The BD Strikes Back

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG!

i purchased this coin last year, and it had a few spot of BD on the obverse and reverse.

well, I i picked off the BD, soaked in distilled water, dried it in the oven, then waxed it. here what it looked like then.

you can see the corrosion of the patina here at 2 oclock where the BD was...



here's the reverse, notice the weak area around the bulls privates parts and mid section, it was there as well...



well, it's back on the reverse in the same spot..



my question is...what should I do? and how is the bd growing under the wax? where the heck is the moisture coming from...or did I not get all the acids off before?
the coin is waxed like I said, so..how should I remove the wax? reheat and scrub again? the pick it, soak it DW, and try again? i'd appreciate any insight you all may have.

 

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Unload it ASAP. Its what I do if I treated BD and it comes back. May take a loss but its worth it. 2 I unloaded the dealers took them back, 2 others were ebay and are now gone to other ebay buyers.

Thats why I dont own any potin tets.

 

Many of the copper compounds that compose Bronze Disease are hydrated molecules and can break down and release the bound water, which can continue the reaction. I suspect the heating before waxing helped that process. If I was faced with this process , I would use BadThad's verdigone or verdicare to remove some of the BD, ( insert any 'Physical methods you like ") and then put into acetone for a few minutes, and rinse with fresh acetone and allow it to evaporate completely. Acetone combines with any microscopic quantities of water and removes it on evaporation. Then wax if you like, but shouldn't be necessary if stored dry.

 

Ugh. I feel your pain. I would try to save the coin - Julian bulls aren't a dime a dozen.

 

Educate me guys.......BD?

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Bronze Disease

A few weeks ago I noticed BD on a candle stand. Weird.

 

Thanks Vlaha......

 

Ancient verdigris . ( BD = Before Doctoring ) [ancients]

 

Thanks Jim.......

 

I followed the Forvm recipe (posted above by vlaha) on one of my fairly far gone coins. Looks okay now but time will tell if it was sufficient. I couldn't get any 100% isopropyl alcohol so I did a final drying in the oven, then treated with VerdiCare instead of Ren Wax.

 

Kids, this is why you pay attention in chemistry. Study, or else you'll end up a poor, confused humanities major like me.

 

So? Humanities major doesn't make a bad person..........

 

ok, thanks for input, i'm going to try and save it one more time. i'm pretty fond of the coin. considering the weak places in the patina, i suspect i'm not the first to deal with this problem. i've given it a heat/scrub/acetone to remove the wax and picked off the BD, i'm going to give it a soak in baking soda/DW solution for a day or two, then i'll dry with heat of aceton (nail polish remover?) wax as soon as it's cool enough to touch.

i think my next purchase will be silver.

i'll keep u posted.

 

I thought maybe it was Before Doug

 

Don't use 'nail polish remover' unless it doesn't have additives. The additives may harm your coin. I bought 100% acetone from Home Depot (gallon cans-- had a large number of PVC-plagued US coins to treat). You may be able to find some unadulterated acetone in the girly girl aisle of a drugstore or supermarket though.

 

I resemble that comment!

 

Actually why do we have to own a diseased coin?
Charles

 

that would make BD before BC ...right?

 

Keep the coin away from water!!!!!!!! If there is ANY water in the coin then wax just keeps it there, trapped forever........dry it in an oven for a day on 120 degrees after you have removed that awful wax..........keep it dry and check it in another month or so.

 

ok, here's an update.

I removed the wax with boiling water and a bit of scrubbing.

picked at the BD with a needle/toothpick until none visible.

gave it an overnight in some baking soda solution.

let it set for several days in distilled water, then baked.

soaked it Verdi-care for about an hour, blotted excess fluid then let air dry.

here it is now...





Verdi-care came recommended by several sources so I thought I would give it a try. Note that the visible bd was gone when I used it, I'm just want to try and keep it from returning yet again. from the looks of the coin (weak spots in patina), I'm not the first owner to combat this problem.

also, the verdi-care does add somewhat of a "shine" to the coin (compare to first pics). I like it, at least on this coin, some people may not.