My Very First Indian Head - Should I Clean It?

[nebulanoodle]

Hey guys, newer coin shooter here. Dabbling from nugget shooting. I found a mining camp I know no metal detector has ever be swung over and I found this beaut! 
 

Wondering if I should clean it?

 

 

[Valens Legacy]

Cleaning a coin is always ones preference on how they feel it should look like.

Grandfather wanted to get a couple of IH's cleaned, but he passed away before he could get it done. They are still sitting in some mineral oil on his desk and I just don't know what to do with them.

Good luck on your decision on whether to clean or not to clean.

[geof_junk]

I like nice clean silver coins but collector prefer them untouched. Looks like that coin is excellent condition and if the date is a bit rare don't clean it yourself, till you have a lot try's on worthless silver coins.

[jim tn]

Personally, I like to leave old coins in their natural state, un-cleaned. And never clean a "key date" coin,,,,,period. But a gentle cleaning of the older types of coins is really a personal thing. HH jim tn

[nebulanoodle]

Gotcha! Thanks for the input, everybody. Might be a silly question here, but I suppose it’s fine to give it a little wash with water? I mean it sat in the ground getting rained on for a hundred years right? I’ll do some more research on this coin before ultimately deciding to get it totally restored though. I really want to see it clean lol plus the safest place I felt like putting it was in my little nug jug where it rubbed against some plastic and cleaned itself just a little bit… it’s hard to tell, but the ear has some rubbed clean spots kind of like the N of ONE.

 

[Compass]

IMO I would leave it as it is now. It is beautiful and really shows a lot of detail as it has been in a drier California(?) environment. I recently found my first seated coin and debated whether or not to try and clean it but, so far, have left it as is. So many times in the past I have tried to clean coins that I have found and most of the results have been disappointing.

[oneguy]

Unfortunately there's no numismatic value to that IH.  The value lies in the fact that you found it after someone lost it 100+ yrs ago.  What I used to do with my IH's is gently clean with Dawn and water, let dry, then soak in almost any kind of oil for a few days then gently take a round wooden toothpick and clean any nooks & crannys.  That's about all you can do with the coppers...  Just the way I did it, not saying it's right or wrong.....

[GB_Amateur]

This question comes up often, and there's no simple answer.  Here's a recent thread that shows some of the difference of opinions:

 

[Steve Herschbach]

I will say it's always safe to not clean a coin. But I will also comment that people in general vastly overestimate the value of coins recovered while metal detecting. Guesses at how coins that have spent time in the ground will grade are often way off the mark. You have to do your due diligence in finding out if the coin is of exceptional value for some reason. If not, then it's really just a personal decision whether to clean it or not.