Hi all. I bought a few nickels from a bargain bin. I chose some for their detail, despite the unnatural color. It looks like they spent time in the ground, I don't know. How can I restore the natural color to these nickels?
======================================================= Look at this sight, I found it on this sight, or a coin sight. I have not tried it yet. gometaldetecting.com/electrolysis_cleaning.htm This sight show how to make, and use a low voltage transformer with a glass, two stainless, or non copper alligator clips attached to copper wire leads, a stainless steel spoon, cold water, and concentrate of lemon juice. Mark the negative lead to ID when using. Good luck.
I like them just as they are. But if you insist on cleaning, you might try what us ancient collectors do: soak them in distilled water for a month, changing the water every week, then give them a light brushing. Electrolysis strips everything off and makes coins look horrible in my opinion. Your coins are circulated, and they're never going to look like they just came off the presses.
So, acetone would not remove the discoloration? would this coloring render a details/environmental damage determination from a tpg? Not saying I would send this coin in, but just asking.
The top three are corroded and you can't fix corrosion. It is theoretically possible to wear the coins down beyond the depth of corrosion, but I doubt it is worth the time and effort and what you would have left would not be pretty.
They are what they are - leave them alone. If you do anything to them, they will be even less desirable.
silent - Every coin you see is toned to some degree unless it was either minted minutes ago or dipped minutes ago. So your question of returning a coin to its natural color is technically moot for in a practical sense no coin you see IS its natural color. Check that, no coin you see is in its original color. But I do understand your question and the answer to it is pretty simple. The only thing you can ever do to restore a coin to its natural color is dip the coin. And in many cases even that won't be effective, for several reasons. For one thing the color we see on a coin is a function of the reflection and refraction of light from the surface of the coin. And that function is affected by the surface of the coin. So if the surface of the coin is not in its original state then the color we see cannot be its natural color. So, as said already, the coins in your top post can never be returned to their natural color because they are corroded. So even if you were strip away all of the discoloration by dipping the coins what you would end up with is not what you want. So trying to do so is a waste of time and effort. As for the other coins you posted, they are all well circulated. And because they are all well circulated their original color can never be restored either because their surfaces are not original. In point of fact what you see with the coins as they are is their natural color in their present state. So they should not be dipped either. And if they were dipped, then they would look anything BUT natural. A lot of people always seem to have the idea that coins can be improved or fixed. But the simple truth is 99% of the time it cannot be done. Now a lot of people will argue with that because they will say - it looks better to me ! But that's the whole issue in a nutshell right there - it looks better to them. Why ? Because to them bright, clean, shiny, choose your word, looks better than dirty, toned, corroded, dull, choose your word. But in any given state of condition a coin has a natural color - which is what you said you wanted in your question. Well, the coins you have posted ARE in their natural color given their state of condition. So the answer to your question is to simply leave them alone.
