1830 Bust Dime...

G4 details. Harshly cleaned. Value? Maybe $10? Nice way to start an inexpensive type set....

Steve, look at the hard lines that exist in the obverse relief. Those are harsh scratches caused by some sort of wire brushing or hard scrub. Secondly, the extreme washout effect left on the surface indicates the coin was scrubbed clean of any patina and therefore is designated as a harsh, not market acceptable cleaning.

A light market acceptable cleaning is a completely different coin than this.

dsfreeworld -- OK, gotcha. It's partially the scratches that make it look "harshly cleaned;" that makes sense. I also get what you are saying about the "washed out" look.

amida17 -- you are pointing at the same thing, no patina on the coin, and thus -- harshly cleaned. Gotcha.

Guys -- here's the deal.

I dug this coin, from the site of a church built in the 1850s that then burned down about 50 years later around the turn of the century, and the piece of land has been just a forest ever since. SO, I am fairly certain of the history of this coin since it was dropped (though it had been in circulation for roughly 25 years before being dropped). I believe this coin laid in the ground from roughly the 1850s or 1860s onward, and then ended up in my "collection" ever since.

So, the scratches on the obverse -- though appearing to expert eyes as being the result of wire-brush cleaning, MUST have happened before being dropped -- i.e. while in circulation.

As for the "patina" issue, it came out of the ground looking almost as it does in the picture; the only thing I did to it "in the field" was pour a little water on it to rinse off the dirt. After doing so, it looked essentially exactly as it does in the picture.

The only other thing I did once I got it home (and which I absolutely would NOT have done, had it been in better/less worn condition) was to rub it gently with a solution of water and a bit of baking soda. Again, NO WAY would I have done that if it weren't already so worn from circulation, but that's the only "cleaning" that was done. I didn't want to state that I dug it, up front, as I didn't want to bias any remarks toward everyone immediately saying "environmental damage."

BUT -- here's my question, and this seems to be a real dilemma. It seems like, for a really old coin to have any value in the eyes of a collector, it MUST have a "patina," period. And along those lines, you are obviously absolutely right that this coin has none of the beautiful patina that I have seen in pictures of nice, old coins. But the problem is, the reason that it has no patina, is that it was in the ground! No silver coin I have ever dug, has that nice patina. So, here's my question...does a coin that was "in the ground" and thus has no patina, AUTOMATICALLY therefore make it a non-valuable coin? I would really like to understand this a little better, is why I ask. It seems like a dilemma -- in that a brand-new coin has NO patina, but then that patina forms over time. On an old coin, that SHOULD have patina, collectors like that. BUT -- if a coin is in the ground, and thus acquires NO PATINA, then does that mean it automatically has very little collectible value? EVEN IF such a coin is NOT CLEANED aside from rinsing with water, would it still be "penalized" by a grading company by being called "damaged" or "cleaned" -- just because of a lack of patina?

I'm trying to learn how this works -- because if I ever dig a REALLY nice coin with super-sharp details, I want to make sure I know what I need to do so that the coin maintains the maximum possible value...

THANKS!

Steve

G-4 Details

lack of original surfaces is what lowers the value. "Patina", Toning, as coin collectors call it, or tarnish is a form of oxidation that develops on the surface when coins are exposed to environmental factors. This layer of oxidation protects the original surface lustre of a coin. When it is removed, through being buried or cleaned it becomes a damaged coin.

G-4.

G-4 details. All coins like this have some value and it might be more valuable to you since you know the history and where you found it. I personally would have left it the way it was after a water soak but, then again, I didn't see it so that is just speculating on my part. Either way, cool story and coin. It probably is only worth $10 to another collector but I wouldn't sell it if I were you. You may regret it later.

Regardless of how it came to appear this way, it just doesn't have the "look" a collector is after. Improper storage in the dirt for 160 years didn't allow this coins surfaces to evolve and tone in a desirable way. G-4 details.

The value here is all in your personal history. Had I been the one to find it, $10 wouldn't even come close to buying this coin. I would keep it to remember how it made you feel to dig it up! Excellent find. I agree with the value also. $10-$15.