1820 Small Date? Please Grade...

I dont know why it cut the bottom of the pic off... I had to resize it, must have done it wrong.... I'll try again

Wow, what a fantastic find. That is amazing! Hard to believe it is not more corroded. Thanks for sharing.

A lot of detail there in the hair, XF45 details.

I was thinking XF-45 to AU-50 also, or graded no lower than XF-40, but I really don't know, that was just comparing pics on photo grade, other sites and reading descriptions on it..
So if I sent this to NGC for grading I'd only be looking at a VF-20 to 25? I believe you as I'm sure you know more about grading than me, but I thought it would score higher even with the scratch and darker surface, Although the photo appears darker than it really is.
And in the photos what appears to be a porous surface only looks that way in the photo... For some reason, maybe because I used a crappy point and shoot with flash under artifical light at like 11 last night? (I really dont know how to photograph coins good yet...) Even under magnification it doesn't look like that in person...where the most is, around the date it looks more like there are actually tiny pieces of dirt stuck all over it opposed to pored holes/divots... I have a few other really porous coins, the worst a Peace dollar, and this looks the opposite, like its stuff protruding off.
Ya, I just checked again under a microscope and it's definitely some stuff sticking up... Not divots... Where it looks like its going in its actually sticking off.And the pics are actually darker than the coin is, you can see a bronze color in places and appears to be under dirt... I'll try to take a better photo, any tips?
As mentioned I pulled it from the ground and just ran it lightly under water, not even rubbing it, and am not sure if or how I should "clean" that off...? Some sort of dip maybe? Thanks a lot guys!

Sure was... Western mass... I've never found anything until yesterday, just old nails and metal. My friend brought me out with him and sure enough I found this within a half hour, about 5" under packed soil, (with my cheaper Bounty hunter 2...he has a nice detector he uses) but he's found 5 large cents (none as nicely dietailed as this one though), and a Seated Liberty quarter, probably more, but that's all I know of. So by all rights I owe the find to him as he brought me to the place. And he doesn't even collect coins! He just does it for fun!! I'm in the prosess of getting him to sell me the rest of his coin finds.
I need to get better pics of this one though b/c the colors off and it looks porous... I really want to send it to NGC for grading but if it's only going to pull a VF-20/25 I don't know if it's worth it ... Although I believe it could get graded higher as the photos are horrible and it's definitely not porous under magnification and has a bronze color... It just looks like its covered in 180 years of dirt... Any way to clean/ dip it to get that off?

No it will come back as Details XF-45 or AU-50 Environmental Damage. They don't assign a net grade. I'm EAC and we do net grade.

Conserve? It was packed in the ground for 190 years and looks great. I'd leave it just as is.

Conder101,
Ok , I understand what your saying now.. I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you ment as I've never sent a coin in for grading, only bought them already TPG'ED. Is the environmental damage the pitting? And obviously the green spot in the top right? And the color? Because as I mentioned it's really not porous at all (although in the pics it definitely looks that way)..The reverse is smooth as a baby's bottom but appears to have "something" on it & In hand the face looks a lot different than the picture.. It actually has the copper/bronze color, it just looks like it has crud stuck on it (and I'm sure it is a little dark (But not as bad as the pic looks)
Is there anything I could safely clean it with? Acetone or something? As I have no experience with it... I actually lightly rubbed my finger nail over the green spot and it came off a bit but I didn't want to mess with it... And it seems the crud will too but I don't want to try and scratch it..
I mean grades not that important to me as the coin looks great, to me at least, and as my first find I'd never part with it anyways.. But if possible I would like to get that junk off.. Any suggestions?
And I'm really confused on value... My RedBook says that in EF-40 it would be worth $250, $450 in AU-50, and NGC's price guide says ALOT more for both grades.. Is the NGC price if it's TPG'ED? And also how much would the environmental damage take away from the value? It just be nice to know the value for the fun of it...
I'm really sorry for all the questions I'm just excited over my first find and trying to learn a thing or two along the way about grading and value.. I'm confused enough on "cleaned" value, let alone this... I would like to send it for grading just to know for haha's.. But if it's not worth the cost it to send in I don't want to, ya know?

Ya, I'm definitely not going to attempt to clean it as I'd probably ruin it.. & I like it as is and I guess that's all that matters... That's how it's been for about 190 years, why change it now right?
Drsandman2 your absolutely right, I have checked ebay and there were 2 close in details, one detailed a bit less than my find but heavily corroded went for $85+ ship, and another Graded EF-40 (also with less detail than mine) went for $190+ ship, but it was a rotated die... So I'd say mine falls between those two, maybe, well probably closer to $100..
But as I said I was just curious and trying to learn more about grading, how grading works and how damage affects grading. And as mentioned I'd never sell it anyways, I'd be happy if it was worth $1... Still a 100% mark up from face value actually I'd still be completely satisfied if it was still worth a penny... no matter the value it's worth more to me as my first find.
Thanks a lot everyone, I've learned quite a bit!
Lol, Grab your detectors and shovels! God knows I'm hooked on searching for the rest of my life now!! Although I'll never be that lucky again, when I picked it up I almost passed out...
I have a few other coins I want to have graded so would it be a good idea to have it slabbed just because? Or totally impractical? Or maybe a better question would be would you send it for grading?