Clean Your Crusted Coins!

[Sirius]

end of a season, the beach that produced got sanded in, so there's very little to find now. I did manage to squeeze one more junk silver quarter from that beach though.

[Sirius]

On 2/8/2023 at 4:51 AM, F350Platinum said:

Let's get "serious", you're on to a great spot. 😁 I wouldn't post much info on that place, but I'd sure be researching and posting the coins. 🤔 Dates/mintmarks matter.

Sad that there isn't a fool proof way to clean silver coins, especially when beach crusted. 😵 If you rub them with your fingers in a field, they get scratched.

Excellent stuff you've been posting, "seriously" 😀. Good job. 👍 I'd be interested in your trash to finds ratio!

Also if you could take sharper photos of both sides, you would greatly appease our resident numismatist. I couldn't be more Sirius about that. 🤪

Here you go.

[F350Platinum]

Out of likes today, but 👍. I'm sure it's about the best you can do with sea crusted coins like that! Nice job.

Could be my mind , but it looks like a 1941. 🙂

That was a really lucky break y'all got there, I went to look at one of my river beaches today and it was sanded in more than I've ever seen. Of course that might mean the water would have something... 🤔

[Sirius]

21 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

Out of likes today, but 👍. I'm sure it's about the best you can do with sea crusted coins like that! Nice job.

Could be my mind , but it looks like a 1941. 🙂

That was a really lucky break y'all got there, I went to look at one of my river beaches today and it was sanded in more than I've ever seen. Of course that might mean the water would have something... 🤔

it's a a very cool piece even though it's really worn down, cleaned up quite nicely as well!

[Jim in ma]

I my self do not clean them,  By the time they look like that value is minimal.When they are clean and shiney they look just like the clad that I am tired of digging in my older beaches or my pocket .

When I look in my box of black and gray cookies they remind me of all the times I looked in the scoop to see them lying on the bottom.   These black cookies are becoming harder to come by.

[Sirius]

1 hour ago, Jim in ma said:

I my self do not clean them,  By the time they look like that value is minimal.When they are clean and shiney they look just like the clad that I am tired of digging in my older beaches or my pocket .

When I look in my box of black and gray cookies they remind me of all the times I looked in the scoop to see them lying on the bottom.   These black cookies are becoming harder to come by.

The condition that this coin was originally in made it impossible to identify without a thorough cleaning. It couldn't be helped. I've left my other coins alone though.

[Badger-NH]

The half-dollar really isn't as worn as it looks. The coin is 90% silver and 10% copper. Saltwater causes the copper to leach out onto the surface bringing with it a certain amount of silver. Under this coating is usually a perfectly good coin. If you remove the black, the oxidized silver coating still remains covering up all the detail. This silver coating is much softer than the coin underneath it. It's soft enough to mar with a fingernail. 

I've tried every possible coin-cleaning method I can think of and nothing will remove this soft silver coating without damaging the coin below it. It is permanently bonded to the coin.

Coins made of pure silver do not have this problem as much. That's why 400-year-old shipwreck coins often look better than 100-year-old coins found at the beach.

 

[Sirius]

11 hours ago, Badger-NH said:

The half-dollar really isn't as worn as it looks. The coin is 90% silver and 10% copper. Saltwater causes the copper to leach out onto the surface bringing with it a certain amount of silver. Under this coating is usually a perfectly good coin. If you remove the black, the oxidized silver coating still remains covering up all the detail. This silver coating is much softer than the coin underneath it. It's soft enough to mar with a fingernail. 

I've tried every possible coin-cleaning method I can think of and nothing will remove this soft silver coating without damaging the coin below it. It is permanently bonded to the coin.

Coins made of pure silver do not have this problem as much. That's why 400-year-old shipwreck coins often look better than 100-year-old coins found at the beach.

 

Yeah ngl the coin lost 5g of its original weight probably from that loss of copper and some silver.