Cleaning Toned Lincoln's????

I recently came across a few Toned Lincoln's and am wondering what the best way to clean these is without ruining/removing the toning. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

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Toned Lincolns? I just paid 92 dollars for one. This was at a 5-6x premium. What kind of toning? Can we see pictures please?

 

It would depend on the nature of what needs to be cleaned. I would be very careful cleaning a toned coin, but a dip in acetone should be effective.

 

I will get pictures up as soon as I can.

 

I think when you see the pictures you will agree, but who knows. I just hope I can get good enough pictures to see if there is any potential in the group.

 

The overwhelming majority of people in this forum will tell you to 1) leave them alone or 2) rinse/soak with distilled water and possibly rinse with xylene. That being said, if the toning really is ugly (and some really is) there are a couple of products I would trust, VerdiClean and VerdiGone. I think you can buy them at Wizard Coin Supply.

 

As with any colored coin ( NT, AT, darkened, painted, etc. ) unless you know exactly what it is ( and often impossible to tell between AT and NT) then you must accept the risk that an undesirable color change can occur. If you accept that, then try what you may, but don't blame the treatment itself (such as the water, acetone, xylene, WD-40, etc.), but your experience and decisions.

 

You probably mean Verdicare, right? Used to be called Verdigone. Don't know what Verdiclean is.

Acetone and xylene can have a peculiar effect on red copper. Beware.

If you must clean it try Coincare or Blue Ribbon (if you can find the latter). They're pretty safe. Depending on the crud, a long mineral oil bath may help.

Generally, it's best to just leave it alone.
Lance.

 

Thanks for the correction, I was refering to Veredicare. I know Doug complains that acetone will stain/tone copper, but I don't think xylene will. Looking on the Wizard site, I think they have Blue Ribbon on special sale. It probably is best to leave it alone, but if it is really nasty toning on an otherwise nice and desirable coin, I can understand the OP point of view.

 

Yeah, I don't agree with leaving the oil on the surface, this is where the xylene would help. As long as it is used enough to remove the oil and then allowed to evaporate.

 

Alright I think a little back story is needed on this.


The Lincolns in question were in a bird bath (Not in Use) and have been there for years exposed to the elements. I walked past them the other day and realize I have seen them every day for who knows how long and have no idea what kind of pennies were in there. My curiosity got the best of me and I took them and tried to identify the dates. While some were visible others were not and all of them were looking pretty nasty. I decided what the heck I will do a little cleaning experiment with them. I soaked a batch of 10 or so in Diet Coke for 7 hours. After the soak I washed them of with water and gave them a rub with my thumb. To my surprise some of them were Toned. This is a big surprise at the time as I just thought they were some junk pennies that I would just pull the Copper ones out if nothing else. Most if not all are toned with some crud/damage left on them. The toned portions are pretty clean (considering), but I am just wondering if I can get the rest of the gunk off these coins if they are toned underneath? Please do not get into a debate on AT and NT as I had no idea they were toned in the first place and I have no intention on selling these. They are ONLY for my own enjoyment and will NOT be sold. Well since everyone has the full story what do you suggest now?

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but everything you have posted seems to confirm your initial suspicion. Look at the bright side though, whatever method you use to clean these, you don't have to worry about hurting the value of the coins.

 

Cleaning Toned Lincolns?

I wouldn't even attempt it, it won't look natural.

 

No worries I don't get offended easily.

 

You think cleaning them with CokaCola toned them? I'm honestly asking i'm not trying to be sarcastic. Do you think them being in the element's for years had nothing to do with the toning?

Agreed

 

Let me give the CocaCola thing a shot. Surface corrosion on copper coins is called toning when it is a surface phenomenon and is only a few atoms thick. When the corrosion gathers in specific areas, it becomes much thicker. The corrosion is caused by the reaction of copper with the environment. When it is thin, it can either be stabilized if it is attractive, or removed if it is unsightly. If it is removed, the coin will possibly or probably show traces of the removal and it is said to be "cleaned". If the corrosion is deep, the removal will leave pits and usually a very unattractive coin. The CocaCola contains several acids including carbonic and phosphoric acids. These acids attack the corrosion and remove some or all of it, but they also attack the copper surface to some extent, possibly adding a thin layer of reaction products that could be called "toning" although it would probably be spotty and not at all attractive. I think Doug is refering to this. Your Coke remoived some of the surface and reacted with the cleaned copper. Now if you want to remove the "toning" from the Coke, go for it. Please give us photos, I would love to see what you have done.