British Coin In Back Yard

[Valens Legacy]

12 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

One solvent used by numismatists to remove plastic oils, etc. from coins is acetone. 

Thanks for the suggestion and I have used acetone several times and know a little about the affects on the skin.

11 hours ago, kac said:

You could send it out and have them professionally cleaned.

I talked to a couple of people today and they want no part of it at this time sue to the smell.

9 hours ago, kac said:

Acetone like GB mentioned should degrease it but might make it dull, danatured alcohol is also an option.

I have tried denatured alcohol once before on some copper and it really did nothing that I really noticed to remove grease or oil. That is where the smell is coming from.

Right now I am using the Odoban to remove the odor first as it is not harming the coin. Odoban kills the odor is a lot of funeral homes use it to remove the smell of human decay. When they go to a home where a body has been for several days, they will spray the Odoban on anything with the smell and it removes it. Sometimes it takes a few tries to remove all the odor, but it works.

I may have to leave it in a cup of Odoban overnight to remove the smell completely.

Thank you for all your help and advice as I do appreciate it.

[Valens Legacy]

12 hours ago, Jim_Alaska said:

I was a trapper for a lot of my adult life

So are you saying this would bring back a lot of good memories?

If so please send me your address so I can get rid of this stuff, I mean so you can enjoy every memory over again.

[geof_junk]

You say it stinks as it is very old.     Valens it could be 175 years old, have a look at this link.

....LINK....

"Kelley discovered that oil from the jaw and head of the porpoise and blackfish proved superior to any other known lubricant for delicate mechanisms, and his oil, which he began selling in 1844," 

It was a good read.    

 

[Joe D.]

Thanks Geof,

  Very good story on Nye Lubricants! Sounds like they got their business model perfected early on; even when making the switch to synthetic from animal: to still be in business today!

   I wish White's could have adapted as well!

   Maybe Caleb can post a picture of the jar, when he posts the other coins! If he can get near it!???

[Valens Legacy]

10 hours ago, Joe D. said:

Maybe Caleb can post a picture of the jar, when he posts the other coins! If he can get near it!???

Today we found out that the jar in which the coins are from is more rare than the coins themselves.

There were only about 1,000 of the jars made before they made a glass bottle for their new oil and started that line of product. They only made lamp oil for about a year before getting into the machine oils which built the company into what it is today. We will not be getting rid of the stinky old jar just yet.

I will be taking more pictures soon and as long as my stomach can tolerate it. The wind has to blow away from the house before grandmother will let me uncover it.

 

[Joe D.]

    I was thinking maybe Nye lubricates may want to buy the jar and contents from you, to put in the company museum! Maybe they will even formulate a coin preservative from the recipe to market; minus the stench!

   If nothing else, it could be sold to the military for fighting terrorists! Think of it; not a bullet fired, nor life risked! Just drop a few dozen jars on a terrorist stronghold, and they would vacate immediately! And they would be banned by all other's from hiding out amongst them!???

[Valens Legacy]

7 hours ago, Joe D. said:

I was thinking maybe Nye lubricates may want to buy the jar and contents from you,

They are the ones that have made an offer on the jar, as it is the only one that still has it's original lid.

I never thought about the jar as being a weapon of mass destruction, but you just might be onto something with that.

[GB_Amateur]

2 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

(Nye Lubricants) are the ones that have made an offer on the jar, as it is the only one that still has it's original lid.  (emphasis mine)

That might be the most amazing part of this story yet.  You can still top it if one of the remaining coins is itself a rarity.  (And that doesn't mean it has to be unique -- far from it.  Coin collectors number in the millions.  Whale oil jar collectors are probably almost as rare as the jar itself.  )

[PimentoUK]

I'm not sure about the jar collectors, but the oil itself appears to be closely hoarded by anyone who has any, as it's virtually unobtainable, unless you're NASA. I did find this online article about the history of the oil, it's processing, etc.

https://www.cherrybalmz.com/history-sperm-whale-oil