1909-S VDB

Super nice coin. XF 40-45.
If it was mine I'd get rid of the crud with veri-care
and put it in my album.

Yes, it is my invention. I only recommend it as an alternative to paying for conservation services and to save less valuable coins. Leave conservation of high dollar coins to the pros. This coin is nice and original, let it be. That said, the residue is a simple organic grease and not corrosion. It would be easily removed in seconds with VC and a toothpick. But you also run the risk of making it looked like it's been worked on....not worth the risk IMO on a $1200+ coin.

Funny, the first words in my head upon seeing the coin were 'Verdi-Care' - but if BT says no, then that's what I'd go with.

I would send it in to be certified, and potentially conserved (but that's just me).

XF-45

Pay pcgs extra for their conservation service upgrade
Leave it to the experts

Panz, get the beauty out if the blue folder and into a slab IMO

Sweet penny

If you are in the business of selling coins based on grade, then don't touch this coin. Send it off to be graded, then hide it in a safe until you sell it. Even light might damage it over time, so minimize your observations of the coin and never, ever actually touch the coin.

If you collect coins and perceive the history behind it while viewing the artisitic details, then clean it up (gently) and admire it. Learn how to "conserve" your coins. (Experiment on the very common ones that are made up of the same metal groups, and not just the ugly dirty ones. Try your techniques on bright shiny common coins.) Get a digital microscope so you can view what you are doing on a big screen while you are doing it. It is a skill worth learning if you really enjoy your set of coins.

In a hundred years, when you're dead and gone, someone else will come across it and your efforts to clean it won't matter one bit as long as you didn't use a brillo pad or harsh chemicals. Your coin is more likely to be destroyed by the method of storage (some type of plastic) than gentle cleaning.
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I have only one reason for TPGs... is my coin genuine? Wasn't that their original purpose? Now, they are just a marketing scheme.

I would love to find a shiny coin from the civil war era, but I'd rather have a coin used by the infantry man to buy his last pair of boots, or saved his life by stopping a bullet.

With that, I'd state the coin has no financial value. It's an heirloom with sentimental value and you want it to survive for your grandson.

If you were leaving him a Mustang, would you pass on a rusty carcass, or try to fix it up? If it's fixed up, are you going to keep it in the garage or show it off by driving it around. Your grandson would not want it if he thought he had to keep it locked up in a hermetically sealed garage.

TPGs have created this atmosphere that it is taboo to "clean" coins.
Well, that's fine for those in the business of selling proof coins or preventing cheats trying to get an extra buck. But,you'll find that well over 80% of all coins on the market have been cleaned. Another 5% have been "conserved" and another 5% are in sealed packages from the mint. Doesn't leave too many unadulterated coins. And, many of those cleaned/conserved coins are in TPG holders. (Look it up.)

You've got an heirloom, not a museum piece. But, even museums conserve their coins.

I'd consider as a minimum, a dip in Acetone (not fingernail polish) to loosen the grease followed by a cheap toothpick to gently push the dirt/grease off the coin. (Cheap toothpicks are usually a softer wood.) Soft tooth brushes work well, but not all agree with Acetone and the idea is to get plastic off the coin.

Dip the tip of the toothpick in the Acetone and rub it on a piece of glass to turn it into a soft brush. Gently push the toothpick into the dirt/grease. Usually, it will pop off in chunks. (I do this under a microscope, so they look like chunks.)

If the coin is AU, or better, a toothpick or cotton swab can harm the luster. I would advise not to clean these mechanically.

Dip coin again in the Acetone to remove the debris. Wipe (don't scrub) coin with cotton swab soaked in Acetone to remove residual grease. Air dry the coin (takes seconds.) Then, dip in distilled water and pat dry with a dry cotton swab.

Liquid Acetone has NO chemical reaction with copper. Acetone, air and copper do, but any Acetone left on the coin will completely evaporate and the duration is not long enough to cause a reaction. If you don't use distilled water, you will leave some minerals on the coin (think dishwasher spotting on glass.)

Wear a nitrile glove on the hand that handles the coin. (Again, don't want the glove to dissove in the Acetone.) Then, when you put the coin back in it's display, it won't have a fingerprint that slowly eats at the coin.

PRACTICE on common coins first. It's amazing what you can do with a toothpick.

Again, if you are looking to sell this coin, don't change it. Somebody, some day will submit it for grading and the TPG will see hairline scratches (probably from a previous cleaning, or just slipping it in and out of the display you have) and then refuse to grade it. When you pass it on to your grandson, any hairline scratches will have developed a normal patina on them again.

Obviously, I'm very opinionated on the topic and to some, I've destroyed all my coins. But, my grandkids enjoy my coins, handle them, know some of their history, and bring me the coins they find to be "restored." I know they'll enjoy their collections.

You're correct in not trying to remove anything from the surface of your coin. As BadThad noted, removing the contaminants will expose long covered metal that will likely be a different color, possibly porous, and "vulnerable" to further problems.

Should be authenticated with PCGS being the TPG of choice these days.

Thank you for tempering my post with yours.

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"Never be induced to pay extravagant prices for worthless coins. There are some coins which command and are worth a large price. But these are, in fact, very few. Even the rarity of a coin is no test of its real value to a collector. It may increase the price of the article; but the young collector should bear in mind that the high price asked for a coin because it is rare, ought not to make him desirous of possessing it. The moment that the collector begins to value coins because of their rarity, he descends in the scale of Science; and when he seeks to possess rare coins merely because of their being rare, he becomes a speculator, envious and uncomfortable in the presence of others, and ceases to be a genuine Numismatist.

Read as you collect. Never let a coin lie in your cabinet that you cannot give the history of, or connect with some historical event if it be possible. Be careful that your collecting does not become a mere matter of curiosity. Let it rather be a constant aid to your study."

from The American Journal of Numismatics
April, 1872