Key date again... Bad shape...

[ToddWisconsin]

Tonights finds included another merc , a silver rosey , a dozen wheaties , a silver ring (which I gave to the landowner ) , a penny stack (6) with a 43 steel cent in the middle of them.. and this penny I thought was a modern crusty zinc penny.. I was about to toss it in the garbage with the steel cent , then decided Id give it a peroxide bath... It is one of the worst coins I have ever found.. scraped a layer off , and low and behold it it was an Indian..Told the wife I sure hope it is like a 1904 and not a keeper...sure as heck it is a 1866.. key date...grrr...and it was lost in beautiful condition..I can even see the lines on the shield...but mother nature did a number on this one..Oh well ..it was still exciting to almost get a good one.. not bad for a couple hours ...

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Todd,

I have quite a few like that and haven't found anything that can bring them back. But I haven't tried electrolysis yet.

Here in Beloit and around the cabin up in Minnesota the soil is fairly sandy and kind to copper. A few miles east of here much more clay and crusty crappy IHs are the norm.

Chris

 

[ToddWisconsin]

This was sand country..and most of my Indians ussually look pretty good..But this was near a road , and I think a hundred years of salt from the winter did a number on it.. Kinda like finding Indians and coppers in eastern Wisconsin.. the Fertilized fields are brutal to copper coins.. one day we found twelve copper coins in a farmfield ..the newest being a 1870 two center .. and a couple 1859 Indians..and even a large cent..but all twelve coins were " junk " cuz of the fertilizers used...what a shame...but here in sand country they ussually look better... I'm gonna get a better one than this next week..lol.. Just got me offguard thinking it was a rusty zinc penny...

 

[MikeO]

Nice finds Todd.
Some and I will at times soak in O.O. but, it is really not recommended as the oil is naturally organically acidic. Then you really have to neutralize the acids and then that's another issue and etc. etc.
One thing you can do is to soak the 1866 in Distilled Water for a week or so changing out the water often. It can help break down the deposits/mineral deposits on the coin. Do some reading about it and decide for yourself what you think is best. Good thing atleast it is dated.

 

[sgoss66]

Nice!

Steve