How Can You "Recolor" a Lincoln?

How could this be done? I've sank coins in some vinegar before, but the color was always off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1909-vdb-Lincol...mQQptZCoins_US_Individual?hash=item35a45f03f3

 

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Strong guess, but acetone? Or will that just turn them bright?

 

Never tried acetone on copper, but I like science, so lets give it a try!

 

Cool let me know how it works out for ya!

 

Generally when someone talks about a recolored copper coin, it is assumed they were chemically dipped before someone tried to recolor them. Using any acid type product on the coin will take all patina off of the coin so it has that pinkish tinge of a 2009 cent fresh, really fresh from the mint. Any coin more than a few months old will have a golden tinge to the patina. The acid is used to try and take off any spots or bad toning or corrosion damage.

Now obviously, no one would believe a 1909 cent that was pinkish, so they try to recolor these back to the "old time" look, and it can seldom be done quickly ( some say not at all), and the cent comes out orange or weirdly toned. They usually remind me of Halloween Lincoln pumpkins

Acetone, xylene, 90% isopropyl alcohol will not change the color of the metal. It may however remove oils, grease, gunk that had covered parts of the coin for a long while and when removed, shows a different color to the metal than before.

Jim

 

Jim,

Thank you very much for the response! Very informative.

 

You really shouldn't but if you wanted to make Copper look new there are many ways to do that.
Naturally one is to use most metal polishes for cars. At many places where they demonstrate auto polishes they use a penny (cent) and it comes out looking new.
Acetone and other substances similar will do nothing to Copper at all. Yes there are silly stories on the internet about how Copper Coins will vanish if placed in Acetone and water and placed in the Sun. I've tried that under numersous conditions but never were able to use the same Sun they did. Didn't work.
One method is to go to Walmart Jewlery department. They have been carrying a few different jewlery cleaners. The one in the Silvery container is for Silver but for Copper it will turn the coin to a new coins status. Must be done for a few minutes at most. However, it must be immediately rinsed in a Baking Soda and Distilled water solution to nertalize the jewlery cleaning effects. If not the coin will turn a true reddish color and I don't mean the Copper Red, but a real Red.
Another method is if you have or know someone that has an old Lead-Acid battery, using a turkey baster steal a little and place the coin in that for a few minutes.
The main thing to remember here is that most of these systems will make the coin look new but in reality it is removing a layer of the coin.

 

No offence Carl but pretty much anything in that post will totally destroy the coin...

You could always take a brown sharpie to it if you want to recolor it that badly

 

as stated above acetone will not darken a coin and will not, in fact, change the color at all unless it removes a foreign substance.

The most common way to darken a cent is a product called Deller's Darkener. I have never used the product so I cannot reccomend it. A home grown method that I have heard of is to mix some sulfur powder with vaseline and apply to the coin. You have to keep a close eye on this as it can happen very quickly depending on how much powder you use.

A method that I have used on occasion is more "natural" than thes but can take a long lime. Simply put the coin on a windowsill and let the environment darken it slowly. remember to turn the coin often so that both sides tone equally. this methon can take several months so patience is essential.

Richard

 

If you use straight dish detergent, dont scrub just gently press/pinch between your fingers. then rinse with hot HOT water... place in 350 oven for 7-10 minutes. WHALLLA!

Instant Ebay listing!

 

As I started out that post with a you really shouldn't but I guess that is not strong enough for many. So yes your correct, those and many other attempts to reinstate any coins original color will usually ruin a coin. The reason is simple since most of those methods remove a portion of the original metal.
Guess I should really have said such things work but just don't do it.

 

Not to contradict you but I've been experimenting with coins in Acetone for several years now. I've read all types of stories on how it does this or that and so far can not reproduce those results. I've put a variety of coins in Acetone for weeks with practically no results. In one instance several coins came out exactly as they went in except a Roosevelt Dime that looked cleaner. I've left such coins in the Sun, shade, on wooden tables after such dippings in Acetone and again not much of a change.
I suspect that when there is any obverse reaction from dipping in Acetone it is due to reusing Acetone from some other purposes. Or continuously reusing Acetone from numerous other coins that were covered with something.

 

Just put the outside like a garage & protected on the rim. that way you don't have to turn them over. I have an old Whitman page that I have punched the hole out & that works the best for me:kewl:

 

Acetone will make post 82 coin have a blue hue to them.but it won't harm a 90%copper cent

 

IMO, the best way to recolor a copper coin is to handle the coin in your hands every day. The oil from your hands will retone the coin and it will look natural.

 

Could be possible and I've heard this from many others also. I've seen photos on the internet of Copper coins that were so called discolored from only Acetone. And there is that web site about how Acetone and water will form an electrolitic type reaction with Copper. And I've tried and tried to reproduce such reactions but since I use only highly purified Acetone and very clean glass utinsils, my results just don't match those results.
Presently working on a Large Cent given to me free due to pitting and horrible substances on it. It has so far gone through the Acetone, Laquer thinner, Lighter fluids, Vinegar and lots of other items. Now working on Walmart Jewlery cleaners for that coin.

 

I'm not really sure IMO was attempting to darken a coin but trying to bring back the original tone from the Mint.
Regardless Leadfoot, you must remember that not all individuals have the same body secretions of the same proportions. In some instances some people have excessively acidic sweat and/or very salty. Not just an Oil from the sweat. Such types of sweat can really do more damage than good. Did you ever notice that some people can get thier own sweat in thier eyes and it has little effect and others almost seam to go blind from their own sweat. And too some individuals smeel really bad from sweat and others have fery little odors. Same thing. Not all sweat is the same.
Someone else mentioned dish soaps. There too is a misleading, incompleted suggestion. For just as many dish soaps that there are out there on the market, there are that many different substances in those products. The acutal forulae for even dish soaps are usually proprietary due to product theft. And to even comfuse the enemy more, some of the larger organizations change their dish soap formulae cointinuously. Again, some can do more damage than good so you really have to be carefull with those types of products you have no idea of what they really are.

 

Perhaps it is too late for this item. I soaked it a few weeks in distilled water to separate it from it's neighbor.

Then I dipped it in acetone.

Still grungy and almost ruined but now I can read the date!

But I'm stopping working on it until I find out how else to pork it up.

Tried reading some older threads (sorry, my rose thorns got thrown into the compost).

Is it too late to stop trying to fix it or does anyone have ideas before I go for broke, toothbrush/acid/jackhammer?

Damage is more obvious if you click on the image.