Would A Battery Cause Corrosion? - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,697
FriendOfEvanW New Member United States 1 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 2:15 pm We recently got several boxes of my partner's coin collection back from storage at her parents' house, and one box had significant oxidation and corrosion throughout. While sorting out these coins, I found a watch battery had been put in there for probably ten years. My guess is that that's the reason this box is in such rough shape. What do you think? Report this Post to the Staff

Fuzzy317 Moderator United States 14463 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 2:23 pm A battery probably could cause a small amount of corrosion or electrolysis maybe. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 2:41 pm Not sure. Where was it stored at the house? Was it climate controlled? Having them in the attic, garage, or a closed off room could be a bigger factor. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
BadThad Bedrock of the Community United States 19935 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 3:36 pm Was the battery corroded and leaking? Lincoln Cent Lover! VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/ Report this Post to the Staff
T-BOP Rest in Peace United States 18456 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 4:41 pm IMHO , I don't think a small watch battery would be the problem of corrosion for that box. but I could be wrong. Report this Post to the Staff
dave700x Rest in Peace United States 10625 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 4:56 pm If the box with the battery suffered corrosion and the box or boxes without did not and they were all stored in the same environment, the battery is the likely culprit. Sulfuric acid is highly corrosive. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16809 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 7:47 pm Lithium batteries (the usual kind of "watch battery") do not contain sulfuric acid. They contain lithium salts (which are mildly acidic) dissolved in an oil-like solvent. They can, however, leak when they become old or exhausted, though you can easily see this coming out of the seam between the two halves of the battery. Even if it did leak, the corrosion products are not volatile, so should only cause problems on coins the battery actually touches. It shouldn't cause problems throughout the entire box. 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 Report this Post to the Staff
Cascade Pillar of the Community United States 7390 Posts	Posted 05/12/2015 9:55 pm I don't have an answer for you but nobody has said this yet... Report this Post to the Staff
aardspeed Pillar of the Community 921 Posts	Posted 05/13/2015 09:15 am What kind of battery & how many volts is the battery would be needed to give the best answer... Check out the link below & see which type you have: http://www.watchbatteries-usa.com/faq.html Hopefully then, an answer can be given Edited by aardspeed 05/13/2015 09:17 am Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 05/13/2015 10:16 am So many variables with this. Type of battery, location of battery to coins, temperature, humidity and mostly is the battery looking corroded? If in fact it is just a watch battery, more than likely it could not have caused excessive damage. From what you said it sounds like something more than a small battery has attacked those coins. Report this Post to the Staff
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