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 Replies: 25 / Views: 18,107 |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Hi all,
When I go to my dealer or to a jewelry shop, I sometimes see a silver coin with great details but sadly it is polished/ Cleaned so I always have this question in my mind;
Why wont I buy it and try to restore its natural look? Offcourse I dont mean its patina but at least the artificial luster wont be still there.
There are many great looking coins that I have had the opportunity to buy but I didnt because of this ugly luster.
Is there a way to make this artificial luster of cleaned silver coins go away? and I dont mean by my question rainbow toning and all those ways of using sulfur or sulfur containing material to artificially tone a coin.
Do you think that if I bought these coins and just leave them for a year or two without being placed in a 2x2 or an airtite it will loose this luster or not?
Thanks
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
im sure if you carried them in your pocket for a little while or buried them the luster would jump off
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
585 Posts |
It's similar like to unscramble the eggs  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
EgCollector: Your disappointment against polished coins is justified. If you wish to buy them, do so at a reduced price. At least, you are in a superior bargaining position to negotiate a reduction in the price. Take advantage of that.
There ARE ways to to artificially restore the patina on any polished coin.
Unfortunately, two wrongs don't make one right.
One is damage, the other is a form of fraud. It can be easy to pick both.
Best to leave the coin alone and it will very slowly re patinate, all by itself, anyway.
Edited by sel_69l
06/27/2012 07:23 am
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Moderator
 Australia
16810 Posts |
Lustre, the original surface of the coin, is imparted to the coin when it is struck. Once it is removed by chemical or mechanical means, nothing can put it back. Your options are: - melt it down for scrap silver. - keep it in its polished state. - artificially retone it. - use it as a pocket piece. Quote:
Is there a way to make this artificial luster of cleaned silver coins go away? and I dont mean by my question rainbow toning and all those ways of using sulfur or sulfur containing material to artificially tone a coin.
Do you think that if I bought these coins and just leave them for a year or two without being placed in a 2x2 or an airtite it will loose this luster or not? The process you've described - leaving it alone on a shelf for a couple of years - is actually a mild form of artificial toning. Or perhaps it should be more precisely called "intentional toning", since it's deliberately exposing the coin to an adverse chemical environment with the intent of toning it. The sulfur the coin naturally attracts to itself sitting on the windowsill of a typical suburban house or city apartment is chemically identical to the sulfur used in more accelerated artificial toning jobs; the only thing different is the speed of reaction. But in my experience, polished coins, like any other polished piece of silver, rarely retones well. As for the pocket-piece idea: you'd know your own neighbourhood better than we do, but I'm not sure carrying around a large silver coin in your pocket would be entirely safe in Egypt at the moment. The other problem with the idea is that the whole point of pocket-piecing is to "naturally" wear the coin down to the point where the polishing is no longer noticeable. If it was the surviving "great details" that attracted you to buy the coin, then pocket-piecing will most likely destroy those details. Personally, if I saw a polished coin that still attracted me and I wanted it for my collection despite the polishing, I'd keep it as-is, in its polished state, and hope to buy an upgrade sometime in the future. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I've done this many times. I purposely buy at times coins that have been harshly cleaned or actually polished. True you can never make it completely normal but I've come so close at times that even dealers I know could not tell what was done. If actually polished, thoes are my favorites to play with. I noticed at flea markets dealers use a car polish on coins to demonstrate how well their polish works. At first I asked them if I could buy one of those polished coins and in a few instances were sold them for a fraction of what they could or should have been. At home I soak in Laquer thinner for a few days, then in Acetone, then in a solution of baking soda and water. Then this is rinsed with distilled water, placed on a kitchen window sill on a piece of raw wood and allowed to sit there for a few Months. This is where the problem comes in. Window left open, closed, amount of cooking done, type of cooking done, humidity in the air. Here are some coins that were at one time almost polished enough to appear as Proofs.  I've done similar with harshly cleaned coins many times too. It is sort of like stripping a coin down to bare metal and allowing nature to mess it up as if from the start. I've had some great luck with Silver and Copper coins but lousy luck with Nickels. For some reason Nickels just stay the way they are, cleaned looking. If you can purchase some for a really cheap price, try the above. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
There a number of repatination strategies that can be found on the Web. This is one of them.
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Pillar of the Community
 Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:
im sure if you carried them in your pocket for a little while or buried them the luster would jump off Thanks for the advice but I think carrying them as a pocket piece will eventually wear the details and burying them?! might cause surface roughness as this might be similar to sandblasting the coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:
It's similar like to unscramble the eggs i wish this could be done  |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:
Best to leave the coin alone and it will very slowly re patinate, all by itself, anyway. Thanks sel, and this is what I was talking about is the way I should leave it by itself to re patinate but without being considered artificial toning |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:
As for the pocket-piece idea: you'd know your own neighbourhood better than we do, but I'm not sure carrying around a large silver coin in your pocket would be entirely safe in Egypt at the moment. It is still safe to carry money in your pocket, everything is back to normal  Quote:
The other problem with the idea is that the whole point of pocket-piecing is to "naturally" wear the coin down to the point where the polishing is no longer noticeable. If it was the surviving "great details" that attracted you to buy the coin, then pocket-piecing will most likely destroy those details.  Thanks Sap |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:
At first I asked them if I could buy one of those polished coins and in a few instances were sold them for a fraction of what they could or should have been This is exactly why I started this thread. I see many coins with great details and a very good price but sadly they are polished  Quote:
It is sort of like stripping a coin down to bare metal and allowing nature to mess it up as if from the start. Giving the coin a new start, I agree with that but not with the part of stripping the coin to bare metal .... how can you do that without causing a permanent damage to the coin surface  |
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Valued Member
Finland
294 Posts |
not exactly the same, but when I had few bronze disease coins three years ago I was forced to cure the disease off. You may know what it means - coins are shiny after the curing process. I just left the coins without 2x2's and now they are almost in the same condition than before the process. So I give my vote for "leave them alone" alternative.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Giving the coin a new start, I agree with that but not with the part of stripping the coin to bare metal .... how can you do that without causing a permanent damage to the coin surface 1. Remember your dealing with coins that have already had things done to them to damage the surface. 2. You can usually find some fantastic buys due to that polished or harsh cleaning. 3. Normally it is the polish or whatever was used on the coin that I try to strip off. 4. Harsh cleaning is something else. Polished Silver coins that have been buffed too are a real problem since the outer layer has been sprad out at times. 5. One of the main ingrediants in my process is something called patience. And I did forget one other product I've used on some coins in the past. Gun Bluing solutions. And just one more time, the above should never be done on a valuable coin. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
If the coin has been polished the ONLY cure is the pocket piece method and you have to carry it until all of the polished surface has been worn away. Yes this will mean a reduction in grade but no amount of retoning or re-patinating will ever remove that polished surface. It has to be worn off first before the coin can re-tone and look natural.
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
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Gun Bluing solutions. Carl, it seems that you have tried everything |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 18,107 |
Posted 06/27/2012 07:17 am
