Somewhere over the course of a few months I seem to have developed a HUGE cent collection. I didn't realize how many I had until I started cataloging them... see, I'll keep even the old cruddy ones if they're before 1960. I'm looking and some of these circulated coins and while not immediately visible to the naked eye, I'm seeing tiny corrosion spots with a 10x loupe. I know cleaning coins are bad. But if I leave the corrosion and store these coins for 10 years, I'll come back to a big pile of green goo. I bought some of that stuff from Dirty Coins, recommended by GD, that removes corrosion completely. It'll be interesting to see how this affects the coin in general, but hey, it's better then a pile of green goo. But my question is this... Is there any sort of ACCEPTABLE coating, varnish, spray, etc., etc., that you can put on a copper coin to preserve and protect it (or any coin for that matter) that is NOT considered cleaning, or altering the coin in any way? Thanks! Scott
Not that I know of, once it starts it pretty much there. The ancient collectors and serious metel detector folks might have something they use. Sorry I could not offer more help....
Sorry for the confusion, I edited my post to make my question a little more clear... Jack, in another post GD mentioned a company called Dirty Coins (dirtycoins.com) that sell products that will kill the green stuff. 4 out 5 museums recommend it! I was just wondering if there was an accepted protectant you can put on the coin after the corrosion was removed (or on a non-corroded coin). Maybe some sort of oil? It works for guns!!
It may not necessarily be corrosion. Can you get some pictures? Even if it is, one of the best things you can do for the coins is to keep an eye on them and store them in a dry place.
For ancients people use renaissance wax...it pretty much coats your coin protecting it but I have only ever heard of its use on ancients...it could be used on all coins but people seem much more strict on what is okay on the american coin side of things...if cleaning and polishing is a sin, I would think coating the coin with a protective coating would be as well...but if you are interested, its relatively cheap and you get a lot as it doesnt take a lot to coat a lot of coins. I use it on iron coins to try to keep them from rusting...
Some folks actually use Motor Oil! If and when you take them out, you will want to put them in some sort of strainer to allow the oil to drain, then pat them dry (do not rub) with old towels. This will actually remove some of the dirt from dirty coins. Frank
Well, it's that green stuff that accumulates on copper coins... actually raised off the surface. In time it will get bigger and worse, and I assume it eats away at the coin. I'll see if I can get some good pictures, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Also, I think I have some that may have that green PVC residue on them. They came as part of a lot and they were in some type of plastic slotted folder, and were pretty much stuck to the inside. This green residue doesn't appear like the other stuff, as in it's not raised, but more like a coating, and it's in weird places like on the rim. Also, there's a bad odor on the coins... hard to describe, but almost like wet dirty coins... but these coins are dry.
Harco Coinmaster albums used to be the thing I guess before they figured out that PVC was bad, they had vinyl pages....they are slotted plastic sleeves that then slide into a clear plastic page, sort of like an all plastic Dansco Acetone will remove most PVC residue, but I recommend doing absolutly nothing untill you can post some pics here so we all can get a better idea of what it actually is you're dealing with
That sounds EXACTLY like what I'm dealing with. I removed the coins and tossed the works. I'll take some pics after work tomorrow and post them...
There are all kinds of products on the market - I do no trecommend using any of them. If you want to protect your coins - store them properly. That's all you need to do.
If it is developing a patina, which is corrosive, it will eat away the metal and leave the surface pitted. But again, when it comes to modern coins, I dont know what the best way would be. A patina on ancients is desired and if you clean them down to the metal you often find they are ALL patina, corroded right through...but to protect from bronze disease they might give a coin a coat of wax. Many ways to get it off and take the coin back to the metal...if thats what you want, ...if it is bright green and appears powdery it could be bronze disease? In ancients its taboo to remove a patina, in moderns, I assume you dont want it forming. Here is a good example of a coin eaten by corrosive verdigris then the patina is completely stripped by electrolysis or chemicals: In my experience if there is just small amount of verdigris, there will be a pit in the metal under it.
Here's what I'm dealing with. This is just one coin which has both the corrosion and residue on it, but I probably have close to a hundred of these... on some you can see the corrosion right away, on others you need a loupe to spot the tiny spots.... yes, I'm a little obsessed by this... lol Here are the pics: http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/donna.penney/coins/Damage01.jpg http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/donna.penney/coins/Damage02.jpg The first one is the corrosion, and the second is what I believe is the PVC residue. Cheers, Scott
Congrats...you have PVC damage, and luckily you caught it before it got too bad. Acetone will remove it if swirled around a few seconds then rinse with ...loss of words...that water thats not drinking water, lol. Pat dry and store properly. Thats just my advise, you may get better from someone else. I have treated PVC coins like that with no ill effects YET in my years of collecting.
Distilled water I think is what you were looking for. Aslanmia, I know they are small and might be hard to tell but do they seem powdery? or like a crust on the coin surface?
