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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 529732, member: 112&quot;]There is a right way and a wrong way, but it depends on the coin. Silver coins, when found in the ocean, will have an encrustation that is typically blackish in color. This is because salt water corrodes silver. And any artifact found in salt water, has to intially stay in salt water until it is conserved. For to take it out and expose it to the air results in a highly accelerated decompostion. It can literally crumble away before your eyes. But to answer your question, both mechanical and chemical methods are used to remove encrustation. It really depends on the specific situation, and there are too many variables to list. It would require several books to even attempt a detailed explanation.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gold coins on the other hand do not corrode in salt water and will typically have an encrustation that is greenish in color. Once the encrustation is removed the coins are pretty much in the same condition as they were when they went down with the ship. </p><p><br /></p><p>Problem is, copper and bronze artifacts can also have a greenish colored encrustation. So you don&#039;t really know what you have until the encrustation is removed. And copper/bronze is extremely reactive in salt water, so care must be taken.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now to do any of this properly requires an expert, one who is well versed and trained in salt water recovery and conservsation methods. But most shipwrecks are found by quite ordinary people who have no training in this field. And all they care about is getting their money as fast as they can. As a result, many coins are ruined, or damaged much more than they need to be by their inexperinced efforts to clean them up for sale.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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