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 Replies: 10 / Views: 7,256 |
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
I have been collecting mainly either new proof coins or NGC graded coins since 2004. Every now and then, I will buy old coins on ebay, just to have. I also bought a jar of e Zest and a bottle of MS 70 in 2006 to clean old and dirty coins, but clean only in extreme circumstances. I bought a roll of Buffalo nickels that were just caked with pocket dirt and grime, which occurred from use. I cleaned them in jewelry cleaner by soaking for 3 months, and they still had grime on them, so I soaked them in e Zest for just one night, and they came out clean, but nearly black in color. I tried cleaning with MS 70, but that didn't work. Please, what do I need to do to bring this nickels, now clean, but black, back to the original color that a nickel is? Thank You, Rambler737. |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
 to CCF. I don't know how to remove the black but wait a bit and someone will chime in. You may want to look into using acetone, there is a bunch of info here on CCF about it.Just type it in the search box upper left of page. John1  |
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
to the Community! I moved your welcome post to the Main Coin Forum for the proper attention.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
I wish I had better news for you but sorry to say that you have damaged your nickels beyond the point of no return. Between a 3 month(?!?  ) soak in jewelry cleaner and an overnight soak in a solution of thiourea and sulfuric acid(the primary components in E-Z-Est), the coins have been to chemical heck and back. Jewelry cleaner is designed for jewelry, not coins, and E-Z-Est should only be used sparingly on select uncirculated coins for a few seconds instead of hours. The blackness is most likely nickel and copper sulfides permanently bonded to the coin, the only way to remove it would be a sandblaster or bench grinder  For future reference, pocket dirt and grime can be removed without harming the coins. Try soaking in distilled water first and if you still have some remaining organic debris, an organic solvent such as acetone should remove it. On circulated coins, toning and staining is more or less permanent so you just have to live with it unless you want your coin to look like it has been obviously cleaned. Edited by biokemist6
09/18/2013 11:10 am
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
Given the damage to the coins already.....you might want to try this. Hunt out on ebay a polivit plate. Follow the directions you get with it.. the plate is a sacrificial plate.....using household soda dissolved in warm water as an electrolyte. you touch the coins to the plate while immersed in the electrolyte... with silver tarnish the tarnish disappears in about 10 seconds.....with the sulphides on your coin...it might take longer( if it works at all) |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
The longest I've ever dipped a coin in E-Zest without destroying it is six seconds. It's acid, man.
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Moderator
Australia
16826 Posts |
It should be pointed out that e-z-est is a silver coin cleaner. It's designed to remove silver sulfide tarnish from silver coins. As biokemist says, it contains sulfuric acid which will, given enough time, completely dissolve a cupronickel coin.
So, don't do that again. This does not, however, tell you what might be done with your coins. As others have said, they are probably ruined - an overnight soaking will have badly etched the surface and I doubt anything other than strong acid will remove whatever it is that's formed on your coin.
Besides strong acid, you could try a jewellery rock tumbler. You'll wear the coins down flat, but at least they'll be the correct colour afterwards.
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
19947 Posts |
E-Zest is intended for use only on silver coins. It's highly acidic and will damage coins if used for more than just a few seconds. ACID + METAL = DAMAGE
Keep in mind, there's nothing wrong with dirt and grime unless it makes the coin unreadable. Corrosion is a different story since it's damaging the coin and, if left unchecked, it will eat the coin to nothing. Generally, it's best to leave "dirty" coins alone. Most collectors would rather have a dirty coin over a cleaned coin.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Unfortuately not much will help now. I've tried in the past to get rid of that black discoloration on Nickels with so many different solutions with little to no results. At times I suspect the Mint puts some magic curse on Nickels to make them turn black when tampered with.  I've tried Acetone, paint thinners, Laquer thinners, batter acid, Vinegar, Alcohol, Finger nail polish remover, Lemon Juice, drain cleaners and many, many other possible solutions people use to clean coins. Usually only mankes the black, blacker. As a last resort and if your really disperate to make them look pretty, spray them with Chrome paint.  |
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Valued Member
United States
331 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
You might try reverse electroplating. (make the nickel the sacrificial anode) it will strip some metal off the coin but it will probably get rid of the black.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 7,256 |
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Posted 09/17/2013 4:40 pm
