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Help In Cleaning A Coin


2Valen

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Congrats on the Indian!! Looks like you are getting along nicely with your 800 . Keep it up! Looking forward to seeing you get into the 1800's! 😁

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I wish to thank everyone for their input on cleaning this coin, and I hope to make a decision on whether to clean or not to clean. 

I know that I should at least preserve the coin with something as to stop the buildup of the green patina on the coin.

I really want to be able to place it in a frame and pass it down to 1 of my grand kids someday.

I especially want to thank GB_Amateur for his help with the 800 last week in Casey, IL.

I am almost ready to go to an old church that has never been touched before, and within a mile is an old mine that someone was getting small amounts of gold from.

I will post more photos of my finds in the future.

Thanks, Valen

 

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That green patina is quite unique and called verdigris.  I can't quite see it cleary enough, but it doesn't look like you have much brozne disease.  Maybe there is a little bit of it around the edges.  There is a cool way to remove bronze disease, and preserve the patina, but it will put a matte finish on the coin. 

The phrase you'll often read online is to NEVER CLEAN YOUR COINS!  Because, yes, cleaning your coins in any way can obliterate their numismatic value leaving you with nothing more than melt value.  But, a lot of the coins I get here in AZ have already been nearly obliterated after having rolled around in our sandy, salty soil at extreme temps for decades. 

Some times you just want to have a bit of fun cleaning your coin.  Most people would probably agree that if the coin is of little or low value, then it doesn't really matter what you do with it.  (If it's a valuable coin and you wiped the dirt off the face to see the year and mint mark, you probably just bricked it, anyway.)  Just like some people here love that green patina, you might like it looking as close to original, if possible.  A year ago, I dug up a 1900 IHP with so much corrosion that not only would no one else have ever bought it, I didn't want to keep it that ugly, either. 

One way to remove bronze disease is to soak your coin in a sodium sequicarbonate solution.  You can make this by dissolving roughly equal parts sodium carbonate (washing soda) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) into filtered water.  If it's really bad, it can take several treatments with toothbrushing and soaking to remove all the crust.  One nice thing about this method is that it can save the color of your patina.  However, if the bronze disease is severe, it will remove it right down to bare metal.  In that case, you might have to repatinate the exposed areas with a sulfur compound.  Once you're done removing the bronze disease, you have to remove left over traces of water or it will happen, again.  You can do this by soaking it in acetone.  Afterwards, seal it with microcrystalline wax (e.g. Renaissance Wax).

Again, just be wary that if you do this a lot of purists might start seeing red.  Nonetheless, I've found restoring coins to be a fun part of the hobby that melds both art and science to a pleasing degree of personal satisfaction.  Here is a resource I really like.  http://www.metaldetectingworld.com/cleaning_preservation_coin.shtml.  Good luck!

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Unfortunately, I didn't take a before and after photo of my IHP, but here are a couple of silvers that were just for fun.  It was a totally different process though.  And, yes, they are probably only worth a melt value.  But, it brings me a degree of satisfaction and makes my collection prettier.

Barber BEFORE.jpg

Barber AFTER.JPG

Mercury BEFORE.JPEGMercury AFTER.JPEG

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Skookum,

Thaks for the article and I am still thinking about what to do with the penny. Right now I have placed it in a very small amount of mineral oil to try to keep it in it's current condition.

I am going to look into your method and then decide what to do in a few days. I would rather work with some knowledge on this and try to test it on something of lesser quality first. I know that it feels lighter than similar pennies and that the edges feel thinner, so you can probably tell that I am a little scared to do to much to this coin.

Once again thank you for the information.

Valen

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Mineral oil WILL enhance RED copper coins bringing them back to a more natural color.    Ive used it for years it came from someone i knew who wrote for Coin World.   Unlike vinegar and other harsh ways..... even long time olive oil soaking .... people tend to forget to use something to STOP the corrosive process like baking power in water once the desired cleaning is complete.   We used to just rub the heck out of coins to make the PRETTY.   Now days coin collecting has turned into such a BUSINESS...... shameful in so many ways.

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I no longer collect coins so it more for me than for the snooty collector.   Here is a coin i found recently on an E. Coast Fl. beach.   Im told its a King Frederick II coin..... somewhere around 1500.   Did i clean it properly NO...... but its just a great find.    Those IHs are the worst about turning RED if you clean them.   Soaking them in mineral oil will do little.... it not like olive oil.  Its not a corrosive ment to clean.... its ment to preserve.

IMG_0249.JPG

IMG_0250.JPG

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