How to clean a 1943 steel penny. 1 1

[ThePhiladelphiaPenny]

Hello everybody! Recently, I came across a 1943 steel penny. When I found it, it was in really rough shape, with rust encrustation on most of it. I know you are never supposed to clean a coin unless you have to, in this case it seemed as good a time to do it as ever. I cleaned up some of the rust with lemon juice and lightly scraping with a toothpick. The result was a cleaner penny, but it is still very encrusted. And now I am here, needing some guidance on how to better clean this penny. Some pics:

Any guidance would be very appreciated.

[Sandon]

   Welcome to the NGC chat board.

   Once a coin has become corroded like this, there is no way to restore it to its original state and generally no way acceptable in the modern numismatic marketplace to improve it. The corrosion product, in the case of a 1943 zinc coated steel cent rust (iron oxide), includes part of the original coin metal, and its removal would leave pits in the coin's surface. As a dark gray lightly circulated example of this common issue may be obtained for less than a dollar and an average uncirculated example for a few dollars, you shouldn't waste your time with this corroded piece. (Watch out for unnaturally shiny pieces with shiny edges that have been plated to appear uncirculated, as many have.)   

On 2/8/2024 at 6:49 PM, ThePhiladelphiaPenny said:

I know you are never supposed to clean a coin unless you have to,

   Strike the words "unless you have to." You don't have to!  It is acceptable to remove surface dirt or other foreign substances (including glue) that have not chemically bonded with the coin's surface by soaking the coin in acetone (a neutral solvent). (See other forum topics regarding the safe use of this flammable substance.)  A coin can also be rinsed in clean (some recommend distilled) water and patted (not rubbed) dry. Such practices are not regarded as "cleaning".  Any process that abrasively or chemically changes the coin's surface is regarded as "cleaning" and will almost certainly reduce the coin's desirability and value.  When submitted to grading services, such coins are "details" graded as "cleaned", are regarded as impaired, and sell at a discount.

   This is a complex topic. Grading services will sometimes numerically grade silver coins that have been carefully "dipped" in an anti-tarnish solution, but they likely receive lower grades than they would have had their luster not been impaired by the dipping. Coins have also been professionally "conserved" by companies such as NCS that use proprietary processes that are supposed to remove contaminants and residue from a coin's surface but cannot undo existing corrosion, the results of prior "cleaning" or other damage. See Coin Conservation | NCS | Numismatic Conservation Services | NGC (ngccoin.com). 

[Greenstang]

Welcome to the forum

You can by a nice steelie for a couple of dollars, why even try to clean it.

[powermad5000]

On 2/8/2024 at 5:49 PM, ThePhiladelphiaPenny said:

And now I am here, needing some guidance on how to better clean this penny.

You should not have attempted to clean it in the first place. NEVER clean your coins!

Keep in mind cleaning is not the same as conservation in which the surface is remediated from some issues but the surface itself is not affected by such proprietary methods.

The level of corrosion on this cent put it near total loss before you ever obtained the cent. I am sure if you were to try to remove the corrosion you would be surprised at how deep into the planchet that corrosion is. I own a classic car. One thing I learned decades ago about corrosion is that it is always worse and has always progressed further than what you see on the surface. On a car, when you see the paint starting to bubble, if you start to sand off that tiny paint bubble you end up with a baseball size spot of rust as the rust spreads under the surface long before you see surface issues. I have noticed after collecting coins for 45+ years, this same effect happens on coins (although it is due to different degrees than on cars because cars are not made of gold or silver or copper. These different metals are more or less resistant than others to corrosion (gold being the most forgiving). Your steel cent is not much different than a fender or quarter panel on a classic car. It is made of steel. Once that corrosion started showing on the surface, that coin was already lost to unforgiving environmental conditions.

I can just about see the pitting from the corrosion on your cent. There is no better way or way to remediate that. It is permanently damaged and will never look as good as it does now. It has only one way to go, eventually degrading fully and returning to the earth.

 

[JKK]

I'm the heretic here. An obviously modern coin with zero potential to be restored and which will only deteriorate further might as well die as the subject of an experiment that will prove to someone that there's no point in it. It's not like he picked a valuable coin and tried to make it "shinny." It's corroded junk, and people would tell him to spend it for 1c. He got more learning value out of it than that.

To me, the reverse surface looks replated anyway. Can't tell about the obverse, but the idea of plating only one side doesn't sound plausible, so I can't explain the obverse. A replated coin could have had rust underneath which then came through the plating (wear or whatever cause). Any way one looks at it, there's nothing anyone could do to give it value--except for a few people, perhaps, none whom would waste their time on it.

So I would say never clean a coin that might have a hope of being valuable. As in, never clean it until it's proven that no matter what you do, it won't be worth jack. In that case it might as well be an object lesson. Find an S-VDB with verdigris? Stay the hell off that and send it to the professionals for conservation. Found an 82 cent and certain it's a small date but it's a damaged mess? I don't see the harm, unless such cleaning is a gateway cleaning that leads to much worse ideas.

[ThePhiladelphiaPenny]

On 2/9/2024 at 9:48 AM, JKK said:

I'm the heretic here. An obviously modern coin with zero potential to be restored and which will only deteriorate further might as well die as the subject of an experiment that will prove to someone that there's no point in it. It's not like he picked a valuable coin and tried to make it "shinny." It's corroded junk, and people would tell him to spend it for 1c. He got more learning value out of it than that.

Thank you for the response. I was wondering why the reverse looked as nice as it was, and your post clarified that for me. I am disappointed that the coin cannot be restored further, but that should be expected. I was hoping to add this to my collection, but I already own another (I bought one at an antique show years ago).

[EagleRJO]

On 2/8/2024 at 6:49 PM, ThePhiladelphiaPenny said:

... how to better clean this penny

You don't.  

[ThePhiladelphiaPenny]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:45 PM, EagleRJO said:

You don't.  

I am beginning to see that.

[Henri Charriere]

[It is too bad you were not able to provide "before" and "after" photos.  I would have been curious to see exactly what it was that prompted you to take such a drastic measure.

This is an odd hobby where flaws of any kind are worshipped but cleaning in an attempt to improve the appearance of a coin is generally frowned upon.

[ThePhiladelphiaPenny]

On 2/10/2024 at 5:52 AM, Henri Charriere said:

[It is too bad you were not able to provide "before" and "after" photos.  I would have been curious to see exactly what it was that prompted you to take such a drastic measure.

This is an odd hobby where flaws of any kind are worshipped but cleaning in an attempt to improve the appearance of a coin is generally frowned upon.

Here are some before and after:

Before:

After:

I know you are never supposed to clean any coin, but it did turn out alright.

[powermad5000]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:00 AM, ThePhiladelphiaPenny said:

but it did turn out alright.

I would say better than it was, but it is still far from alright. Don't feel too bad. There are literally millions of early copper coins (1793-1857) that have varying levels of corrosion. The only difference though is that those early coppers are in high demand, whereas this heavily corroded steel cent with a mintage of over 684 million is viewed as "junk" by collectors.