Oldest Coin To Date Today!

[Brett]

I got out for a little bit today and got myself into an old area of an unlikely place to find such an old coin. I got a 12-30 signal at 6" and it was nice and coin sized... I figured it wasn't an IH but I would dig it anyway because it might be something else like a token or something. Well to my surprise it was a nice green lookin' penny, and I knew it had to be an indian. It was pretty crusty, so I just figured it was going to be another junk IH for my collection. I have some nice ones, and then I have some crusty ones that are cool, but I wish they were better. Well after some 35% hydrogen peroxide, and scrubbing, the crust still wasn't coming off much... so I just decided to dig at the date area with my thumbnail and see if I could pop it loose. Well that worked, and the crust popped clean off. It's an 1868 IH - my previous oldest coin was an 1870 IH. Any ideas on how to get the rest of it off? I also got a '56d wheatie today... oh, and in an obviously filled area I dug a pull tab can from over 15"!

 

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[DPBOB]

Congrats !!!!!!!!!

Beats my oldest IH of 1882

New goal to set now......

I got an 1884 IH today

Ask WaterColor,jezzzz he cleans his coins so good.

That looks like it might be in great shape under that crust of junk

 

[AmericanCoinHunting]

I got out for a little bit today and got myself into an old area of an unlikely place to find such an old coin. I got a 12-30 signal at 6" and it was nice and coin sized... I figured it wasn't an IH but I would dig it anyway because it might be something else like a token or something. Well to my surprise it was a nice green lookin' penny, and I knew it had to be an indian. It was pretty crusty, so I just figured it was going to be another junk IH for my collection. I have some nice ones, and then I have some crusty ones that are cool, but I wish they were better. Well after some 35% hydrogen peroxide, and scrubbing, the crust still wasn't coming off much... so I just decided to dig at the date area with my thumbnail and see if I could pop it loose. Well that worked, and the crust popped clean off. It's an 1868 IH - my previous oldest coin was an 1870 IH. Any ideas on how to get the rest of it off? I also got a '56d wheatie today... oh, and in an obviously filled area I dug a pull tab can from over 15"!

Hey Congrats Brett................................Suggestion on cleaning ?..............................You were doing the right thing..................You just did not do it long enough......
..............................Put it back in 36 % H.P. for 2 weeks..................Take it out and do the Q-Tip thing.......If that doesn't work..............Stick a large tooth-pick in the H.P. and let it soak 5 minutes, & then try tooth-pick scrap.......................Re-soak 2 weeks & try again..........................when it looks good enough...............................
....................................Take it from the H.P. & rub both sides with baking soda.............add water .....and keep scrubbing till all color stops coming off in baking soda.........Rinse,,,,,,,,Dry...............Take....."Coin Care " Treat each side,,,,,,,and after 1 minute..........dab with towel,& Slab.............You can get the product called "Coin Care" from ANY coin dealer.......H.H.

 

[watercolor]

Wow Brett, GREAT penny!! and OLD

I have yet to break into the 1860's. . . maybe tomorrow

 

[Hardrock]

NICE FIND. Now to the rust problem,ya got olive oil? Put a 1/4 inch in a small bowl drop the coin in it let it soak a month or better,do not use peroxide as it is harsh on it, take it out and check it over if not loose go another month,it will help and preserve it also,works for me!!!!!! Hardrock N.Illinois Check out the recent finds,I soaked those indians a week and they are cleaning nice.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[litefire56]

Congrats on your oldest coin Brett! Keep pounding that spot and dig everything that may be masking deeper coins. There's got to be more around there and maybe even a seated.

 

[makton]

Brett,
On my indians I used microwaved peroxide -40 seconds and then let the coin sit in it until all bubbles stop.
Rinse very good and repeat if necessary. If it dries the coin out a little, you can put some vaseline on a Q-tip which brings out the details.
I wouldn't use this on a key/semi-key date but it sure makes my collection look a lot better.

Makton

 

[twistidd]

Brett,

I tried the hot peroxide method on a toasted IH cent and it didn't work. I had to gouge at it with a guitar pick since I don't have fingernails (I'm a Cubs fan, what do you expect?)...eventually I got the date (1883) but it's still toasted, and looks 1000% worse than yours.

I also tried said method on a couple old wheaties, and they went from bad to worse. One was a 1909 and the other a 1910. I can't even get a date on them anymore. So...just be careful, I think it works better on certain individual coins, dependant upon what kind/s of environmental damage they have sustained.

However, the peroxide method worked great on most other wheat cents.

Joe

 

[Lowbatts]

Boy that coin has seen some nasty lawn care products dropped it's way over the years. Finding them immediately under concrete also shows this kind of crust and corrosion. Any idea of the fill source?

 

[Brett]

Boy that coin has seen some nasty lawn care products dropped it's way over the years. Finding them immediately under concrete also shows this kind of crust and corrosion. Any idea of the fill source?

Somewhere around town I'm sure... since it's been filled many years ago, probably 50, I think it would be hard to track down exactly where it came from. It's definitely all kinds of weird in the area I was at. In one spot you'll get deep screw tops, and other you'll get 50's and 60's coins at 5-6", and then this oldie was at 6"... wish I could get into a spot where all I had to do was just dig the deep ones and they would always be good ones.

 

[treasurefiend]

Great old coin bud!!!!

 

[kimsdad]

Man, Brett, That's an oldie!!! Congrats on a new personal record!

Pop tops at 15"? YIKES!!!