Electrolysis, Before and After

Ok, I finished my yard work and as my kid was swimming, I decided to make an electrolysis coin cleaning system that I saw on the Internet. So I grabbed a 6v adapter, alligator clips, a glass of cold water, a teaspoon of table salt, and a stainless steel spoon.

I know you never clean a coin, but I wanted to use this on some of the coins in my personal collection that I will never sell...just to give them better presentation in my dansco albums.

I used a random dime and here are the results after 5 minutes.

IMHO, this low-voltage coin cleaning system was a success :thumb: It cleaned up the coin to have nice eye-appeal, but did not make the coin look unnatural. But judge for yourself.

I will try this will other U.S. coins as well to see the differences (cent, nickel, quarter).

-LTB

 

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I wouldn't do it, but it's up to you...

I have used electrolysis in the past on a wheat that was so corroded that I couldn't see the date. It didn't work at all (it ended up being a 1929 when I got at it with an eraser).

 

You improved it - I'm not sure how much because I see very little difference. But I'm guessing the photos could be better (sorry - no offense intended!) Is the coin Dark Gray, or ....?

The other question is whether you can provide the link for what you're trying.

The problem with all of these treatments is what happens
1 month from now
1 year from now
50 years from now.

And of course, we can't know that.

But someone has to start the process. The Internet NEVER forgets.

I applaud efforts like this on non-rare coins. Experiment. Investigate.

Please keep us informed.

 

I use baking soda with a touch of salt and it seems to work really well. :thumb: Also, if you clean coppers, do NOT use a stainless steel electrode, use something copper (pocket change pennies).

Ribbit

 

Here is the link...
http://www.mycoincollecting.com/collecting/cleaning-coins-electrolysis.html

Now you tell me I just gave a 1939 wheat the chair, and it totally altered the color. I was NOT expecting that. It gave it a deep/rich chocolate/coffee bean color. I will try a cent using another cent as the electrode :whistle: Thanks for the tip.

Here is the wheat cent after 5 min using a STEEL electrode. As you may notice, there were two verdigris spots around 1 and 2 o'clock that it seemed to effectively remove.

-LTB

 

Wow.

I will wait for the chemistry experts to tell us why this is bad!!! (that's life)

I'm guessing an important layer is being removed/damaged/weakened by the electrolysis treatment.

Thanks for the data and keep it up!

 

Since I have the momentum, I will do a nickel next...

here mr. 1935 buffalo nickel...here mr. 1935 buffalo nickel...where yuh hidin' boy...it's time for a bath.

-LTB

 

The dime I can see possible saying it removed some dirt. The penny looked like it was made much worse - did you use copper like toad mention? Curious and thanks for posting the results.

 

I was always curious about this...
Thanks for sharing... Seems to make the coin a little better, although I'd never do it myself

 

Yeah, I used a steel electrode, so it totally changed the color of the cent. I will try using another cent as the electrode next time.

Here is a buffalo nickel. It removed most of the dirt and grime, but left a bit in some of the crevices. Maybe I should increase the time of the soak, or maybe I need to increase the voltage to 18v for the tough stuff.

I'm still not convinced, and will leave my personal set alone...at least for now :whistle: Maybe later tonight I will do a quarter and then try another cent using a copper as the electrode...but for now, I'm off to fire up my charcoal chimney for the trusty ol' weber kettle :eat:

-LTB

 

I don't like what it did to the buffalo nickel... Looks very odd...

This is very interesting, I know of others who do this, and have good results with it..
I do not know if I'd ever do it for any reason, unless it was a beat up dirty coin, and I didn't really know what it was

 

Too me you now see a halo effect on the buff nickel in the pictures. It seems more noticeable on the reverse than the obverse but it is still there.

 

Hi Mark, what is a halo effect?

Ok guys, I ran the process on a 1953 wheat, but this time using another cent as the electrode.

It still changed the color, although not to chocolate like when I used the steel electrode, it went to lighter. I used a 2000 cent, do I have to use another wheat as the electrode?

alrighty, here are the results...

-LTB

 

The results on the second wheat look a little better than the first, makes it look more original...

 

Great post, thanks for sharing your experience!

 

The halo effect is what you see on cleaned coins. The open flat areas become one color and right next to the devices the dirt or original color remains the same. I was going to upload a picture, but photobucket is down for maintenance. The easiest area to see it is between the buffalo legs. You still see the old original gray right next to the buffalo, but the flat area is the new shiny grey.

 

Just a simple oxidization reaction, it's a harsh cleaning no matter how you look at it.

If you want to continue playing it might be fun to try a variable resistor in the circut path. That way you have some control over the oxidation process by changing the voltage. Fun experiment! :thumb:

 

Ah, now I know what you mean by halo effect.

Ok man, you're losing me here...you have to really dumb it down for me And Thad, you're a chemist, by putting a newer cent >=1982 into salt water, or just by running it through this process, will it dissolve or extremely damage the cent because of the zinc? Or should this process work on all cents. I could test it, but I'd hate to destroy a unsuspecting cent if I already know the outcome

-LTB

 

It doesn't matter what coin you use for the anode, it will work. It damages the surface Louie, leave it in long enough and it will dissolve the coin, the copper being the first to go (obviously) on a zinc plated cent.

 

Use a pre-1982 cent that is copper and not copper-plated zinc.

Ribbit

Ps: I have a pile of 20th century British large cents I use for electrodes. They were dug pieces and not worth anything so they became my electrodes.