A Few Coins

[L David Keith]

Some of the coins my friends/customers have dug over the years. A few caches, were recovered, some small, some large, but I do not post those. One thing I dislike seeing on video's: rubbing the dirt off vintage coins! Big NO-NO! If by the rare chance you ever dig a rare, key date coin, you can damage the value considerably by rubbing the dirt off the coin. I carry empty pill bottles with a dozen cotton balls stuffed inside. Each old coin gets placed between a cotton ball, dirt and all until I get home. At that time, I soak each coin in hot, soapy water for 10 or more minutes until all the dirt (all dirt contains micro-sand particles) falls off. I then lay the coin on a dry paper towel and fold enough of the towel to pay dry, still never rubbing, in case micro particles are still attached. Once you discover the date, type and other information, you can determine what your next move will be. Same goes for many delicate  Revolutionary/civil war relics, especially 2-3 piece buttons. 

 

[strick]

7 hours ago, L David Keith said:

 Once you discover the date, type and other information, you can determine what your next move will be. 

This is a topic that has been brought up here before...say you have a silver coin worth potentially $1700-$4500 or more..it has some dirt that rinsing will not get rid of maybe a iron stain on it..the coin is in fairly good shape..

what would be your next move?

strick 

[George Kinsey]

When you and Keith were pounding the dirt down south, I was doing the same with my original Sovereign up north. It said no to big iron, but yes to big brass. George.

[F350Platinum]

I would really like to know more about your preservation efforts as well.

Luckily I was still finding mostly junk when I started detecting, but my relic season this year was the best ever.

Fortunately I started watching the Hoover Boys videos, I found them through searching for stuff related to Garrett which they were associated at the time. They use a nice little field spray bottle that I am not able to kill no matter how dirty it gets, it's 8 bucks on eBay: 

They have a running gag about "Whipping the Foo" whenever someone finds a silver coin. It's not great but it's better than just rubbing the coin in your fingers.

I try to keep distilled water in it, but often have to fill it in the field with my water because I use it on buttons, buckles, pretty much everything now before I put them in my bag or padded box.

I'm glad I began early, as I've found even rubbing old coppers does a lot of damage due to deterioration. 

I recently dug this little rarity, ~38,000 of them were minted. I sprayed and sprayed until all the dirt was off. Unfortunately the reverse is obliterated from it being worn, but it would be very valuable if not.

1803 half dime. If I just rubbed it I shudder to think of what might have happened. 😬

If you have other preservation recommendations for coins or iron objects, I think you'll find we are all very interested. 🙂 I've found it's hard to find any one consistent and agreed on method.

Maybe put a drop of dish soap in the bottle? 🤔

[L David Keith]

Fellow Detectorists; we usually find methods that work for us over time and trial and error, but sometimes "Diggers" really don't care as much about preservation that the fun of digging new finds, be it coins, relics or jewelry. Many ideas get posted, some great, some good and some are just bad! In the field, when I recover a coin that appears to be silver or old copper, I place it in a plastic medicine bottle between cotton balls. I do not attempt to clean it at that time. I do the same for 19th century military buttons. Once home, I rinse coins in tap water to remove excess dirt/clay but soak them in warm water that I've added a drop or two of Dawn. After 10-20 minutes, I rinse again and lay on a paper towel. If I clearly see it's later than Barber, and no key date, I wipe off with the paper towel. If it's before Barber, I gently pat the coin dry but do not rub. Civil war buttons are gently cleaned with a variety of small, soft bristle brushes. If the button appears to retain any gold gilt, I dab Amazing Gilt Cleaner on it and immediately the gold will shine through. Unfortunately, this product disappeared a few years ago and I haven't seen it since. It is truly amazing. As for iron deposits on coins/relics, there are a number of solutions that remove iron but great caution must be exercised using any product on copper. Some that can remove iron are Whisk, Iron Out, Vinegar, Ezzox, WD-40, baking soda on aluminum and of course Electrolysis. For relics and coins, I like the Ugly Box. I don't recommend it for larger iron such as artillery fragments, bayonets, canteens etc., the Ugly Box is better for smalls. I recommend getting the Ugly Book which gives more details on using the Box. If you build your own kit, the #1 mistake is using too much power. The State of Florida can take two full years to clean a Spanish cannon, so GO SLOW! If your item is fizzing like Alka Seltzer, your power supply is WAY too high! Be patient, take your time and watch other video's on cleaning. You may or may not like an oiled surface on your coins/relics, but it can protect the surface and can be removed usually. Some liquids can penetrate the metal like WD-40 or Ezzox, so do some research until you find what you like and experiment with junk metal or newer dug coins.