So I should stop storing my large cents on open display platforms around my orchids in the greenhouse? Hmmmmm, there's a novel theory! Serious question though, do the Intercept lined boxes prevent verdigris (in a low moisture / regulated temperature environment)? I put in an order for VerdiCare with Wizard some time ago, I'm on a list to be notified when they have it back in stock. I'm going to try it out and see what it does to this faded 1801 beauty (set me back $20):
Intercept lined boxes, when combined with other proper storage techniques, do a great job of greatly slowing down and or preventing toning on coins. But they are not needed to prevent verdigris forming on coins. Using them for that purpose won't hurt anything but it won't help anything either. To prevent verdigris the coins need to be placed in inert holders, and you have to control humidity, keep it as low as possible by using silica gel packs inside a sealed/closed container with the coins. And by maintaining a relatively constant temperature where the coins are stored. That's really all ya need to do. What it will do is very little. Oh it will take some of the verdigris off the reverse, but by no means will it take all of it off. There have been many, many threads and posts made with examples of before and after pics showing what Verdi-Care will and will not do on coins with various amounts of verdigris on them. I would urge everyone to search those threads out and look for yourselves.
I’m not making a joke, but you will end up with the same verdigris, but it will be cleaner. This might actually be of use before applying Verdicare if there is gunk on top of the verdigris. But Verdicare has to react chemically with the verdigris to neutralize it, and solvents like acetone or xylene don’t react with it.
Here's my accidental experience with Xylene and 200 year old Italian copper coins that had some verdigris on them. I put the coins in a covered glass jar full of fresh Xylene and forgot about them for over a month. When I pulled the jar out the Xylene fluid had tinted a blueish green color and the coins had turned colors. I have never had that happen with Acetone.
No it does not, it has no effect on it whatsoever. There are only two commercial products that I've ever even heard of that dissolve and remove verdigris - a product called Biox, and Verdi-Care. Biox is an old product, been around for decades, and it will remove verdigris - but it, all by itself, also physically damages the coins. So you don't ever want to use it ! Thad @BadThad will have to confirm this but I think it was the discussions we had years ago here on the forum about Biox and verdigris in general that inspired or helped to inspire Thad to invent Verdi-Care. And it works, and it does not harm the coins.
Xylene is a bit "stronger" than acetone, but it won't remove verdigris either. That said I don't doubt what you're saying because verdigris is often a soft powdery substance that would do pretty much the same thing to a degree - flake off and mix with any fluid even distilled water - when allowed to soak in it. I've seen times when you could literally blow some of the verdigris off a coin when it's soft and powdery like that. So it makes sense that it would tint the xylene after a prolonged soak. It is also quite normal and to be expected that when you use acetone or xylene, that the substance you're removing with it dissolves in the acetone or xylene and changes its color. And that is precisely why when you ever you use either one, a three step process, using clean acetone or xylene each time, is required - specifically so you avoid leaving contaminants dissolved in them on the coin. It could also be that there was something else, other than verdigris, on the coins that dissolved in the xylene and caused the color change in the xylene and on the coins. But copper, in and of itself, doesn't react with xylene at all.
I just completed this conservation tonight with VERDI-CARE. Covered the corrosion spot with VC using a toothpick (very tiny drop), let stand about 2-3 minutes and worked with a toothpick. Total time < 5 minutes.
Also conserved this speck of verdigris on another coin. I let this one stand for 10 minutes under a tiny drop of VC applied with a toothpick. After 10 min, I worked the spot with a toothpick (while still under fluid) and I saw it float off. Dabbed off excess, rinsed with water, then acetone - final result.
Lincoln came out looking good. Nice job. I can't say the same about the results on this one. Looks like some permanent damage there. Was the verdigris deeper and more corrosive on this second coin?
It has to be understood and acknowledged that if verdigris is present, and every single time verdigris is present, permanent damage has already been done to the coin. And Verdi-Care cannot and will not EVER fix that because it cannot be fixed ! The advantage of Verdi-Care is that it safely removes the green stuff. But that's all it can do. And given that nothing else can, that's a lot !
I’m going to go out in a limb and guess that the ingredients are not available, or are expensive in the USA, so that VC is not an American product.
The green around the edges was obvious and it is easy to see it is gone. It takes a moment to realize that the entire surface was covered by a much less obvious green film. Removing that really makes a difference, taking away a green overlay and letting the reddish color come through much better. (I see that the white balance is a little redder on the right, but that does not look strong enough to account for what I see here.) The eye appeal is better, in part, to removing a problem that didn’t even seem visible.
