gotten them out of their holders.

Buckles recommendation of trying on an old button first is fine, but really you cannot screw it up too easily, afterall, if no spray is applied it will dry out and crumble away, and it can happen rather fast.

Mike, I just checked my e-mail archives and here is part of the msg on conservation of pewter from my friend.

Whatever is entailed in any conservation, of any substance, likely carries with it a degree of risk, whether substantial or minute. A decision to not conserve an item carries with it the risk of further deterioration, the true issue being a trade-off of that risk against the risk of a problem in the conservation process. The primary goal of conserving pewter is to guard the piece from further oxidation by sealing out air exposure. In working with Rev War buttons, including a number that I recovered more than 10 years ago, I've relied on aerosol matte clear acrylic spray. Across scores of buttons and over a decade, I've never had a problem during application or over time.

The single objection some might have as to acrylic is that it would require a solvent (acetone) if removal was desired. As long as the pewter itself is not flaking badly, acetone simply dissolves the plastic layer and would have no effect on the object. Playing it most conservatively, microcrystalline wax can be used instead of acrylic, thereby making removal even easier. When I sent that spoon found at Brandywine down to Colonial Williamsburg's conservation lab, they chose to use the wax approach. IMO, the wax tends to mask a bit of detail, that not being the case with spray acrylic. It does yield a smoother-appearing surface finish but that is beacuse the wax creates its own layering, albeit minutely thin, that also being the cause of the minor detail loss. It's because of the latter issue that I prefer acrylic and it was this that caused me to counsel staying away from the wax when it was first recommended to you a couple weeks back.

Don

 

[Mike in Berks]

I have used both, so no problem, it is just the button collector that I have dealt with in the past recommended the Acrylic, but either is fine. I have not recoated mine, but I also have not really gotten them out of their holders.

Buckles recommendation of trying on an old button first is fine, but really you cannot screw it up too easily, afterall, if no spray is applied it will dry out and crumble away, and it can happen rather fast.

Mike, I just checked my e-mail archives and here is part of the msg on conservation of pewter from my friend.

Whatever is entailed in any conservation, of any substance, likely carries with it a degree of risk, whether substantial or minute. A decision to not conserve an item carries with it the risk of further deterioration, the true issue being a trade-off of that risk against the risk of a problem in the conservation process. The primary goal of conserving pewter is to guard the piece from further oxidation by sealing out air exposure. In working with Rev War buttons, including a number that I recovered more than 10 years ago, I've relied on aerosol matte clear acrylic spray. Across scores of buttons and over a decade, I've never had a problem during application or over time.

The single objection some might have as to acrylic is that it would require a solvent (acetone) if removal was desired. As long as the pewter itself is not flaking badly, acetone simply dissolves the plastic layer and would have no effect on the object. Playing it most conservatively, microcrystalline wax can be used instead of acrylic, thereby making removal even easier. When I sent that spoon found at Brandywine down to Colonial Williamsburg's conservation lab, they chose to use the wax approach. IMO, the wax tends to mask a bit of detail, that not being the case with spray acrylic. It does yield a smoother-appearing surface finish but that is beacuse the wax creates its own layering, albeit minutely thin, that also being the cause of the minor detail loss. It's because of the latter issue that I prefer acrylic and it was this that caused me to counsel staying away from the wax when it was first recommended to you a couple weeks back.

Don

thanks so much for the reply Don
very informative reading i do have what you recommended right here and i'm ready to apply it
this morning you're very knowledgable with dug relics i'm so glad you're willing to share that
knowledge that you've learned through trial and error, and " time " thanks again Don
and good luck out there searching i hope you find the one thats on your wish list