indian head

[POKIE73]

went out yesterday found a old indian head could not make out the date i read that you can soak them overnight in vineger big mistake now you can not make out any details on the front of the coin the back looks good lesson learned dennis

[aloldstuff]

Dennis, I have found that soaking it in soda ( Sierra Mist) for about an hour loosens the really crusty stuff. I then rinse it and then put it in olive oil. I have cleaned some nasty IH's that came out really great.

Read Rob's post in this forum.

[POKIE73]

thanks i will try that next time it is too late for the last one it looks like it took off all the details from the front of the coin the back was ok live and learn i quess dennis

[AmxFred]

went out yesterday found a old indian head could not make out the date i read that you can soak them overnight in vineger big mistake now you can not make out any details on the front of the coin the back looks good lesson learned dennis
Vinegar is an acid and eats the coin up. If you use vinegar you can only use it for a couple of minutes and then rinse the coin with clean water. Overnite is deadly as you learned.

[JTGOLD]

here is a pic of two IH's I used electrolisis on and it took about 3 minutes each,
could not even make out the date on the 1865 befor I did it you can see for yourself the results of this way of cleaning coins.

[POKIE73]

that indian looks great mine not so good but i learned a good lesson thanks dennis

[ssserena]

dennis you are the king of indian heads,I want to improve my indian head count this year from 1 to 14 im going to have to step up we need to get together again I didn't have enough time to get to talk to you see you soon and I hope you feel better.

[ChrisinCT]

Porkie , did the vinegar etch the surface of the coin?

If so you could lightly brush the surface with some scotch brite.

It will smooth out the etching and bring out some of the detail.

I wouldn't do this on a good or valuable coin but seeing the damage has already been done there's nothing to loose trying it.

I etched my Essayons copper button by incorrectly cleaning it and couldn't make out any detail. Doing this brought it back to life but not as nice as it was before cleaning it.

Good luck let me know if it worked if you give it a try.