Green Stuff on Copper

So how might one treat green stuff growing on copper? Any household remedies? Verdicare? How would it work on this guy?

Bad ear infection:

 

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Verdigris, its hard cause when you take green off, then you expose to oxygen and that will leave a mark as well.

 

I had a coin with some of that green deposits on it...I didn't look at it for years, when I did the green stuff had gone all the way through the coin and made a hole...

There are several threads on verdigris around here, please use search function to locate them...

 

Try CoiinSolve or Verdi-Care first. Only put it on the ear.

Yeah, better get it off before it eats a hole right through the coin! .

 

Well it's in good place...right in the center of the damn obverse!!!! Hoping I can get it gone and under control and that it's "scar" will not destroy eye appeal since it's in the ear... Guess I gotta see what's left when/if I get this funk gone

 

Oh I tried soaking in DAX (distilled, acetone, xylene) and no good (obviously). Guess I'll pull the trigger on verdicare...I've read it works but only to a point. I don't know if this is too far gone. Is this a good candidate for total removal by verdicare? Partial? Other ideas welcome and appreciated...

 

PM BadThad. Verdicare is his product.

 

It appears to be thin. Use verdigone or newer verdicare. It doesn't eat into the copper. I left test Lincolns in it for more than 6 months with no damage. I prefer to submerge the coin in the solution in a cleaned plastic prescription bottle myself, but you can try the spot method. Although I have no comparisons, I think the submerging maintains a consistent overall appearance. Test a couple of less valuable coins first if you have them. IMO.

 

I have at least a dozen soaking at all times in Verdicare. I just collect Lincolns so it’s my go to product for Verdigris. Dawn detergent, Water, acetone and Verdicare are ALL I use on my coins.
All I have to say about Verdicare that’s not 100% positive is this. It s cleans the surface of the coin so well that you will see fresh metal shine from scratches that didn’t tone before the dirt filled the scratch. Now with the scratch not full of the dirt anymore the bright metal shines up at you from the surface as cleaned hairlines. Of course this really only pertains to circulated full brown coins for the most part. But that’s what I collect so just my results.

 

Ok good to know. Thanks for sharing your experience

 

IMPORTANT! Don’t even try this without a microscope!
-Practice on non value coins first.
-Use non painted round toothpicks.
-Sharpen them into chisel tips, points, and thicker pushers with a #10 hobby knife.
-SOAK THE END OF THE TOOTHPICK THAT WILL CONTACT COIN METAL FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES.
-Gently prod the verdigris very lightly.
-Always have the area of the coin your working on fully covered with Verdicare.
-Keep on working with the junkers until your comfortable with the results.
-The stuff does do it’s job on verdigris it just takes some soaking time to get it all nice and soft.
-A VERY VERY LIGHT TOUCH is what is needed to not damage the surface and it takes practice.

 

I do not use toothpicks, rose thorns, or plastic toothpicks. I prefer a bamboo skewer that the tip has been soaked in " the solution" you use for a couple of days. Bamboo has hollow tubules and will draw the solution ( if water based) up into it like ink in an old fashion ink pen ( if you are old enough to remember). Then as you use it a film of the "solution" will be moistening the tip and keeping it pliable and lubricated. Then a very high quality artist brush similarly soaked will brush away debris. A cheap brush with bristle just glued in rather than with a squeezed metal collet will just fall apart. Dry bamboo or toothpick can scratch. IMO. Do not try while driving.

 

I read about skewers in a post the other day and have been meaning to try one. I’ve just used toothpicks sooooo long it’s habit. I just worry about the high silica % in bamboo being to adrasive. I’ll give it a try. I also use a sable hair artist brush, forgot that part.

 

As I recall from a discussion in person with a silica proponent using it for nutrition, the 'organic silica' found in cells of plants does not have the crystalline structure to produce the hardness effect, but it is not found favorably in peer reviewed medical reports, only in compounds sold by 'nutitionalists'. In bamboo , it is in the whitish, powder like, material inside the stalk of bamboo, whereas the 'woody' part of the stem, when dried, will have similar hardness to woody toothpicks,so no advantage there, my thought was the porosity to allow saturation and lubrication.

 

All I know is when you tool bamboo with carbide tooling the carbide wears 3to1 compared to a soft wood like Douglas Fir. The tooling shows similar wear characteristics used with bambo as used with teak. A known species to have a high silica %. it maters not as I will try it to see how it feels reguardless. Our plant had a huge wooden parts machining facility 23 Various Cnc machines bla bla.

 

Sorry to open this older thread back up. I started it, so maybe its ok

I finally got Verdicare. Going to attempt to conserve this coin. I was just Googling about the product to learn as much as I can. I am wondering if Verdicare and Verdigone are entirely different things. I think Ive read old stuff on Verdigone and am assuming it applies to Verdicare. Is that a safe assumption? I wonder because I came across this quote on Coin Community:

"Another example of heavy verdigris. It appears some of the verdigris was instantly converted to cupric oxide (black). VERDI-CARE™ was unable to remove the thick, heavy verdigris, but definitely reduced it at the surface. Nonetheless, the product was never intended to remove or react with verdigris."

Verdicare is for verdigris, right?

I PMed BadThad once and he got back to me quickly and everything, but I hate to keep bothering the guy so maybe someone else knows and I dont have to seem so high maintenance

 

mrjason71, posted: "Sorry to open this older thread back up. I started it, so maybe its ok Verdicare is for verdigris, right?

I PMed BadThad once and he got back to me quickly and everything, but I hate to keep bothering the guy so maybe someone else knows and I dont have to seem so high maintenance "

I suggest you ask Bad Thad again. He pushes his product and as you found out he is a big help and a fast reply!

Asking about something here w/o an image may get a photo of a bunch of guys holding signs.

 

Submerge it in the solution for a couple of days. Use the above methods I described and you should be fine. To finish I pat it off with a new microfiber towel then let it finish drying for a couple of weeks.
Reed.
P.s. BadThad very helpful I’m sure He is good for a couple more help line calls.

 

The pics of coin in question are at start of this thread. Its the 1920 with Lincoln ear rot...

I actually should have kept reading the thread i pulled the quote from because it looks like it was an ongoing thread BadThad started as Verdicare was being tested and tweaked. There was some mention in it that Verdicare would be a companion product for Verdigone but I believe Verdigone is gone and Verdicare is the only current Verdi product. Could be wrong...

Thanks 352sdeer. I'll begin the soak tonight and start picking at it in a day or two (if i can wait!)

Ill let you know how it goes

 

Dichloromethane on a Q-tip rolled over the coin. Repeat until the Q-tip stops turning green.