Hey gang, I know every now and then, someone will post a thread on how to retone a copper coin. Now I have done a search, but really don't feel like reading through all those posts to find a quick answer. Now normally I don't pay attention to stuff like this because it never really impacted me, but this weekend I was going through all my foreign coins and found a really nice Canadian cent that I got my hands on when I was a kid. It was part of my grandmothers set that she gave me. She had Canadian, British and Italian coins. Below is the pic of the coin. What I would like to do is to evenly tone this coin. After 20 years of sitting in a box, it has begun to retone in some spots nicely, but would like to speed up the process. I know some of you talk about applying some stuff, but that is the type of info that I am looking for. If the advice would be to leave it alone, then thats what I want to hear. Any help would be great. Joe :thumb:
I think it looks great and would leave it alone. Sulphur is the chemical that makes them darker and can be found in dandruff shampoo I belive.
I personally wouldn't put anything on the coin. One thing I have heard works is just put the coin in a normal paper mailing envelope and leave it on a window sill in the sun for several months or longer. I don't know if it actually works...but that's what I have heard.
Soak in olive oil in a tin can, I don't know for how long read this online...google coin doctor Here is a link: http://www.coinsite.com/content/origcoindoc/p0000080.htm Personally I leave my coins alone even if they are ugly...tried playing with them once (ruined about 20 wheaties) all in the 50's of course
Joe - you say you want to "re-tone" the coin. That implies that you think the coin has been cleaned - un-toned in other words. Why do you think this ? It looks natural and original to me, other than the small red spot (organic material of some kind) on the reverse. I'd leave it alone. Trying to improve the "looks" of a coin is a very tough, and risky propostion.
Hey Doug, Oh, did I say cleaned?! No, No, what gives you that idea? :whistle: Oh yeah, this baby has been cleaned by your's truely...moi!!! Back when I was a little kid..... probably about 20-25 years ago. It has been sitting in a box since then, slowly "retoning" to what you are seeing now. It is really splotchy and I didn't know if there was something I could to "fix" that. But if I should not touch it, then this is what I need to hear from the gang. Thanks.
Are you trying to "rainbow tone" your coin like some of the IHCs that ThePennyLady has recently posted? Retoning some coppers like that might be a worthy effort. Bruce
Not sure why you would want to mess with that coin but if you do, here is a tip. For many years now I've been toning down coins that have been cleaned. Some have gone so well many dealers I know with excessive experience couldn't tell they ever were cleaned. I've tried numerous methods but usually they all come out poor except one process but it has a lot of variables. Just place almost any coin on a window sill in your kitchen. Usually a window that gets some or lots of Sunlight. Do not lay the coin down but place against the window frame on an angle standing up so air gets to both sides simultaneously. This almost always works by toning a coin to as much as you like. However, here are the variables. The rather constant temperature in the Kitchen, the amount of cooking done, the types of cooking done, open or closed window, ceiling fan used for circulation, people that smoke in the kitchen, amount of humidity. All such factors and the amount of them will eventually make that coin look however you want it to appear. One more tip is to occationally blow your breath on the coin. Some people's breathing is enough in itself to do the job.
Carl, that is some great info. I most likely won't do anything, but I wanted to hear some thoughts and this is what I am getting. Thanks.
