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 Replies: 20 / Views: 4,678 |
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New Member
United States
14 Posts |
WELL... I happen to have about 100 Peace and 100 Morgan dollars. They were literally found buried in the ground. Some of them have rust that is basically caked over it and the most information I could find it so clean them with a fine cloth, gentle care, and distilled water but I'm still a bit worried about even touching them without a second opinion from the experts here who know what really will ruin a coin for others. Although I'm not so sure if they want a rust covered coin either. Thanks for any advice that you can offer. Alright guys, sorry it took so long to get a picture of a coin example. But I've finally got it now. Here's a picture front an back of a rusted morgan. There are many other coins that look just like this with the same type of rust or whatever this is...   So I heard you how much you all needed some 1921 Morgan dollars. Here's the pile of 1921's from my mother's stash.  and this is how many non 1921's there are, no key dates. Wish these morgans were all pre-1921  . (I picked out the nicest looking 1921. Looks on the high grade of AU or even MS  )  Edited by ryder5000
06/09/2010 3:30 pm
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Valued Member
United States
120 Posts |
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New Member
 United States
14 Posts |
Let me get them out of the safe and snap a couple pictures then. I'll edit them into the first post when I have them.
EDIT: on second thought I can't have the pictures until later tonight. I forgot that I transferred the safe to a more secure location which would actually require me to drive to go get it. So the best I can explain it is that it's such a heavy rust that it literally covers all design of the coin. Should I soak them in distilled water repeatedly?
Edited by ryder5000
06/07/2010 12:39 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2120 Posts |
i would say a good cool water / light amount of natural soap bath would be in order, let em sit for a few days and carefully rinse them off with distilled water ( you can get like 2.5 gallons from the store for a couple dollars.maybe do it a second time once you get the first layer of crud off. But make sure you use an all natural soap, nothing with fragrance chemicals or moisturizers.
Edited by Namachieli
06/07/2010 1:30 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19949 Posts |
Always try water first. DO NOT use soaps, detergents, or other household cleaning products. They will ruin the coins.
If water does not work, give VERDI-CARE™ a try (see my sig).
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
Edited by BadThad
06/07/2010 2:25 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
I too would love to see pictures. Some 90% silver ground finds of mine have had some tarnish, but none were "rusted". Most come out of the ground bright and white (after the mud is washed away). Silver pieces of eight recovered after centuries in salt water are encrusted. They dip these in acid and "Crack" them from their enclosures. They do exhibit what is called "Salt water effect" or a visible porosity on their surface.
Would also like to hear the story of the discovery and any details about the environment they came from ... salt water, heavy sulfur content, etc.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Rust? Were they found in an area known for a lot of iron ore? Rust is iron oxide and will not form on silver. I would suggest a good long soak in some olive oil. Say for at least several months.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
I do metal detecting so I'm familiar with coins that have been in the ground a long time. What environment were they found in? In normal soil silver coins should usually come out looking pretty good (occasionally with tarnish, though usually not). Did you find them at the beach? That can be a whole different story. There the coins are almost always black. Often they have sand fused to them, and the corrosion on the coin makes it bumpy. I have a VERY rough looking Merc that I found at the beach a while back that does look like it has rust on one side. My guess is that iron in the sand might have had an effect. My other thought is that if they were found in a buried cache maybe they were stored in a iron or steel container and that rusted. Being in contact with iron would allow for some of the rust to transfer to the coin. Anyway, here is the best website I've seen on cleaning coins. Maybe it will help. http://metaldetectingworld.com/clea...n_coin.shtml |
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New Member
United States
14 Posts |
Well these coins were actually a complete luck find. Some old guy had actually put them in the ring of a tractor tire. Not only did he do that. He also buried the tractor tire. NOT ONLY did he do that, but he planted a tree over it too. So once we removed the tree, we had to get rid of the stump. Well that tractor tire was in our way and we wondered what the heck it was doing buried anyways. So when we got it moved around a bit we found some glass shards. We looked inside and found a combination of about 400-500 peace and Morgan dollars. My parents took the spoils and the divorce separated the coins. So now each have an ice cream pail full and only my mother has allowed me to take a peek at hers. I helped her put a price on what she had and that's about the only reason she let me see them. I guess they just don't trust their own son enough with looking at them :P. BUT I was over at my fathers trying to convince him to let me get a peek at his. It's going to take some work to get him to take that stash out. He distracted me with silver coins and wheat pennies and I guess I'll just have to keep trying to get to that very expensive ice cream pail to even get the slightest idea of what that was worth altogether. ALSO: Think it's a good idea to get a metal detector ;P? That guy did not die a poor man. He also had a very, very definite hate for banks. My mom would tell me stories of how she would find candy boxes filled with cash in his store and tell him that he needed a new hiding place for it since she found them. We've unearthed plenty of antique jars from the property, but ever since that tractor tire, none have contained anything but the glass themselves. Edited by ryder5000
06/08/2010 03:15 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19949 Posts |
Wow....that's a crazy story, thanks for sharing. I'd DEFINATELY get a detector and start looking. If he buried one set of coins, there's probably another set somewhere.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2120 Posts |
Well you can still see the silver peeking out from underneath. I think they are definitely savable. Just be very careful with how you restore them (notice I didn't say clean  ) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1571 Posts |
By all means, get a metal detector! Two good reasons: One pot does not make a treasure trove, but it indicates the need to do much more searching. The other reason, is that when you are older, and not as active as now, you will find "metaldetecting is as good as any other tpype of exercise! that is where it pays off. Younonly need a place to search, and a way to get there. These two reasons are why my machine is hanging in the shed :(((
Dick
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
Shoot, I'll bring my metal detector and go to work!
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Valued Member
United States
439 Posts |
Hmmm, anymore trees on that property?
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New Member
United States
14 Posts |
Plenty. But we found this AFTER the property was bulldozed.So I'm guessing the majority of his collection is well burried. I'd like to get out there with a metal detector sometime but I can't seem to even get my hands on one.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19949 Posts |
Hummmm.....brown, seems to indicate oxidized iron. Have you tried simply rinsing them under warm running water (no rubbing)?
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Replies: 20 / Views: 4,678 |
Posted 06/07/2010 12:26 pm
