The 1872 is a nice one to cross off the list. I found one early last year in pretty good condition. I was definitely psyched to find it. Congrats on finding yours.
If you use mineral oil instead of olive oil it won't turn so black... Olive oil has alot of fatty acid that mineral oil doesn't.
I never let something stay that long in oil because of what it does to the patina.
If that's after months in oil I can only imagine how bad it was when the coin guy turned it down.
Thanks for sharing.
Here is mine now.