Loving the Unloved: A Red 1794 Large Cent (S-63). "Why don't you clean that thing?"

I am enjoying the Fall. The leaves are ablaze, and I am reminded of my favorite red cent.
   I had it out the other day to photograph it for my upcoming book that explores how battered and corroded coins impact us. They do! But in very different ways. I shall explain with a story.
   When I first discovered this curious cent (1794 S-63) at an Early American Coppers convention, I was awestruck by its deep crimson color -- and, it was a "fallen 4" variety to boot (one of my favorites).
   The blotched date reminds me of folkart: a widely-spaced 9, way too high and leaning left, crowding the 4, which is tucked between the bust and dentils. No wonder the variety has been called the "Drunken Diecutter's Obverse." The whole effect is struck on a very thick, meaty planchet.
   But it was the red corrosion that grabbed my eye at first glance.

Here is a gal that will run with you, not spend all her time in the bathroom
putting on make-up and practicing smiles.
Get real! This is what an old coin should look like.

   When I showed it off to a 1794 specialist -- not just any specialist, but a millionaire collector with all the best cents -- his first comment was: "You can get that red off ... " and he proceeded to describe some alchemic approach to turning back the hand of Mother Nature. The truth of the matter is this: this coin was a "dog" -- a scudzy, maligned piece -- to his eye (and in all fairness, to many other copper specialists as well).
   After all, corrosion is the death knell of copper cents. Never mind that the coin is brutally honest about the life of objects and the people that made them. And the red -- that wonderful layer of cuprite (with perhaps a dash of bornite and tenorite mixed in) -- this is the signpost of a coin that was dropped between the floorboards, or behind the hutch.
   Why clean it?
   Oh ... here's why: because the disease will continue to fester and devour the coin one molecule at a time. It is spewing off electrons as I write this. Oh, my! I hope the bank vault doesn't explode!
   Well, all I have to say is, "Hubba, Hubba!" I like honest coins. I want to face death.
   The leaves are falling outside. My body is giving out, one protein at a time. Why should I symbolically cheat death by paying large sums to get "perfect" cents. Or pay big bucks to own a "trophy" coin a few weeks just to be a numismatic hero? That is what most folks do. But this one, it is a keeper.
   I believe (as necromancers have known for a long time) that we are doing junior collectors a disservice by steering them away from the "red cents." Instead, many so-called experts teach collectors to obsess over every nick, blemish, and bump.
   Invest. Buy Smart. Look for Value. This hogs the popular literature. Learn to grade, learn to grade, learn to grade.
   Get real! Who cares if you do not make a dime! Numismatic heroism is overrated. Collecting timeworn and aged cents is where it is at -- leave the pretty, slabbed, over-priced cents to the anxious and (soon to be) disgruntled folks whose curiosity is blunted by the question: "How much is it worth?"