Well... I wrecked my beautiful find

Sorry your cleaning job didn't turn out as planned. I've ruined alot of coins trying to clean them. My coins come out of the ground looking like yours at a particular site. Years of fertilizer use ruins most of my copper pennies and nickels. If you dig another like that instead of trying to clean with liquid try to dry brush with a soft bristle toothbrush gently. Blow off the dirt then take a little oil from your skin and rub on the surface of the coin to bring out the high spots on the coin. Most people shy away from cleaning coins, but we all know when they come out of wet ground caked with mud or dirt...What you gonna do??? Good luck on your next hunt friend.
 

Thank you all very much for your encouragement and stories of your own mistakes! Knowing I'm not the only one who has trashed a nice coin helps my state of mind. But of course I'm sorry your past coins got trashed as well:)

Has anyone ever tried liver of sulfur to add patina back to copper coins?
 

I would never use steel wool on any coin except perhaps a nickel, although a soak for a few days in ketchup is probably milder for nickels (just nickels). Several baths in peroxide would have been the better move with this coin, though like I said I'm sure if you removed more of the green it would have revealed some pitting. Try dropping it in boiling peroxide as this will darken it a bit, but it will still look kind of blotchy. There's a darkener on the market called Del's Darkener--i have some, but have not tried it yet--this may help...same source as the Verdi-Care I told you about. Don't feel bad as it was not in such great shape to begin with! You should see what I did to my first large cent! :)
 

I doubt there is anyone here who hasn't screwed up a coin or find by trying to clean it. On the bright side you still have your great find, the one 2 cent piece I found I accidentally threw it away, imagine how I felt:BangHead:
 

UGHHH,that was a beutiful green patina......lesson learned though,dont beat yourself up.I want to warn ya,straight water can ruin a coin as well....I found that out on my first large cent...
 

WHADIFIND said:
Not cleaning is generally a good rule of thumb. BUT, that said, it's not a catch all.

One thing I've found after many, many years experience in dealing with finds is that one tends to develop an "eye" for recognizing items that will lend themselves to a bit of cleaning. Some, just plain will NOT improve! But, some, can and do. Telling the difference is an art, at best!

Ok, so with all that said, how does one obtain this knack for telling? By mistakes. Now you've had one. Just learn from it and move on.

There is one thing I've often wondered though. I wonder if coins like this might lend itself to a painting, plating, or some such? I mean after the coin is already trashed, not much to lose, right? I wonder if one could take a coin like this to be restored? It's already fried and would never be worth anything. (Unless, maybe, it was gold plated? ;) )

Whatcha think experts? Might a piece of history be somewhat preserved by something like this?

The knowledge of finding a coin like that is quite a bit the reward. Especially since you can still tell what it is, still readable. Maybe an enhanced tarnish campaign would help? ;)

Nice save!
HH!
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Thank you! As you stated, the positive side to this situation is knowing that I saved this piece of history from the ground. I know the coin is trashed but even my "before" pictures are a VAST improvement than when I pulled it from the ground. I wasn't even sure it was a coin when I pulled it from the dirt. It was a thick solid green disc. So I guess I should kinda actually be happy that I was even able to identify the coin. Looking for a silver lining here;)
 

003 (2).JPGAters 35 years of detecting,thats whats left of my only shield nickel I ever found, after the the electric bath,the 5 & stars are completely gone.I look at it every day trying to see if they're coming back.
 

beau-bc said:
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=805507"/>Aters 35 years of detecting,thats whats left of my only shield nickel I ever found, after the the electric bath,the 5 & stars are completely gone.I look at it every day trying to see if they're coming back.
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Oh man that looks shockingly familiar! I'm sorry for your loss:). Thanks for sharing!
 

Don't worry about it. The lesson you learned is worth more than the coin. There are plenty of 2 centers out there and they usually come out in pretty nice shape. You will dig more if you stick with the hobby. I dug 4 of them in 2011.
 

Lesson learned. I've ruined a couple coins myself so don't feel bad. I don't use water or anything on my coppers now, only toothpicks. Works wonders, just very time consuming.
 

Cleaner's remorse. I've had it. We've all had it. If you found one two center you'll likely find another someday. Keep at it.
 

I haven't read this through.
just the leading paragraph
How to Create a Green Patina on Copper | eHow

unfortunately I don't think you can put the exact green patina back on .

you can try the weather thing for a year.

in the future only clean if you have a slug otherwise.
This is how I treat my copper & Nickel coins.

If I can ID & get a date, I leave them alone.

IF I need to know if it's a Key date, I'll clean it at the date.
IMO a damaged/cleaned Key Date coin is worth more then
a coin without a visible date :icon_thumleft:
 

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Well don't feel bad I just dug this large cent my first .tryed to find the date but all I can see is a 18 and looks like they had a bad strike on it and I cleaned it and it lost detail so your not alone in the coin cleanin time is hard on copper I guess

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catfisherman said:
Well don't feel bad I just dug this large cent my first .tryed to find the date but all I can see is a 18 and looks like they had a bad strike on it and I cleaned it and it lost detail so your not alone in the coin cleanin time is hard on copper I guess

View attachment 805657
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large cents. 1808 to 1814 were made of particularly softer metal,
so if you find one in that range they are more likely to not have a date,
and any attempt to find one will probably do more damage.

Still cool to find Large Cents. :thumbsup:
 

Everyone has great points and I've tested many methods on my numerous Lincoln's with a fair amount better for my efforts . But I have recovered IH's that actually were completely covered in light green patina and showed perfect details and looked to be in excellent condition except for the green , they even had a gloss to them . However , my father-in-law tried to clean some he had the looked the same and after the green was gone so were a lot of the details that showed before . The best way is anyone's guess and I think it's up to the finder and they shouldn't be encouraged to clean their find's but they also shouldn't be scolded for it either . It's up to them . I think those he cleaned look fine and although they lost some of their value being cleaned , they are not scarce and worth a ton of cash . Now if it was done to a 1877 IH then that would be a problem .... IMHO , Woodstock
 

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