Another 1798 Cent

Boy oh boy, what happened? Looks like something recovered from a nuclear plant meltdown. The sad part is it still has good details.

VG10 details corroded surfaces.

EDIT - I think the coin has much better than VG10 possibly VF grade, but the active corrosion will kill it, that is why I'm at VG10 on this one. Get her into some verdi-care ASAP. In the meantime soak her in acetone until you get the verdi-care. Hopefully that will slow down the surface damage somewhat. Even with all the gunk she still is a beauty. Love the old copper ladies.

well that obviously did not work!

Draped-bust Babe might be my favourite liberty. She inspires many. It's a fine, very desirable type coin in precisely the condition it is in.

That's because being affordable is an attribute in itself -- unpolished early copper without any corrosion is mostly ruling-class affair, with prices into four digits for mid-grade circulated coins. This coin, which would net at about G4 (VG-10 details), can be still be bought for the price of a nice restaurant meal. A wise purchase for someone, because early coppers are very pretty, very old and can be tough to find at all. They always appreciate, even the unhappiest examples much worse than this coin.

Forgive me if you already know all this ... but if you decide to clean this coin, invest in professional assistance. Properly cleaned, it will, on balance, raise the value and extend the life of the coin. That's because you have "active" corrosion, which ultimately leads to a point of no return. You must arrest this, if you want to recognise this coin in 20 or 30 years (unless you plan to climate control its environment and reduce humidity to the low teens, or store it in a vacuum, or argon gas).

Cleaning objectively reduces value because the surface is no longer original, and that can virtually always be detected. It will never be worth as much as a coin with no corrosion that's never been cleaned or polished. But active corrosion reduces value much more, and removing it ensures the survival of the coin. The details you have on this coin are worth saving into the future. Those will always be original.

But find someone who understands metallic chemistry if you want to halt the corrosion. Don't follow internet advice about vinegar or other acid treatments. Cleaning this properly requires chemical or metallurgical expertise and sophisticated equipment. The process must be accomplished in strict sequence in controlled conditions.

A chemist should be able to stabilise the corrosion on the fields and the face, and convert the surface of the tiny corrosion hills into smoother metal, though the color overall will be darker and the bumps will remain. A more metallurgical approach would be to resurface everything --- smoothing, essentially. Either way, any collector or TPG will understand the surface has been treated, but it is much more pleasing to the eye.

try this pic thing again! Thanks for your post pristine.

I'm unsure how much the photography plays in the appearance of this coin; had something been actively working on it for all this time, not much detail would be left. All the same, preserving this important piece of history needs to be a priority and research should be done.

The "canyon" on the reverse is obviously as-struck and part of the planchet - the leaf and O in ONE are complete. So, I don't believe it detracts from value. As regards variety, I'm unequipped to say. Someone who can will be along soon.

SuperDave is correct in regards to the 'canyon' on the reverse. The coin was struck with this defect and is quite obvious as such. The 'canyon' will not lessen the value and some collectors would be interested in this feature.

Type II hair, Type II letters, small 8 That puts it in group 6 S-170 to S-187. The key identifying feature is the top inner left berry. The only one of that groug that has the berry drooping down under the stem like that is S-187. And this appears to be a very early die state. The arc crack through TY to the rim at about 3:00 is very faint if it is present. That crack develops very early.

Reverse depression is as struck.