SOS pad in Buff nickel works miracle!

[mangum]

Hello All! Got out for a couple hours at my uncles farm in Southern Va before festivities started. Found this buffalo which looked horrid, crusty red and followed a tip from another post... My uncle happened to have an SOS pad (well, a Wally World knockoff) and man was I pleasantly surprised at the results! Before I could barely make anything out, then BAM! Ill be using this method from now on with non key date nickels. I just simply brushed while running under water. Unfortunately no visible date, but Ill take it! I also scored a sweet suspender clip patented in 1894 and a few other relics. If anyone knows what the unusual buckle thing us I'd appreciate the help. Thanks for looking, Merry Christmas and Happy Hunting!

 

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[old digger]

Thanks!

Glad I could heip.

 

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[lonewolfe]

I don't plan on selling this, as I said not worth much anyways. In this case I'd rather have a decent looking coin than a crusty coin in which I can barely make out what it is. I do respect your point and agree. If I found anything I even suspected to be of value I wouldn't touch it. Olive oil is not a great solution either, it will leak out for years after the fact.. I also stated I would only do this on such coins of little value. People, this is a very valid point, if you don't know what you have don't touch it. If I ruined a no date buffalo I haven't lost much...

Exactly - MOST "dug" coins aren't worth anything more than face value anyway - take a dug buff to a coin dealer once and see what he offers = NOTHING - they won't even buy them! Same with pitted/crusty copper coins!

Silver coins on the other hand OR a semi/key date coin that is fully in tact, full readable date, and isn't crusted/corroded etc. is a slightly diff story - they will pay according to condition MINUS some for the fact that it's dug (and believe me - they can tell on nickels/pennies/coppers) and MINUS some for any pitting, etc.

So - if you want to clean up pennies, nickels, coppers, etc. for the sake of actually being able to see what the coin is because it's heavily crusted/corroded. etc. no harm done if it's that far gone to begin with!

Nice finds :-)

HH

 

[cti4sw]

Okay I can't stand it any longer... hey you guys and gals... Never ever clean coins ..it devalues it's worth and dealers will never buy them ... even a Key dated one... Use Non-abrasive soap and water and maybe some olive oil to clean with a soft toothbrush.... Never clean Coins!

So you're saying I shouldn't have scrubbed that 1914-D penny I found yesterday?


Just kidding. I'm not that stupid. Actually, I will point out that while steel wool's hardness rating (6-7) is higher than copper's (2.5-3), none of the wheat scrubbing I've done has scratched the coins or removed the brown patina. I only do enough to read the date and see that it's a wheat cent, because the ground I take these out of does more damage to the coins than steel wool ever will. And for a coin that's going into a collection album, after a while you can't really tell it's been cleaned, anyway.

I will also mention that if it's nonabrasive techniques you want for unknown or obscured dates, the boiling-peroxide-in-the-microwave method seems to cut through the dirt enough that the date can be seen. I do have one question... Why olive oil?

 

[testing123]

I too usually state not to clean coins. But that's for silver and valuable ones. I have no beef with scrubbing common buffs and wheats. Their value is minimal, barely over face and coin dealers really wouldn't want them in cleaned or dug condition. Might as well see some details.

 

[TreasureNetGuppyFish]

I rub mine on a sidewalk with fine grained concrete. It works like magic.

 

[dsinsc]

Okay I can't stand it any longer... hey you guys and gals... Never ever clean coins ..it devalues it's worth and dealers will never buy them ... even a Key dated one... Use Non-abrasive soap and water and maybe some olive oil to clean with a soft toothbrush.... Never clean Coins!

... I wish I'd have heard your words of wisdom about never ever cleaning a coin before I ruined these Seriously, I agree about not cleaning coins that have been in collections for their whole lives but dug coins are a completely different situation. If I had to live with coins that looked the way they do coming out of the ground I'd have given up on this hobby a long time ago. I don't agree with the toothbrush either, if your cleaning a silver coin with one it will hairline it bad no matter how soft it might feel. I think that the two biggest keys to nice dug coins is first don't hit it with the shovel, and don't "field clean" them. I always wait to get them home then figure out what the best way to treat them is.... Dave

 

[cti4sw]

... I wish I'd have heard your words of wisdom about never ever cleaning a coin before I ruined these Seriously, I agree about not cleaning coins that have been in collections for their whole lives but dug coins are a completely different situation. If I had to live with coins that looked the way they do coming out of the ground I'd have given up on this hobby a long time ago. I don't agree with the toothbrush either, if your cleaning a silver coin with one it will hairline it bad no matter how soft it might feel. I think that the two biggest keys to nice dug coins is first don't hit it with the shovel, and don't "field clean" them. I always wait to get them home then figure out what the best way to treat them is.... Dave

...and see, what I consider "cleaning" in regards to THIS hobby means removing the dirt and encrusted corrosion. Patina and dirt/corrosion are two different things. Looking at your coins, I wouldn't consider them to be "cleaned" per se; they all still have their patinas, they are just now dirt-free. I like them

 

[adaminnh]

... I wish I'd have heard your words of wisdom about never ever cleaning a coin before I ruined these Seriously, I agree about not cleaning coins that have been in collections for their whole lives but dug coins are a completely different situation. If I had to live with coins that looked the way they do coming out of the ground I'd have given up on this hobby a long time ago. I don't agree with the toothbrush either, if your cleaning a silver coin with one it will hairline it bad no matter how soft it might feel. I think that the two biggest keys to nice dug coins is first don't hit it with the shovel, and don't "field clean" them. I always wait to get them home then figure out what the best way to treat them is.... Dave

Cant really argue with those results. Those are beauties!

 

[BuckleBoy]

... I wish I'd have heard your words of wisdom about never ever cleaning a coin before I ruined these Seriously, I agree about not cleaning coins that have been in collections for their whole lives but dug coins are a completely different situation. If I had to live with coins that looked the way they do coming out of the ground I'd have given up on this hobby a long time ago. I don't agree with the toothbrush either, if your cleaning a silver coin with one it will hairline it bad no matter how soft it might feel. I think that the two biggest keys to nice dug coins is first don't hit it with the shovel, and don't "field clean" them. I always wait to get them home then figure out what the best way to treat them is.... Dave

Check out my video on how to clean a dug silver coin. Camel's hair all the way, with running water, will not hairline the coins. Easy solve.

 

[JimmeyC]

Glad you liked the tip... although I said brillo pad, I usually use a very fine steal wool (0000) it is not as course and therefore a little friendlier on the coin.

 

[SCDigginWithAK]

... I wish I'd have heard your words of wisdom about never ever cleaning a coin before I ruined these Seriously, I agree about not cleaning coins that have been in collections for their whole lives but dug coins are a completely different situation. If I had to live with coins that looked the way they do coming out of the ground I'd have given up on this hobby a long time ago. I don't agree with the toothbrush either, if your cleaning a silver coin with one it will hairline it bad no matter how soft it might feel. I think that the two biggest keys to nice dug coins is first don't hit it with the shovel, and don't "field clean" them. I always wait to get them home then figure out what the best way to treat them is.... Dave

How did you clean the coppers?!?! They look AMAZING!

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

interesting , hmmmmmSOS