"had" and 1873 Indian...Im an idiot!

[93vector]

"had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Went back to the spot where I got a bunch of silvers the past couple weeks
Got 2 silver quarters 1941 and 45
bunch of wheaties once again
Had an indian, couldnt see anything on it, so i gave it a peroxide bath...it came to life and looked pretty decent...1873
So...I decided to give it another quick bath....a little gentle rubbing with a q-tip....finish and date....GONE! I am not too happy with myself to say the least

 

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[Old River]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

I would never do that. See I didn't tell anyone how stupid I was. The same thing happened to me. I felt like a jerk. Mine was also an indian head penny, 1878. Better luck the next time. Happy Hunting.....

 

[jgas]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Yep, found an 1895 last year and did the exact same thing. Dipped it twice after it looked so much better after one dunk. Ooooooops.....tooo much and darn near fried it beyond belief. That will never happen again. Goodluck on the next one you find. jgas

 

[seger98]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

 

[watercolor]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Sometimes you just can't tell when that's going to happen (mine was a 1910-S Lincoln that dissolved into oblivion)
Well. . . It could have been an 1877.

Take care,
watercolor

 

[John (Ma)]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

That stinks, unfortuantly we all have our bloopers and just have to learn and move on from them.

 

[93vector]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Sometimes you just can't tell when that's going to happen (mine was a 1910-S Lincoln that dissolved into oblivion)
Well. . . It could have been an 1877.

Take care,
watercolor

I found an 1877 last year that could really use a "cleanup"........definetely not going to happen!

 

[John Deere Digger]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Using peroxide on indians scares me. Tried it a few times and made the coins look worse. Now if I can read a date I am happy. Live and learn. HH
JDD

 

[nova]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Sometimes you just can't tell when that's going to happen (mine was a 1910-S Lincoln that dissolved into oblivion)
Well. . . It could have been an 1877.

Take care,
watercolor

I found an 1877 last year that could really use a "cleanup"........definetely not going to happen!
At least it was not your 1877 that really would have been a blow if it were.

 

[MEinWV]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Congrats on your finds!

I think most of us have gone too far on a coin or two. I messed up a 2 cent coin myself.

 

[thrillathahunt]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Sometimes peroxide works.....sometimes it makes it worse!

It's a crap shoot alright.

 

[kdismuke1]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

well you know now.

 

[bigrig40]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

still a good day with a lesson learned. peace,bigrig

 

[Nate in Ohio]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Yea it's a really delicate patina sometimes. You gotta be REAL careful and slow at first, sometimes you can clean them somewhat aggressively; other times they start flaking just from drying out from a rinse in water. At least you know now. And congrats on the indian and 2 silver quarters anyway!

 

[Sir Digs-A-Lot]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Doh! That hurts. I recently found an 1884 IH and have been afraid to clean it for just that reason. It's pretty crusty and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it.

I found some interesting reading just yesterday regarding metal corrosion. The article relates to boating but applies to all metals in general. It is written in layman's terms so it is easy to understand and it became clear to me after reading this why the zinc pennies disintegrate so easily. Check it out:
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/MarineCorrosion.htm

If oxygen is corrosive to metals in a liquid solution, it makes me question the use of H2O2 at all. I know many people use it with good results, but I guess the key is not over-doing it and then neutralizing the coin somehow.

I definitely need to learn more regarding cleaning methods.

-Dan

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Each coin needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. After a few mistakes you will learn which coins can be cleaned in peroxide and which cannot. Many of my Indian Head pennies look beautiful after a gentle cleaning. Clean them just enough to see how much corrosion there is. If there are no signs of corrosion, then another treatment is appropriate. The coin below was given a good soaking and a gentle cleaning with a wet Qtip. You can see that the detail was not compromised in any way.

The same rule goes for Large Cents and Colonial Coppers. I recently found an 1839 that I cleaned just enough to get a date. I knew that any more soaking was likely to remove the remaining detail, so I left the dirt on the coin.

Hang in there. There are many more Indians waiting to be uncovered!

Neil

 

[muleskinner]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Be carefull with the 1870's indians, as they are worth something.

 

[Twin Digger]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Ouch. I gave mine an electolisis treatment. Worked really well..

Happy Hunting

Twin Digger

 

[lairmo]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

1864 I.H. ....Was looking for the "L"....
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,215334.0.html

 

[desertfox]

Re: "had" and 1873 Indian...I'm an idiot!

Don't feel to bad we have all done something just as bad. I used Tarnex on a IH and while I had it soaking the wife asked me to do something for her. I forgot all about it being soaked. Three hours later I remembered. The coin was all but gone. It ended up being just a piece do copper. No Face and No backing. Just another slug!

HH

Desertfox