Identification Of Coin Found

Hi there! Its a cartwheel penny or potentially a twopence:

http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk/pics/pen2.html

Cheers!

To be honest mash, it's in such a state that a soak in olive oil is unlikely to do it much harm and might (possibly) tidy up a little of the surface crud. Maybe worth a try?

Oh, and for 'cartwheels'
2d = 41mm diameter
1d = 36mm dia

in case it helps.

Really depends on the coin. Obviously if any treatment loosens surface crud you don't really want to then rub it over the faces, as that may cause scratching. But if that's the only way to identify a find then working on small areas is better than big sweeping wipes.

I've heard people using all sorts to clean from cotton buds to toothpicks (mostly for stubborn small bits of muck or between letters)

I've only used olive oil a couple of times. It's slightly acidic but works quite slowly. A few hours to several days may loosen dirt which can then be rinsed off under a tap. Again, ideally, try not to rub, but if it's a knackered coin you just want a bit cleaner it probably won't hurt much. Months even.

The earlier coins you posted with verdegris, really aren't keepers IMHO. But a plastic tray with some olive oil might help a little. I'd experiment as you have several. Pull one out after a couple of days and rinse it and see if there's any improvement. If not .. pop it back in. The oil will pick up the colour of the verd but still works as far as I know.

Sometimes coins with bright green don't have verdegris, but it's a deposit from old PVC plastic. That should come off with acetone, though I'm not sure where you get that. I did use my daughter's nail-polish remover once which worked, but may have had other chemicals in it. However as I wouldn't use it on a valuable coin, nothing was lost.

Sometimes you get verdegris on silver coins (copper was added to get the correct fineness and the alloy wasn't always fully homogenous). In those cases I just leave it, though I've heard some people use a toothpick and acetone to reduce such spots.

Obviously cleaning isn't really recommended. But the coins you showed would be a good selection to experiment on. that way if you did want to play with something more worth keeping you could do so a bit more safely.

since this is related to the topic, I'd like to ask if anybody is familiar with QEII sixpence varieties or errors.



the one on the right appears to have a weak strike, but it doesn't show well here....



in person, there is a distinct difference in how all the details, the legends in particular, seem to have bee struck. whereas they are flat in the coin on the left, they seem to be much smoother in the other one.





the 'normal' coin weighs 2.77g here





this one weighs only 1.84g


There is a noticeable difference in their thickness, and the lighter one sounds strangely more 'ringy', like copper or silver. I remember I picked out a 1966 1/2 penny that had an outer layer of metal peeled off exposing the underlying copper so I'm not sure what the circumstances surrounding these coins could be. Any thoughts?

I've been defaulted to .com
If you look on .co uk there is far more information and feedbacks.

Good luck

It looks as though it's been lightly dipped in acid.

If it were I wouldn't know. got this interesting piece from a date run lot.

ok, thanks a lot!