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Moderator
 United States
189767 Posts |
Quote:
I'd soak it in acetone for a few hours ... then thoroughly rinse it under running water and pat dry with a clean, lint-free terrycloth. Never rinse with water. Always rinse with fresh acetone, which will dry on its own with no need to pat dry with anything. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
I was thinking that this coin is actually copper-nickel isn't it? That may change things as far as using acetone. I am thinking more about coins that are mostly or all copper. Of course if that is toning nothing may lighten that up without doing something harsh like soaking it in vinegar, something you may not want to do. The only time I used that was a 1949 dime that had think gunk where the mint mark was and needed to know it to put into my Whitman book.
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Yup, copper-nickel.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Valued Member
 United States
111 Posts |
What would vinegar due to the coin? Would it completely remove all toning and make the coin really shiny or maybe just lighten the toning?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
I think that on copper coins it would turn them orange but this isn't a copper coin, it is copper-nickel like many foreign coin. White vinegar took off thick caked on gunk that acetone wouldn't budge but I think that it removes toning. You will have to Google that.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
This is from eHow.com "Distilled white vinegar, that housecleaning standard, will strip away the tarnish or patina that copper coins acquire with time and use. Mix half a cup of vinegar with a teaspoon of salt and drop in the pennies. They will lose their dullness and brown color and look newly minted very quickly." Source: The Effect of Vinegar on Coins | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8533228_ef...xzz2L14XNR6M |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10047 Posts |
The eHow reference might work, but also remember the old trick of using a pencil eraser to make pennies look shiny is also something that non-numismatists think is a great idea to make pennies look "new," when, in fact, coin collectors can tell the eraser-damaged cents are nowhere near a true color/look. I think I would somehow test the eHow idea before trying it on your cent. Of course there is one other thing to consider here. If the condition of a coin as it sits nullifies any value it would have had, then I do not mind making it look presentable by cleaning it. At least then I have a decent looking, worthless coin.  I did this recently to an impaired proof JFK haf from circulation. It was only worth .50, but now it has shiny surfaces like it used to, and is still worth .50. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8521 Posts |
Toothpaste...a little dab between your fingers and rub like crazy, just keep working it. Try it on a Lincoln first and you'll see real shortly what it can do.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10047 Posts |
IF you decide to try to remove the gunk - in light of other not being able to ruin the value farther - instead of scrubbing it right away, it might be smart to try other solvents such as gasoline, turpentine, kerosene, ethanol, etc. But I would only expose it to it for a small amount of time to see if one of these hit the correct chemical combination to hopefully dissolve the black stuff. Who knows, you might hit on one that the black stuff is very susceptible to and therefore is lifted right off of the coin. It still would be a cleaned coin with no less value than it has now, but at least it would not have scratch marks from rubbing.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
I think it is always best to start with the least abrasive solvent than move on from there like starting with distilled water, verdi-care, and acetone then move on to more abrasive methods like vinegar and salt or others.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1536 Posts |
Quote:
Of course there is one other thing to consider here. If the condition of a coin as it sits nullifies any value it would have had, then I do not mind making it look presentable by cleaning it. At least then I have a decent looking, worthless coin. Sometimes a cleaned presentable coin is worth more I would think since someone may want to buy it if it is presentable. Of course you can never get the market value of a problem free coin. If you could have a nice looking coin with problems or an ugly coin with problems, which would you choose? Would it be worth a few bucks more to you? Edited by buddy16cat
02/16/2013 6:33 pm
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Valued Member
United States
213 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
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If you could have a nice looking coin with problems or an ugly coin with problems Not a choice I have to make because I have patience. That being said...play with this one...Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law....learn something and it is worth it.... |
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New Member
Philippines
2 Posts |
I have same coin as yours given to me by my WW2 veteran grandfather. Other suggest white vinegar..but I think it's very acidic. The simple answer is, you shouldn't try to clean old coins yourself. Anything you have at home that's more potent than distilled water and a soft cloth will end up harming the metal even more than the crud that's already on it. You might show it to a couple of dealers at a coin show and see if they have anything that might help restore it professionally, but it's pretty doubtful. Restoration is usually only practical for extremely valuable pieces such as coins recovered from a shipwreck. Given that a large-letter 1858 Flying Eagle cent retails for about $35 in VG-8 condition, the cost of conserving it would probably exceed its collector value. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The black stuff ia most probably a very heavy patina of INorganic copper sulphides, chlorides and oxides.
If that is the case organic solvents won't have any effect.
The black stuff can be removed, and I won't say how, because the coin will obviously looked cleaned, with a gauranteed loss in value.
If you REALLY want it cleaned, seek professional advice. Remember, most ancient coins need to be cleaned after being dug up. Some of these are unrecognisable before cleaning.
dragonheart7 is right about cleaning costs, unless you have bulk lots of coins needing cleaning, as with ancients.
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Posted 02/15/2013 2:24 pm
