1867 IH "restored"

[DIGGER27]

Beautiful job, well done!

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by treasureguy56 View post
Joe Dert ,
Joe Im quite intrigued as so many other folks are that have read your post on this subject . Inquiring minds would like to know how you achieved this level of success in your restoration process or cleaning process ???
We all know it will take some level of trial and error on our parts , but your process seams to be very promising , your results are very impressive .
I dug an 1859 Indian Head Fatty many moons ago that had very strong details , but I wanted to clean it up some but was unexperienced with electrolysis ( I was in my early 20's ) and I ruined a great coin . So any details you could share about your process would be appreciated .
Thanks Joe

I am a single father and busy as heck but want to help anytime I can..first good rule in my opinion is never do electrolysis on copper coins unless you have strong experience with reverse electroplating..later today I'll give you more advice..

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by treasureguy56 View post
a test

Ok..you got my attention.. how can I help you?

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by treasureguy56 View post
Joe Dert ,
Joe Im quite intrigued as so many other folks are that have read your post on this subject . Inquiring minds would like to know how you achieved this level of success in your restoration process or cleaning process ???
We all know it will take some level of trial and error on our parts , but your process seams to be very promising , your results are very impressive .
I dug an 1859 Indian Head Fatty many moons ago that had very strong details , but I wanted to clean it up some but was unexperienced with electrolysis ( I was in my early 20's ) and I ruined a great coin . So any details you could share about your process would be appreciated .
Thanks Joe

Can you post or send me pictures of the fatty.. it may not be a lost cause

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by DIGGER27 View post
Beautiful job, well done!

Thank you very much

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by Waveoff View post
Wow that thing looks great! Nice job fixing it up.

Thanks for complimenting... I don't post to show off but rather to show what is possible to achieve

[JAK]

Good job...nearly museum quality!

[SoOregonMd]

Awesome Job .. would be Really NICE if you outlined the steps you used to Do it..

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by JAK View post
Good job...nearly museum quality!

Thank you kindly.. quality coin restoration/preservation is actually my goal.. there are still many improvements I need to make and methods that I need to get a better working knowledge of

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by SoOregonMd View post
Awesome Job .. would be Really NICE if you outlined the steps you used to Do it..

I don't have a recipe..or follow exact conventional wisdom..nor do I have some secret magical potion... it's like looking at a painting and asking the artist how to do it.. I know you won't like my answer..start by reading the post by Waltr on archaeological restoration..then Google bronze disease..read and study all you can find..then you will see there is not a single perfect recipe..even real archaeologists have different opinions..but they all agree there is no perfect method for cupreous coins

[SoOregonMd]

Originally Posted by joe dert View post
I don't have a recipe..or follow exact conventional wisdom..nor do I have some secret magical potion... it's like looking at a painting and asking the artist how to do it.. I know you won't like my answer..start by reading the post by Waltr on archaeological restoration..then Google bronze disease..read and study all you can find..then you will see there is not a single perfect recipe..even real archaeologists have different opinions..but they all agree there is no perfect method for cupreous coins

Fair enough , Thanks for the reply !

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by SoOregonMd View post
Fair enough , Thanks for the reply !

Thanks for making a polite reply.. I would like to be able to give everyone a foolproof step by step recipe. I don't have one..but I can tell you this much.. I use two commercial products to color a shiny "ruined" clean copper coin.. Birchwood Casey brand Brass Black...and Birchwood Casey Plum Brown.. I don't heat the coin to apply the brown.. I use it cold..and I mix it with the black..no specific ratio.. I'm still experimenting..

[SoOregonMd]

Originally Posted by joe dert View post
Thanks for making a polite reply.. I would like be able to give everyone a foolproof step by step recipe. I don't have one..but I can tell you this much.. I use two commercial products to color a shiny "ruined" clean copper coin.. Birchwood Casey brand Brass Black...and Birchwood Casey Plum Brown.. I don't heat the coin to apply the brown.. I use it cold..and I mix it with the black..no specific ratio.. I'm still experimenting..

Nice !!

the Color was one of the things that stands out well on your coin..
so you get it to a shiny point and then "colorize" it to give it a natural looking patina?

[treasureguy56]

Originally Posted by joe dert View post
Can you post or send me pictures of the fatty.. it may not be a lost cause

Joe .
Thankyou for responding - I can appreciate you're lack of free time . It will take some time for me to find the coin (1859 indian ) - I just went through a hernia surgery and Im currently going through re cooperation ( Im not allowed to do much or lift much ) .

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by SoOregonMd View post
Nice !!

the Color was one of the things that stands out well on your coin..
so you get it to a shiny point and then "colorize" it to give it a natural looking patina?

Yes..but it's tricky to work with.. because it's very fast..do it by a sink with the water running so you can quickly wash it to stop the process..not sure how natural it looks.. I just try to make it so I like it..if you mess up strip the coin clean and start again..play with stripped cleaned and polished Lincoln pennies first to get a feel for it..

[joe dert]

Originally Posted by treasureguy56 View post
Joe .
Thankyou for responding - I can appreciate you're lack of free time . It will take some time for me to find the coin (1859 indian ) - I just went through a hernia surgery and Im currently going through re cooperation ( Im not allowed to do much or lift much ) .

Sorry to hear that..just take it easy and heal up..

[marcomo]

Originally Posted by joe dert View post


Thanks for making a polite reply.. I would like to be able to give everyone a foolproof step by step recipe. I don't have one..but I can tell you this much.. I use two commercial products to color a shiny "ruined" clean copper coin.. Birchwood Casey brand Brass Black...and Birchwood Casey Plum Brown.. I don't heat the coin to apply the brown.. I use it cold..and I mix it with the black..no specific ratio.. I'm still experimenting..

I certainly understand why no step by step recipe, and appreciate the individual ingredients like this one!