SHOULD I CLEAN THIS COIN? 0

[colby abele]

Im sorry, but the title is a bit misleading. Before I tell you about my coin, I just wanted to let all of you know that I am not a novice collector. I have collected for years and I know what I am doing. The coin in question has some very unattractive toning and copper spots that I would like to remove. I was considering using MS70 or olive oil to carefully remove the spots and try to retone the coin with sulphur over time. I want to stay away from dipping the coin since it will automatically strike as details, but if it necessary I am open to options. Since it is a common date coin, I am not worried about sending it in to NGC.

 

The reason I came to this chat board is I would like to keep the coin as original as possible. Before I go at it, I wanted some recommendations from anyone who would be interested. The safest and easiest method of conserving this coin would be best since I normally don't buy these types of coins. Thank you in advance.

[Just Bob]

I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that those areas that are really crusty will still be noticeable, even if you are able to remove all of the black stuff. Whether or not you will be able to retone it to make it look natural is anyone's guess. 

That said, olive oil is probably your safest choice.

[colby abele]

19 minutes ago, Just Bob said:

I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that those areas that are really crusty will still be noticeable, even if you are able to remove all of the black stuff. Whether or not you will be able to retone it to make it look natural is anyone's guess. 

That said, olive oil is probably your safest choice.

Thank you. I just soaked it in a mixture of olive oil and MS 70 for the past 10 minutes and it already looks better. There is a spot to the left of the date that is damaged so I guess this coin is a dooser after all. 

[JKK]

18 hours ago, colby abele said:

Thank you. I just soaked it in a mixture of olive oil and MS 70 for the past 10 minutes and it already looks better. There is a spot to the left of the date that is damaged so I guess this coin is a dooser after all. 

 

Matter of opinion. Doesn't look better to me. Before, it looked natural with some discoloration. Now it looks cleaned, and the cleaning didn't even get rid of the discoloration. Two steps back, no steps forward.

[RonnieR131]

It is a matter of opinion. I wanted to say 15 hrs ago what my first reaction was. Somewhat taken aback at the transformation from a 'not bad' at all coin to a pale, plain looking, been cleaned coin. Since JKK said it first, I concur, ditto. I'd go to that sulfur over time trick  Just an 'eye appeal' OPINION though Colby, and as you said, had nothing to lose, and still a cool coin.

[Conder101]

Eye appeal wise originally maybe a 5 of 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best, now maybe a 2.

[kbbpll]

The interesting thing to me is the OP posts at 8:31pm asking for advice and by 9:32pm it's over. 

On 6/2/2020 at 8:31 PM, colby abele said:

I would like to keep the coin as original as possible

with MS70 and olive oil and then talking about retoning with sulfur. Whew. It's almost 150 years old. I would have just left it alone.

[VKurtB]

A huge step backwards. 

[MorganMan]

Poor coin. It already had issues, then you came along.....

[gmarguli]

I'm 99% certain you're trolling. I also highly doubt that all that was done was a 10 minute soak in olive oil and MS70. Olive oil is not reactive enough to change the surfaces in 10 minutes. You'd have needed to do some serious rubbing with MS70 to get all the color off.

There are ways to lessen or remove those dark areas without harming the originality of the coin. 

[Conder101]

On 6/14/2020 at 3:35 PM, gmarguli said:

There are ways to lessen or remove those dark areas without harming the originality of the coin.

That ship has sailed.