Copper Help Needed Urgently!

Here is my situation. First let me say that I am not a copper collector. Personally, I hate all copper coins. Its not that I don't appreciate them, because I do when I see a nice one, but they are so reactive and they require a lot of care that I don't like to even touch them.

I acquired a really nice 1 oz copper medal a while back from the Mulligan mint. Since I obtained that item, they started to produce these copper rounds for bulk sale, whereas the original copper round that I got was a promotional item. When I received the promotional copper round it had a bunch of finger prints on it. So yesterday after doing many searches on the internet for ideas on how to remove the fingerprints, I decided to try a few of them out. After using things like MS70, Ketchup, lemon juice, I noticed the copper round becoming more and more reactive. After several hours, the copper round started tarnishing/toning a dark brown color. In total desperation, I dipped the round in silver dip which restored it to its natural color, but only to turn even worse after a few hours of sitting. When I woke this morning, it was horrendous looking. So in complete distraught, I dipped it in silver dip and put it in a bowl of acetone to stabilize it. So far so good, but I am afraid to see what happens when I take it out.

So does anybody have any suggestions or recommendations? Is it too late and have I destroyed this copper round.

So you may ask the question....whats the big deal about this copper round....well....its a mule. They used their silver round die to make the promotional ones, then made new dies with a small tweak on the new ones. If you would like to see the rounds, go to my website listed below and click the exonumia tab. Scroll down to the copper Sentinel round. They are not marked, but hopefully you will catch it. The silver one is in the next row beneath the copper ones.

Thanks for any help.

 

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Un-ring a bell? No way, champ.

 

I guess the saying is: If it wasn't broken, you just broke it !

 

Sorry Joe , you opened Pandoras box . BTW Congrats on your writeup in the ErrorScope . Now when are you going to send that Walker to me for final verification . lol

 

I have to agree with the others. The acids you subjected this round to has forever altered its chemistry.

 

Joe are you talking about the one with the Spartan Helmet on ti with the M-16 on the reverse ?

 

Thank you Rusty. Guess what.....found another one....even nicer...... last weekend. Debating on whether or not to send it off to NGC or PCGS.

 

Well, thanks everyone for getting back to me. It is sitting in my little jar of acetone looking all nice and preserved. I guess I will just take it out and let nature take care of the rest. Learned some lessons about copper.....

And yes Rusty, it is the second copper round with the AK47 and musket.

 

I would have sworn it was a M-16 . ANOTHER ONE !!!!!!! Cool , next time your in Chicago for a show you'll have to take me with you . Maybe some of that good luck will rub off . Except we'll go looking for '55 doubled dies or 42/1 Mercs .

 

So it isn't this one .

 

Ehhh.....m16......ak47......ar15.....they all get the job done.


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And yes....that is the one.


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You're right about that . Have you taken it out of the acetone yet ? You're going to have to some time . I was thinking that maybe VerdiChem might stabilize it as it will leave a layer a couple of molecules or microns thick on the coin if you don't rinse it off . I'm sure Thad would be happy to answer any questions for you . It can't hurt as I've use it a few times on Civil War Tokens with great results and no color change .

 

Yeah, I would remove it from the acetone and immediately treat it with VerdiCare. If you don't have VerdiCare, leave it in acetone till you order some.

 

A minority scientific article has said that copper in acetone in the presence of strong light and humidity can react producing corrosion. I tried to replicate the reaction, but never got the result they claimed. I put acetone , bright copper coins, and water vapor together under bright sunlight for a week and got no reaction. FWIW.

However, I didn't rip off an existing patina and expose 'naked' highly reactive copper metal.

 

Not taken it out yet....it looks too pretty. Plus I am afraid to.

 

Another option is to get some spray lacquer, take the medal out of the acetone and let it evaporate off, then carefully mist coats of lacquer onto the medal. You don't want a heavy coating just the lightest full coating possible.

 

That sounds like it would work , plus you could always put it back in the acetone if you ever wanted to remove it .

 

What transpired after I pulled it from the Acetone.