1909s Lincoln Green Spots Clean?

Why change the VC fluid a few times Thad?

 

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To keep it from getting saturated with the dissolved verdigris salts.

 

Thank you all for responding, I think I will run this under some hot water first and see if some of the corrosion loosens up. I don't want it to get worse than it is. I purchased this coin in a set. I most likely will put it back into the set and put it up for sale.

 

Don't let it go down the drain, and make sure to pat it dry and use a hairdryer.

 

LOL

 

Send another photo when you get done with the cleaning. Would be helpful to see the end results.

 

Running this coin under hot water is a high risk proposition. It might make matters even worse.

If the OP desires the safest approach, the coin should be soaked for an hour in distilled water with a few specks of baking soda dissolved (brings up the pH to neutralize the verdigris acids), then soak for an hour in acetone to dehydrate it and put it into an airtite.

 

Would that be because the hot water would dissolve some of the verdigris components?

 

It certainly will as verdigris is an ionic mixture of compounds. You will also be ripping the verdigris out of the pits via mechanical action. In my experience, pulling that much stuff off will remove detail on a heavily corroded coin. Seems removing the verdigris harshly also takes some uncorroded metal along for the ride.

My choice would be to leave the pits filled and keep some of the verdigris to retain detail. I've seen people in the metal detecting crowd completely strip a coin like this one with acid, what's left after that is UGLY in my eyes - a shiny slug with pits all over. You have to ask yourself what is worse, a coin with some verdigris and good detail or a detailess, pitted slug?

 

Thanks, I stand corrected...be gentle with this damaged darling.

 

I think to start with I am going to soak this in some olive oil for 24 hours.
I will put up some photos after it's soak.

 

I did not do the hot water rinse. The Olive oil soak will be the 1st I am trying.

 

@BadThad makes the Verdigri solution,
You are able to do what you want with this VDB,
But, badthad I believe gave you the best solution for stopping the corrosion on your coin.
After you have done his method and stored it for a while, you can post pics and see if there might be a second step to restoration.

 

Yes, please post pics...

 

The olive oil will do little and it creates a problem once you soaked it into every pore, you have to get rid of it and it's only soluble in a non-polar solvent like xylene. It will be a difficult task to complete remove all of it. One of MANY reasons I absolutely hate when people use oil on coins.

 

Concerning oil...mineral oil is just a hydrocarbon liquid. I have put a small amount of this on coins that were very dull in order to impart some shine (yeah, yeah, yeah, I like shiny things). I would see little harm in this. Opinion?

 

Lipstick on a pig!

I absolutely HATE oil on coins, sorry....you got to read about it while reviewing my book. Pull out the file and have a read again.

 

C'mon...who wouldn't love this...

 

Does mineral oil break down over time? If so, would these by-products become a dull film on the coin, or even react with the surface metal? (Not that it's an issue with the OP's cent.)

I bring this up because I saw a thread, I think from 2009, where one poster promoted an olive oil soak. The thread had pictures of coins that had been treated 10-15 years earlier. They were flat and dull. I wondered if the coin was permanently damaged, or whether this was a film of degraded olive oil that could be rinsed off.

 

Mineral oil is a complex mixture of various chemicals with a lot of variance. Mineral oil is very stable in itself, depending on the degree of satuation, i.e. the amount of materials in it without reactive double bonds. It also contains sulfur, chlorine, phosphorus and other dissolved elements which are harmful to metals. It can also contain some serious nasties like benzene. It should NEVER be used on coins for these reasons.

Olive oil is completely different from mineral oil. It has nothing in common with it other than the name "oil". It contains various organic acids, that's why it can have an affect on verdigris. At the same time, acids will EAT metal and cause corrosion, that's likely what those coins are "flat and dull" after an extended exposure.

Save the EVO for your salad, DO NOT use it on coins!