Cleaning a V Nickel

ynnek4

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2017
Messages
454
Location
Treasure Coast Florida
Hi,

I recently found my first V nickel some weeks back. As you know they tend to be a tad toasted coming out of the ground. Mine actually came out the ground actually pretty nice. It had a solid dark green patina but a lot of the details were not visible unless using a light source from the side (pictured). Basically, in real world every day lighting... it looked like a slightly reddish green circular disk with no identifiable details. At this point I figured I would experiment with it. I went ahead and put the V in some Worcestershire sauce overnight. This method made the nickel matte grey and almost made it slightly rough to the touch (2nd picture). I actually sort of regretted doing this at that point and was beating myself up at the results. Some days later, I stumbled upon the company JAX which made a product that darkened iron, steel and nickel. I figured I would give it a shot and ordered some. Once the JAX arrived I prepped an area near my laundry room utility sink. I was told you must thoroughly clean whatever you want to darken first. After dropping the V into the solution the nickel darkened before my eyes. It literally took about 5-10 seconds. I then washed off the JAX (wearing gloves) and dried it off. I then prepared a little dish of baking soda water and used Q-tips on the high parts of the coin. I then lightly rubbed back and forth evenly until the desired look was attained. The result was the 3rd picture. This is not for everyone. Obviously, do not do this to key date coins or anything you would want to potentially sell. My goal was the "heavily circulated non-dug coin" look and I feel I accomplished that. I am very happy with the results!

*Side-note: What is also weird is the coin now feels like a real nickel. The roughness is gone after the JAX.

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For those interested:

https://jaxchemical.com/shop/jax-iron-steel-nickel-blackener/

I bought the 2 oz bottle option. Shipping is expensive due to it being a corrosive chemical. Make sure you use gloves and have proper ventilation! Also, I went ahead and sealed it with some Renaissance Wax.

Good luck!
 
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