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Found a Seated Dime, How to clean it?

S

samuel_schumaker

New member
Ok i am really getting lucky now, silver number 4 and its a seated dime. But im afraid on how i should clean it. I feel like the barber dime i found two days ago might have some small fine scratches from me running tap water over it and rubbing with my fingers and i do not wanna damage anymore old coins. Im not sure its worth anything but i dont wanna take a chance. What do you guys do to clean them. Im posting the pic of it the way it is and after i get it cleaned up i will post good pics of it. I was totally shocked as it was the last target i was gonna dig and then head home to see the kiddos. I saw it was silver but i put it in my pocket thinking it was probly a merc and when i got home and looked closely i could see it was not. I hope i didnt scratch it becasue it was right on the side of my plug and somehow only about 3 inches deep. this was about 20 feet away from where i found the barber two days ago which was more like 10 inches deep. I was shocked when it turned out to be silver and even more now that i see that its a seated coin. I didnt think i would even find a seated coin this year, i havent even found a merc yet. It was a perfect tell tale signal like a clad dime so obviously nobody had put there coil over it before now. I did manage to find a decent amount of clad this time unlike the other day so maybe this little area hasnt been hit much. I dug a 2003 clad quarter at 6 inches but i think its because it was below the storm drain and eroding dirt probly buried it quicker then normal. So if anyone knows the best way to clean it then please post and i will get her cleaned up and post more pics. Thanks all, HH, Sam
 
What is the year and mintmark on it? I can't tell.

If you would rather not clean it deliberately, try letting it soak in olive oil for however long it takes to lift the crud. A week? A month? Just let it soak indefinately ..
 
Its an 1881 and i cant see the mintmark, its just gonna sit in my collection forever as i dont plan on selling any finds so maybe i should just rinse it, the dirt is like clay and actually isnt stuck to it very hard at all, its the fine cleaning i guess i should be worried about, and thats probly not a real valuable coin anyways?
 
Hi Samuel , awesome seated dime, still waiting to find my first seated anything so congrats :beers: wish i had some info on cleaning old coins im a little green on that subject , but interested as well on cleaning old coins mostly large cents and Indian heads , hope to see some great tips from your post , Thanks for sharing the picture and the story!!

David
 
Um, i just looked at the mintage numbers and am i seeing that correctly Dave? only 24,000
 
MY BAD, i rubbed a small area off so i could see the date better, its actually an 1891, darn, my heart was pounding. Oh well its still a decent find for my 4th silver i guess
 
Outstanding find, for sure! If it's just some clay stuck to it, I'd soak it in some water, and when it loosens up, run it under tap water, that should get the crud off. DO NOT rub an old coin that you think may be valuable...those little scratches you will put in it are apparently enough to cause some coin grading services to mark the coin "cleaned/damaged" instead of grading it.

Anyway, excellent job on the Seated!

Steve
 
Thanks steve, the clay rinsed right off, half the coin is kind of a dull finish instead of the nice silver finish like its stained so its soaking right now, i did SCRATCH it :ranting: , on the back side i can see a mark down the middle. Next time i see a shallow target i will do a better job pinpointing instead of just assuming its a piece of clad. Darn it
 
It happens, Sam...learning experience!

The dull finish is obviously from being in the ground so long; don't worry about the "nice silver finish;" from a collector perspective, an old, non-mint-state coin with a "shiny silver finish" screams "polished," and from what I understand, this is a negative in most cases...

Look on the bright side, you learned a good lesson, and -- it WASN'T the 1881 coin...THEN you'd have been SICK...

Steve
 
I keep my silver coins and like to have them shiney, and have had very good luck with baking soda. You still want to do it very carefully, but I just take a wet finger and put it in the baking soda to make a wet paste, gently dab and rub it around on the coin and makes them look great! Lotta folks are super "don't rub", and I wouldn't for a key date coin to be sold, but for my own personal enjoyment it works great.
 
Heres a pic of it cleaned up a little with some light rubbing and baking soda. I can tell that it would not be a good idea if it was a coin of much value. Also i am having problems getting the camera to focus especially after i made it shine more. Starting to think i should just leave them stained and just soak and rinse them. I cant see any mint marks. Cant wait to get back out there tomorrow for a lunch hour hunt, suppose to be almost 70 degrees. Thanks again everyone for all your help the past few months and advice on cleaning. HH, Sam
 
Very nice find, congrats. The problem with dug coins is that they come out of the ground with caked on dirt, no way of avoiding that. Accepting that fact, you have to allow yourself a realistic level of tollerance as to how the dirt must be removed. Call it what you like but the coin must be cleaned. All suggestions mentioned have been realistic solutions. I can only add that I carry a chewing tobacco can filled with cotton balls to transport ALL of my dirty silver from the ground back to my home. A small medicine bottle filled with water or olive oil also works well for transport. JJ
 
I guess it depends on the soil in your area, but silver coins in my area come out looking pretty good, but the tarnish sometimes has darker spots, so the coin looks a little uneven. I use baking soda to even out the tarnish, but only rub it very lightly. I also add lots of water to the baking soda, so it's almost a solution, not a paste.
 
I too will carry medicine bottles (pill bottles) when hunting, one with water in it, and the other with cotton balls. Less-likely-to-be-valuable silver and such goes in the water; possibly more valuable stuff goes between cotton balls...

Steve
 
Thats a great idea, i might get an old pill bottle from the house tonight and fill it with cotton balls, i probly wont find much worth putting in it but i will give it a try. Thanks
 
Ive alway used Bar Keepers Friend instead of baking soda just because it desolves easier. If you use anything like vinegar or olive oil you need to soak it after in baking soda to stop the acididy. Electrolisis does an excellent job in short bursts on silver. It takes it all off without harsh rubbing. Just use a damp micro cloth after. That ones in great shape.... id put some mineral oil on it and put it away.

Dew
 
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