Black Silver Coins
blan...@tampabay.rr.com
Almost all the silver coins that I found in El Paso Texas came out of the
ground black or somewhat gray. The black does not rub off and it appears
that the coins are somewhat eaten away. Any idea on how to preserve the
coins so they do not corrode more. The longer the coin was in the soil the
worse it is. Barber coins worse than Mercs and Washingtons. Also all the
old wheaties and Indians had green corrosion on them also and were almost
unreadable.
Thanks
Brad
UpRider
UpRider
<blan...@tampabay.rr.com> wrote in message
news:SImMb.8839$I05.3...@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
Ken D
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Bill
conditions contain certain acids.
Take a look at this coin (link below) I found last summer,I asked
over in the alt.coincollecting forum whether to remove it or not and
they all said said leave it like it is,I wish to God I had listened to
them,I used baraasso,I got it shiny clean but lost alot of detail and
it no longer looked authentic,I was heart broken over it.
If your determined to take the black off you can probably use
something like tarn-X this shouldn't remove any detail but like I
said it's best to leave well enough alone......
http://www.golfballs2000.com/seatedliberty.html
<blan...@tampabay.rr.com> wrote in message news:<SImMb.8839$I05.3...@twister.tampabay.rr.com>...
RS
their ultrasonic cleaner while customers shop their store or others in
the mall. One would guess there are others like him around the
country. Next time I see him, I'll ask him whether he'd expand his
offer to include found coins, just for the heck of it. Obviously one
wouldn't want to abuse such a gracious offer by bringing in a bag full
of dirty coins of only marginal value - but save it for exceptional
coins, such as the one Brent in AZ described in an earlier reply to this
post. It's my understanding that the chemicals used in these ultrasonic
cleaners are non-corrosive, and that it's the ultrasonic action that
does the cleaning. Anyone have any experience with this type of
cleaning system?
RS in WA
blan...@tampabay.rr.com wrote:
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Terry Bullard
You have salt in your soil. It's very simple to get the black off and do very
little harm to the coin. Get some round sand and put it in your tumbler along
with your coins. Add pure ammonia and tumble for a couple of hours. Hold your
nose and wash the coins out, grin. It works like a champ, all the black will be
gone. Keep in mind the coins will be slightly whiter in color from the ammonia,
plus they will be classified as cleaned and considered a flaw if they were to
be graded for high end collections. Then again black coins are pretty worthless
as well, grin.
Terry
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Clem
Lots of silver coins ' tarnish ' in the ground and go black,or grey.I
have pulled silver coins age 100 yrs -700yrs old from the ground and
most are tarnished.. Afriend of mine found an old silver bracelet
which was black,he put it in silver dip and it came out beautiful
silver. The experts say you should generally not try to clean a coin
as it can loose some of its value so I am just happy to find the coins
never mind the colour!!!! I found an old (before hallmarks) silver
ring and it is black,but I dont mind..keep digging
Clem
John213a
> Almost all the silver coins that I found in El Paso Texas came out of the
> ground black or somewhat gray. >>
The black you refer to is tarnish, it is usually worse in the presence of
Sulphur compounds. I used to live in Pittsburgh when the blast furnaces were
still running and you could sometimes smell the sulphur dioxide in the air.
Silver items would tarnish black in a few months if not protected from the air
containing the sulphur compounds. Often after polishing, people would give
their decorative silver a coating of clear lacquer (sp?) to seal the silver
surface from contact with the air and use acetone when they needed to repolish,
since the aceton would take off the lacquer.
If you want shined silver, use a silver dip, but if you want collectors value,
just give them a gentle soap and water cleaning. IMHO
Terry Bullard
>have pulled silver coins age 100 yrs -700yrs old from the ground and
>most are tarnished.. Afriend of mine found an old silver bracelet
>which was black,he put it in silver dip and it came out beautiful
>silver. The experts say you should generally not try to clean a coin
>as it can loose some of its value so I am just happy to find the coins
>never mind the colour!!!! I found an old (before hallmarks) silver
>ring and it is black,but I dont mind..keep digging
>Clem
Your old ring may be gold with a silver for hardner. The silver alloy will
blacken a gold ring. This was common with old rings.
steve in so az
Brad - I live in Tucson - similar to your swest location. I have found
a few silver items lying right on op of the ground exposed to the sun.
They were jet black but when I turned them over they were not so. One
was a quarter and one was a silver arrowhead.
Also, I have an ultrasonic cleaner and can tell you that sometimes it
will erase some detail. I had dug an 1865 nickel that was barely
readable. After the ultra treatment I couldnt read anything.
Fortunately, I am a quick learner - never did this again :) Remember
the old adage = let the buyer clean it , Steve in so az
RS
Do you know whether the loss of material was due to the ultrasonic
vibrations, chemical(s) in the bath, or both?
RS in WA
steve in so az wrote:
>Also, I have an ultrasonic cleaner and can tell you that sometimes it
>will erase some detail. I had dug an 1865 nickel that was barely
>readable. After the ultra treatment I couldnt read anything.
>Fortunately, I am a quick learner - never did this again :) Remember
>the old adage = let the buyer clean it , Steve in so az
>
>
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Rob Mills
>> Do you know whether the loss of material was due to the ultrasonic
vibrations, chemical(s) in the bath, or both?<<
I use what ever the occasion calls for, fantastic, ammonia and etc. It's
been my experience that regular household cleaners seem to work as well as
the expensive granules advertised for ultrasonic cleaners.
Be careful when buying an ultrasonic cleaner, some of the ones being
advertised are no more than vibrators. The real thing will set you back a
bit. RM~
Binder
> Steve:
>
> Do you know whether the loss of material was due to the ultrasonic
> vibrations, chemical(s) in the bath, or both?
>
> RS in WA
>
> steve in so az wrote:
>
>> Also, I have an ultrasonic cleaner and can tell you that sometimes it
>> will erase some detail. I had dug an 1865 nickel that was barely
>> readable. After the ultra treatment I couldnt read anything.
>> Fortunately, I am a quick learner - never did this again :) Remember
>> the old adage = let the buyer clean it , Steve in so az
The loss of detail was a likely result of removing the oxidation (tarnish).
What happens when metal oxidizes is that the surface layer of metal
combines with oxygen. The top layer burns, as it were. So while one
might see detail in the oxidate, removing that layer removes that much
detail.
Joe Roberts
:: The loss of detail was a likely result of removing the oxidation
:: (tarnish).
::
:: What happens when metal oxidizes is that the surface layer of metal
:: combines with oxygen. The top layer burns, as it were. So while one
:: might see detail in the oxidate, removing that layer removes that
:: much detail.
That's a fact. Once I found a badly oxidized Lincoln cent. Standing there
in the field, I could catch some sunlight on it and could barely make out
the year, 1919. I put it in my pouch with the other coins and continued
searching. That evening I took the coins out of the pouch and looked at
that one again. Just from rubbing with the other coins in the pouch for a
few hours, it had lost some of the oxidation and the date was unreadable. I
learned from that experience that fragile coins like that shouldn't go in
the pouch with other coins. Of course I should have thought of that
beforehand. Now if I find one I wrap it in a paper towel and keep it
separate from the rest.
You have to make a judgement call. If the coin is a keeper, and it's badly
tarnished, you're probably better off just giving it a gentle rinsing to get
rid of the dirt and no more. Then keep it in clear, soft plastic for
viewing.
Hope it helps.
Joe
RS
other interested party) as "inevitable?"
RS in WA
Binder wrote:
--
Binder
> So, then - would this loss of detail be construed by a coin dealer (or
> other interested party) as "inevitable?"
I doubt it... but I'm not a numismatist.
Shelly K.
school....I never heard it explained better.
You a teacher?
If not, maybe you should consider it. The future generations need to
know.......
Thx...
S.K.
************************************************
"Binder" <binder...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bu7pbg$eqo5u$1...@ID-217865.news.uni-berlin.de...
Binder
> From someone who was attentive in geology/mineralogy classes in high
> school....I never heard it explained better.
>
> You a teacher?
> If not, maybe you should consider it. The future generations need to
> know.......
Naw. I've been making jewelry for almost 40 years, and conserving
antiques for about 30. Oxidation is pretty important in both of those.
Thanks!
Fred A. Murphy
On 14-Jan-2004, snm...@msn.com (steve in so az) wrote:
> Also, I have an ultrasonic cleaner and can tell you that sometimes it
> will erase some detail. I had dug an 1865 nickel that was barely
> readable. After the ultra treatment I couldn't read anything.
You couldn't read anything before cleaning, since they didn't start making
nickels until 1866.
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