Before & after soak.

I got this 1806 pure copper Penny last week, it was encrusted in hard green verdigris.
I used a wooden cocktail stick to push off some of the surface gunge and then I submersed it in extra virgin olive oil for 6 days, then rinsed it off with warm water and washing up liquid and patted dry.
The result is not bad even if I say so myself,
A daylight replicating bulb was used in the second pic, the colour has not altered at all in hand.

BEFORE



AFTER

 

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I have a coin like that. do you do the olive oil thing first then pick at it ?

 

On this one I did the picking first which then allows the oil to penetrate and soften the older stuff.
It doesn`t harm to use a soft tooth brush when rinsing the oil off with soap.
I`ll retake another photo and see if I can get the colours to match.

 

Would distilled water have helped remove the stuff also without damaging it? I don't have any coins like this to test it on but I was wondering because I used distilled for cleaning up some of my ancient bronze coins and was curious about distilled's effect on more recent copper coins.

 

Wow. Nice work. Some folks stay away from olive oil as it tends to darken copper, but there's no arguing with your results.

 

I can`t get the lighting correct as the original with the verdigris was taken in natural sunlight with a light tent.
Anyhow this is better because I got them the same way round.

 

I have one that's quite dark, but no huge amount of corrosion or verdigris. Think I'll try olive oil too. This will be the "before" picture.

 

I`ve never used distilled water on coins, I doubt it would be any different from normal tap water.
I`ve always used Extra Virgin olive oil on ancients I have found detecting, on coppers and bronzes, but the best results have been on Pure copper coins

 

very nice davey!

i have used distilled waster on 19th century coins with BD, seemed to be ok. i haven't tried olive oil...but looks like it works well!

 

Interesting. Thank you for sharing your results!

 

It's certainly a coin worthy of conservation. I'm glad to see it's in the right hands.

 

Not the same coin

 

Yes, not the same coin at all... you made it look much better!

 

hi Davey. here is my coin with green verdigris. my Belgium copper 10 centimes. I am scared I might do more damage to the coin. what do you think ???

 

Looks good Davey...much better actually. I've only used olive oil once to clean a coin. I had a heavily encrusted US Half Cent that really needed help. It was a lot worse than yours or the others shown. I soaked it in olive oil over an eighteen month period but took it out every few months to check on it. Over time I could see a gradual improvement. Bottom line...it came out very nicely. It erased all traces of the verdigris and encrustation.
Thanks for the before and after pictures.

Bruce

 

Spirityoda, in case you didn't know, the 1832 10 centimes with medal alignment is worth 5 to 6 times as much as an 1832 with coin alignment. See Krause KM #2.1 and KM #2.2 varieties, especially in the lower grades.

 

I will check that medal/coin alignment tomorrow on that coin. coins are locked up and it's late. thanks for the tip.

 

I take it you are joking ?

If in doubt just examine the stain line in the copper on the reverse which goes from the "B" of Britannia under the Wreath through seated Britannia`s head .

 

If it was me it would be in the oil

 

ok gonna try it. in e.v.o.o. for 6 days. then I will start picking at it with tooth picks carefully.