Cleaning the green crusty stuff

Vermonster · Dec 1, 2015

I am sure there are videos posted here about it, but the ones I see are youtube, which I can't view where I am (blocked). So, does anyone have a quick way (written out) to get the green saltwater crud of the back of these Morgans? I have seen electrolysis mentioned, Acetone, tin foil, or a host of other things.

Even though one is really ugly, I don't want to necessarily "damage it" any more than it is. Just enough to get some stuff off so maybe I can get a mintmark, some of the details. I think the "good" one might clean up nicely for display. Obviously not looking for collector value, as there is none on these, and I wouldn't sell them even if there was value.

Something simple that I can do at home. Thanks.

Captain Silver · Dec 1, 2015

Get a cellphone charger, 2 wire kind...a pair of alligator clips and a nut, bolt, nail, etc...a large clear glass, some salt and hot water. Cut the phone end off the charger, separate the wires and attach a clip to each. Fill the glass near the top with hot water, add a spoonful of salt and stir. Plug the charger in and drop the 2 wires into the water/salt. Whichever wire begins to give off bubbles, unplug and clip the coin to it and clip the bolt/nut/nail to the other wire. Now submerse them both into the solution standing up and not touching, plug in and soon the crud should begin to flake off. Pick at it it with a toothpick if it's stubborn...Those are large coins so it may take some time...repeat as necessary with a fresh mix if the first one gets too dirty. Oh..and don't breathe the fumes while it's cooking :lol:

Mud-puppy · Dec 1, 2015

Capt Silver laid it out most succinctly...cell phone charger and a glass of hot salty water...

I will add a few little tidbits that helped me through this simple process

..dont walk away and let it "soak'..It will eat up a coin most damnably....sort of stir the coin around tap it on the sides of the glass to watch the stuff flake off... and pull it out every 20 sec or so and do a baking soda scrub to see the results, rinse and re-dunk in the E tank as needed...also, put a 3x5 card in your water between the two electrodes to keep them from touching...
Mud

Vermonster · Dec 1, 2015

Captain Silver said:
Get a cellphone charger, 2 wire kind...a pair of alligator clips and a nut, bolt, nail, etc...a large clear glass, some salt and hot water. Cut the phone end off the charger, separate the wires and attach a clip to each. Fill the glass near the top with hot water, add a spoonful of salt and stir. Plug the charger in and drop the 2 wires into the water/salt. Whichever wire begins to give off bubbles, unplug and clip the coin to it and clip the bolt/nut/nail to the other wire. Now submerse them both into the solution standing up and not touching, plug in and soon the crud should begin to flake off. Pick at it it with a toothpick if it's stubborn...Those are large coins so it may take some time...repeat as necessary with a fresh mix if the first one gets too dirty. Oh..and don't breathe the fumes while it's cooking

Good thing, I just broke my charger in my car...... :lol:

Plugging wires in while submerged in water??????? That's safe????? :shock:

Don't let the nail and coin touch, but obviously, the coin and nail can rest on the side/bottom of the glass, yes? And when you say it takes some time, are we talking overnight, or just a couple hours?

Mud-puppy · Dec 1, 2015

Dude...you need a 110v ac charger..like the one in your home...

no, dont let the two ends touch when its plugged in, yes, its pretty safe overall...its only spitting out a few milliamps...just pay attention, dont walk away or your coin will boil itself down into nothing! :lol:

Should only take a few minutes for you to see results...
Mud

Vermonster · Dec 1, 2015

Mud-puppy said:
Dude...you need a 110v ac charger..like the one in your home...

no, dont let the two ends touch when its plugged in, yes, its pretty safe overall...its only spitting out a few milliamps...just pay attention, dont walk away or your coin will boil itself down into nothing!
Should only take a few minutes for you to see results...
Mud

I knew that, my car charger has the prongs that I can flip out and plug into the wall. That's what I was going to do.....

Thanks for the advice on the 3x5 card too, good idea. I think I will try this, but just don't want my coins to fall apart....... :lol:

1willi4 · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks for posting. Maybe this could be rewritten with pictures added and made a stickie.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cfmct · Dec 1, 2015

1willi4 said:
Thanks for posting. Maybe this could be rewritten with pictures added and made a stickie.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There is a sticky in the beach forum to Carol and Vlads other site...

http://gometaldetecting.com/electrolysis_cleaning.htm

Raphis · Dec 1, 2015

Sean, I soaked my Morgan in lemon juice for as long as it took to get all the green off of it....around a few hrs on each side. Once I removed the green encrustation, I used the poor man's electrolysis on it, which is is composed of distilled vinegar/salt solution and aluminum foil, followed by a baking soda paste rub. I was real happy with the final look of my Morgan after the baking soda rub.

Here's some pics showing the stages my Morgan took:
First pic is freshly dug from the sand.
Second pic is after the lemon juice soaking.
Third pic is after electrolysis and baking soda rub.

Jamflicker · Dec 1, 2015

I was just going to say the same method Dan just described. It should work great.

DougF · Dec 2, 2015

I had two indian head cents with that type of corrosion. At the time I had a little nitric acid, so I dropped a few drops on the corrosion. It only took a few seconds and all the corrosion was gone. Then I quickly rinsed the coins in running water. They look great, but are now as shiny as a new cent (not key dates). I don't know where you can get nitric acid, I had a little left over from preserving environmental water samples. This type of nitric is not super strong.

Mud-puppy · Dec 2, 2015

I just tried Raphis' vinegar/salt/foil on a tarnished barber dime...turned out superb! Super easy too...
Mud

CopyTech99 · Dec 2, 2015

^^^^ That Morgan looks great.

Vermonster · Dec 2, 2015

Raphis said:
Sean, I soaked my Morgan in lemon juice for as long as it took to get all the green off of it....around a few hrs on each side. Once I removed the green encrustation, I used the poor man's electrolysis on it, which is is composed of distilled vinegar/salt solution and aluminum foil, followed by a baking soda paste rub. I was real happy with the final look of my Morgan after the baking soda rub.

Here's some pics showing the stages my Morgan took:
First pic is freshly dug from the sand.
Second pic is after the lemon juice soaking.
Third pic is after electrolysis and baking soda rub.

Ok, does that work with the actual chunky crud, or just the more green stained type of yours? I assume it'll work either way? Also, I wonder if the lemon juice will affect the exposed copper, or both copper and silver should hold up fine......

DougF said:
I had two indian head cents with that type of corrosion.

Funny, because I also have 2 Indian heads with the green flaky stuff I would love to clean up......

Raphis · Dec 2, 2015

Ok, does that work with the actual chunky crud, or just the more green stained type of yours? I assume it'll work either way? Also, I wonder if the lemon juice will affect the exposed copper, or both copper and silver should hold up fine......

It should work on your Morgans......you may have to take them out of the lemon juice occasionally, and rub the coins between your fingers to help remove the encrusted sand off of them, then return them to the lemon juice. Before you do the poor man's electrolysis stage, you should have no more sand granules stuck to your coin. It should be free of that sand, especially when you do the baking soda paste rub.

Speaking of exposed copper on a 90% silver coin....Out of all my 4000 silver coins I have dug from turf and beaches, I don't have a single coin that has copper leeching out and being permanently on the surface of the coin......your one morgan could have discoloration or staining on the silver from minerals in the sand or from nearby rusty iron for so many years. That should go away once you get to the baking soda paste rub stage...or possibly even after the lemon juice stage.

One other point I'd like to make....this electrolysis method (with aluminum foil) doesn't work on any other metals...the chemical reaction takes place only with silver....so even though you've already committed to your coins being authentic, you'll know pretty quickly if your coins contain 90% silver in them or not.

langsy · Dec 6, 2015

cleaning the coins

when doing the eloctro cleaning keep checking the charger they will get hotafter 5-10 minutes , let it cool down then continue

Cleaning the green crusty stuff

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