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 Replies: 18 / Views: 10,194 |
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New Member
France
4 Posts |
Hello everyone, I think you may have the expertise to help me resolve a little issue here. I have some half dollars which, after being put into barbecue sauce, become like this :   They look dirty, not nice, the original color has changed a little bit. I'm wondering if you have some ideas on how to clean these coins and make them look as they used to be ? These coins have no collector value to me, they are special coins, that I use for the show. Thanks in advance, Marc |
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Moderator
 United States
34397 Posts |
"after being put into barbecue sauce, become like this"  grilling some silver for the 4th of July?  how about soaking in deionized water, changing the bath fairly often as I'm thinking the acidity of the tomato sauce will be damaging to the surface of the coin. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
When you say dirty ,is it dirt or dark toning .If it's dirt soak them in Acetone for as long as it takes picking and brushing away the dirt, ( you did say they have no numismatic value ). But if it's just dark heavy tone with no wear, then dip them in silver dip just long enough to eliminate the tarnish. 2 to 6 seconds . those are my suggestions . It's your call .  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Silver Dip OK for such a coin if you must. Don't rub.
In this case some, but little numismatic value will be lost.
The black stuff is either silver oxide or sulfide (or both), and the silver in the black stuff and has been sourced from the coin itself. If you remove the black stuff, you are removing a tiny but critical part of the coin as well.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
The black stuff is either silver oxide or sulfide (or both), and the silver in the black stuff and has been sourced from the coin itself. The last digit of the date in the first picture appears to be a 4, and it has a D mintmark on the obverse so it has to be a coppernickel clad coin. So we have the result of acetic acid reacting with the coppernickel. If I remember correctly copper acetate is water soluable but I'm not sure about nickel acetate. That may be what is on the surfaces. A coin dip may remove it, but it may never look like it did originally. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Show? What kind of show are you having where you use coins and Bar-Q-Sauce? If your doing this for taste purposes, be careful since coins are usually not good to eat.  If I were you I'd simply try Acetone. Or just washing them in soap and water. If you really want them to look great, try jewlery cleaners. |
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New Member
 France
4 Posts |
Hi, thanks for your answers. Indeed, it's probably a clad coin. At least, not a real coin, one side is english penny, the other side is half dollar. But why this accident ? Some people told me that if I dip them into barbecue sauce they will look dark-brown. My faked coins english pennies / half dollar looked like this : http://www.casimages.com/i/16062407...712.jpg.htmlAnd I wanted them to look like these : http://www.casimages.com/i/16062407...907.jpg.htmlBut you can see this little experiment didn't turned out as expected. The english penny side hasn't been negatively affected by the barbecue sauce. However, the half dollar side of my two copper/silver coins have now this ugly stuff on them. Not sure what it is. So, silver dip is the best solution ? And for just a couple of seconds ? (P.S. : for your information, if you want to know, the coin in first picture has the date 2014, the second no date on it, but I think it's 2015.) Edited by mh1001
07/04/2016 12:19 pm
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Valued Member
Canada
71 Posts |
I posted in another topic about silver probably going terrible in spaghetti sauce, I guess we can add pulled pork to the list.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
mh1001 - Whatever gave you the idea to use barbeque sauce, anyway?  to the CCF! |
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New Member
France
4 Posts |
Sorry both of you, but I don't think this kind of comments are going to be helpful. I explained why and how this happened. Otherwise, you may not guess what's method to use to clean the coins. And make them look as they used to be, i.e., without this weird dark stuff.
The story behind this is anecdotic, and is not the finality; what's important is the solution. Thanks.
Coinfrog : "mh1001 - Whatever gave you the idea to use barbeque sauce, anyway?" The answer is in my post which is above yours.
Edited by mh1001
07/04/2016 4:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6383 Posts |
I expect the coin surface has been oxidized which is likely not a reversible effect. I doubt acetone would help although if there is dried organic crud the acetone might loosen it. All you can do is try different cleaning agents and see if any help. Keep in mind the results may be worse than what you have now. I'd start with warm water and liquid dish soap. Scrub very lightly with a soft brush if you want; light brushing shouldn't scratch a clad Kennedy half though it might scratch the English penny side. You can then try a coin cleaner product like E-Z-Est. only dip the coin for a second and rinse with distilled water immediately. Repeat if needed. Again, keep in mind anything you try at this point could just make it worse. Good luck, and please post about how it turns out. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Both copper and nickel acetate salts are soluble in water.
Silver acetate salt is NOT soluble in water.
Edited by sel_69l
07/05/2016 01:40 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
mh1001 - Oops! No offense - best of luck. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Don't bother with the BBQ sauce . go ahead and use the Acetone for as long as you like , If the coin in question is 90 % silver and has no value to you ,then you can try a silver dip . I never heard of two sided coins that you have .
Edited by T-BOP
07/04/2016 9:17 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6383 Posts |
The coins may be " Magician's coins", where the half dollar is a hollowed shell with a machined English penny (or facsimile) fitted into the hollow. The insert is backed with a Kennedy half reverse so when popped out and inverted the coin looks like a regular half. I have some photos and will post them if I can find them. |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 10,194 |
Posted 07/04/2016 07:39 am
