Colonial coppers...patina flaking off

dlax · Jul 31, 2017

Any advice for cleaning/preserving old coppers? I'm struggling to find the right balance with using a toothpick to help expose the detail. Many times the patina just flakes right off, leaving me with a pitted corse copper coin. Some of the detail also gets lost when the green layer flakes off. Any experience or advice? Thanks!

Tpmetal · Jul 31, 2017

Depends on how toasty they are. Some coins can never be helped. But even rough coins can be done with a distilled water soak and a very very light tooth pick/soft tooth brush(I use a stero microscope and tooth picks and very very fine diamond tools to remove dirt). I then bake it at 250 to drive off all water and seal with microcystaline wax. For coins that this will not work I have heard of painting with nail polish or something before it dries out and the patina flakes off, but i imagine that would lead to more corrosion down the road with not letting the coin be dry with out sealing it. Soak the coins as long as it takes to continue loosening up dirt, sometimes can be up to a few weeks replacing distilled water every day.

cellrdwellr · Jul 31, 2017

I guess its just kind of a game of chance, most of my coppers flake, especially the earlier ones. I think ground mineralization and fertilizers play a big role in flaky coppers. HH!

dlax · Jul 31, 2017

Tpmetal said:
very very light tooth pick

Part of my problem might be being too aggressive with the toothpick. I'm going to get some ren wax to see if that helps some of the more toasted ones. Thanks!

cellrdwellr said:
I guess its just kind of a game of chance, most of my coppers flake, especially the earlier ones. I think ground mineralization and fertilizers play a big role in flaky coppers. HH!

The soil around me seems to be particularly nasty to copper. My large cents don't look anything like the ones I see posted.

Tpmetal · Jul 31, 2017

dlax said:
Part of my problem might be being too aggressive with the toothpick. I'm going to get some ren wax to see if that helps some of the more toasted ones. Thanks!

The soil around me seems to be particularly nasty to copper. My large cents don't look anything like the ones I see posted.

distilled water is the key.

dlax · Aug 2, 2017

Testing out my latest copper find...

Time for a test run...

Found my oldest coin so far yesterday. A KG II /Hibernia British copper. I can't get a year. It's soaking in distilled water now and I'm going to be oh so gentle with the toothpick, if needed. My ren wax should come today from amazon. I'll post an after pic, hopefully it doesn't crumble and looks good!

Tpmetal · Aug 2, 2017

dlax said:
Time for a test run...

Found my oldest coin so far yesterday. A KG II /Hibernia British copper. I can't get a year. It's soaking in distilled water now and I'm going to be oh so gentle with the toothpick, if needed. My ren wax should come today from amazon. I'll post an after pic, hopefully it doesn't crumble and looks good!

Good luck and don't force the tooth picking. If it becomes difficult return it to the distilled water for another day and try picking again. remember to change that water every other day or so to keep it working well.Good luck that coin looks like it has potential.

flyguy784 · Aug 3, 2017

I as well think that coin can be cleaned up. Do give it a try.
Could someone explain why it has to be distilled water, makes no sense to me. A slight change in PH maybe, but even that shouldn't matter.

dlax · Aug 3, 2017

After some cleaning

Here is the KG II after a few hours of soaking in distilled water and light toothpicking...I stopped because the patina was starting to flake on the reverse side. There is some light buffing with ren-wax. I didn't turn out too bad.

Tpmetal · Aug 3, 2017

Distilled water dissolves the mineralization.... but more importantly it water and only water. No chlorine, no florine, or anything else that makes it into water that can damage coins by soaking.

Not bad on that clean up dlax. next time give it more time soaking, can take up to a few weeks depending on the coin. I'de say your still a bit too rough with the tooth pick, but you will get he hang of it.

CJ319 · Aug 3, 2017

This is just my personal opinion. I have found a few coins in various stages of toastiness. The first ones I found I was hell bent on cleaning. What I have realized is that they will never get to the condition that I want them to be. They usually end up in worse condition because once I get the patina off, any detail is obliterated. I think that what you have there is an excellent coin but would not chance further cleaning just to get a date. Just my two cents.

Crackerjack · Aug 4, 2017

dlax · Aug 4, 2017

Tpmetal said:
Not bad on that clean up dlax. next time give it more time soaking, can take up to a few weeks depending on the coin. I'de say your still a bit too rough with the tooth pick, but you will get he hang of it.

You're right, I need to be more patient and even lighter on the pick. Hopefully I'll find another one soon to redeem myself.

CJ319 said:
This is just my personal opinion. I have found a few coins in various stages of toastiness. The first ones I found I was hell bent on cleaning. What I have realized is that they will never get to the condition that I want them to be. They usually end up in worse condition because once I get the patina off, any detail is obliterated. I think that what you have there is an excellent coin but would not chance further cleaning just to get a date. Just my two cents.

That makes sense and the loss of patina ends up so much worse.

Crackerjack said:

Awesome, thank you!!

Colonial coppers...patina flaking off

dlax

Elite Member

Tpmetal

Elite Member

cellrdwellr

Elite Member

dlax

Elite Member

Tpmetal

Elite Member

dlax

Elite Member

Attachments

Tpmetal

Elite Member

flyguy784

Elite Member

dlax

Elite Member

Attachments

Tpmetal

Elite Member

CJ319

Crackerjack

Elite Member

dlax

Elite Member

Similar threads