Verdigris (More Questions) Long time lurker. First post. I have read a number of posts by GDJMPS and others. GDJMPS, do you advise cleaning verdigris and heavy staining from "junk silver" being held for the long term. Or, cleaning all such silver coins. Also, during cleaning, when you move coins from one container of acetone to another, what do you use to actual touch the coins. Cave_Troll, assuming you keep all the silver coin you find aside from your completed collections, do you clean them of verdigris and stains. Or, do you clean all such other coins. Willie (The Ghost of)
Verdigris (More Questions) Sorry, although I asked questions of specific posters, all comments are welcome. Willie (The Ghost of)
Howdy Willie - Welcome to the Forum !! Verdigris is normally only found on copper coins. But there are instances where it has been found on silver and even some gold. This is because of the copper alloy used in the coins. But this is not common. If you have green stuff on a silver coin I would be more likely to suspect that it is PVC residue than I would verdigris. But both substances should always be removed as they will only damage the coin further if left alone. As for staining - that depends. If the stain is a substance that may harm the coin or result in corrosion - then yes I would recommend it be removed. Otherwise I would leave it alone. When trying to clean a harmful substance like PVC from a coin just treat the coin as you would any other like it. If the coin is circulated, I see no harm in using your fingers unless it is a particularly rare or valuable coin. With Unc or valuable coins I would recommend using a pair of coin tongs. You can find them at most coin supply shops.
Thanks GDJMSP! I was thinking more of avoiding damage to myself (fingers), from the acetone, than to these circulated coins. HA! Willie (The Ghost of)
Well minimal contact with acetone isn't going to hurt you any - other than drying out the skin a bit. Ask any painter - they get the stuff all over them every day at work.
Let's not forget the brain cells you donate as a result of contact with acetone. I dry them with a clean cotton rag immediately after removing them but I suppose they'd actually dry fine on their own too. I'm just impatient.
Yup. Green stuff on a lot of 40 and 90 percent silver halves from circulation, although perhaps not a on a high percentage of them. Heavy stains, of an unknown variety to me anyway, are on some of them as well. So, Moen, do you dip "junk silver" coins with your fingers in several containers of acetone, and them rub them with a clean cotton cloth. Also, am wondering whether verdigris transfers from coin to coin in the same bag or roll over time. Thanks for sharing. Willie (The Ghost of)
Never ever rub a coin with ANY type of cloth...it will mark the coin in some way..... The best way is to pour some distill water over the coin and then let it air dry.... Speedy
I have only ever cleaned one coin. It was an impaired proof Franklin half that had tape on it. I used a pair of kitchen tongs and I held it by the edges as I lowered it into the acetone and then I did the same as I dunked it in distilled water. The process was repeated about 8 times as the tape was very stubborn. I am not completely satisfied with the end result since it is still obvious when looking at the coin that it had tape on it, but at least the damage to the surface has been halted. As for verdegis, I don't own cleaner for that yet, although I will eventually since i have a handful of cheap coins that need to be cleaned. I fully intend to clean the vedegris off of them once I get the chance. The thing with verdegris is that while it is common on copper it is relatively uncommon on silver, so it isn't as big of a problem as it could be. Good luck!
Ah verdigris my pet hate. I can't abide the stuff, if a coin has it just don't buy it. I did once get a sixpence with it a spot of verdigris and i used a fingernail to get it off, having no acetone around. Came off easily enough and only a slight mark where it had been. Scratches not too much of a problem on an EF coin from 1696, since what with haymarking and other small digs and things it wasn't going to be noticed so much.
Sylvester - I'm not sure that acetone will remove verdigris anyway. To be honest I've never tried. But there is a chemical that will - it is called biox.
In my view verdigris simply has to come off... the faster the better. Either way it's a damaged coin, i don't like dipping coins in things so much or even bringing them near chemicals or water as it can aggrevate matters because a 'dipped' coin affecting the lustre is worse than a scratched one in my opinion. Think about how it will look on a dealers list when selling "VF light/deep scratch on obverse", "VF cleaned"... I'd rather take the fingernail approach. A bit of a crude method but it's effective if you don't apply too much pressure and if the verdigris is the 'crusty' type localised somewhere and not in the legends, if it's imbedded itself in the legends you might as well call it a day before you start. If you've got speckled, light spots of verdigris everwhere then i'd just give up and call it a scrapper. Verdigris is something i learned to fear from being very young, my father always said "if it's got verdigris it's junk", so one speck of it anywhere and the coin is on my 'keep an eye on it' list. I try and remove it in it's early stages, if it is removed clean and shows no sign of coming back then i'll keep the coin. If it looks as if it can't be removed easily or it comes back then i ditch the coin as fast as i can. Which is the reason i tend to avoid copper and low purity silver coinage. I think in the last few years i've only had one coin that had a verdigris spot and i took it off with a fingernail (as i mentioned above), it left a slight scratch and a slight dig where the verdigris had slightly marred the surface. But when i sold the coin i got a decent price for it so my approach can't have been all that wrong. If i had try some chemical method the dark pencil lead grey tone of the coin would have been affected and it would have been sold as an altered cull.
