Simple and easy.

[Doug Down]

My technique for the past 33 years - with no sign of damage or deterioration - on bronze items has been a quick rinse under the hot tap for a few minutes to kill the ground salts, then into the Vaseline pot it goes. After a week or so you take it out and the patina will be far richer and even on the piece. Copper can be improved this way too, and whenever you want to revert the item back to the 'dry', lighter look just wash it again in hot water and it will take the coating off. As I said I've treated my bronze coins and artefacts like this for years and they look excellent whilst displayed. Never put it on lead, or else your aged-white patina will vanish to be replaced with a modern-looking silver tone! Forever! Silver coins, if not too rare, will have the old 'spit and silver foil' treatment to take off some of the black discoloring and allow details to be seen more clearly. They will tone down again after a while. Gold comes up just as fine as the day it was lost in many cases I've seen guineas darken slightly in tone and get a 'bumpy' surface that needs to be left alone. I occasionally put an iron preserver on anything interesting i.e knives, arrowheads, horseshoes, but they still look pretty grim whatever color you choose and invariably, if not regularly checked, start flaking away.