I pretty much spent my entire Friday night cooking coins. I was trying to give some color to some of my coins. I used regular nickels - nothing valuable. Most of the experiments I found online, a few I just made up. I tried the hardboiled egg in a zip lock bag. See photo below. I then added a second egg to the bag... I left them in the bag about an hour. That didn't do anything except stink up the kitchen. I also wasted two eggs. I then tried submerging a coin in ammonia in a small coffee dish (see photo below). That did nothing either. I tried baking the coins in the oven for an hour... I covered 2 of the 3 coins with a napkin. Nothing again. I did several other things without success. It seems like the only way to really tone a coin is to know hardcore chemistry. Even though it was a failure, at least it was fun and gave me something to do. Oh I almost forgot... I put one nickel in a small zip lock bag with shampoo (see photo below). That has been sitting in there for a few hours. I haven't taken it out yet. I plan on letting this one sit for a day or two. I will post photos of result later.
Ammonia will clean silver coins, but not nickel or copper coins. I don't know the chemistry involved.
My kitchen still smells like egg and ammonia. Update: coin in shampoo not showing any color still. Jefferson's hair is looking good though
It's a get rich quick scheme. You know what I'm talking about I'm just joking. I was bored and wanted to experiment. Even though none of the coins got toned, it was educational. I did learn how certain chemicals affect luster and what not. I think I am better prepared now to spot when someone tampered with a coin and how as a result of my tests.
I took the nickel out of the shampoo after 48 hours. It has theses lines across the whole obverse. The reverse has it also, but only in a couple small areas. Why did it make these lines? The shampoo also turned blue. It started off a milky white color.
