Copper cleaning

[del]

I figured I would start a thread to show off some of the before and after pictures and try to give some tips or directions on each example given.

This large cent had a green hard stubborn "cement-like" layer , unfortunately it also had a small amount of pitting hiding under this layer but despite this i'm very happy with the results . http://metaldetectingforum.com/images/smilies/smilegrin.gif I used a couple of stainless dental picks on the surface of this coin because the green corrosion was so hard . This is a very slow and careful as to not scratch the coins surface.

[del]

another very dirty Matron head large cent , always see what you can remove with a wooden toothpick lightly first before going to some harsher method. I started this coin by first placing it under a heat lamp and allowing it to completely dry out first . the dirt was very loose after and came off with the toothpick very easily .

[del]

Another large cent using this same method although there was some stubborn areas that needed some close attention , this coin was a recent find

[del]

Another recent find was this Machin Mills Copper . I let the crusty dirt dry and it started flaking off around the edges . To promote this more once at home i placed the coin a few inches under a high watt light and it makes the dirt come off very easy with a light tooth picking. Then cleaned the surface with a q-tip wet with peroxide and then coated it with ren wax and buffed it to a sheen.

[Restoring Your Finds]

Very nice tips ! I like the use of the high watt light. Never heard of this one.

[del]

A very crusty Indian , these can sometimes be too far gone as Bronze disease can affect these coins . they usually have a broken or chipped look around the edges of the coin and can be brittle as to where a tooth pick can chip off the letters or denticles , you must be extremely careful on those types . This one wasn't that far gone and cleaned up very well with just a tooth pick .

[del]

Six coins i found from a spill a number of years ago , notice how bright green from just pulled from the soil . Also notice the Jersey copper on the right where its more reddish from the others , this is exposed and rough copper color . This side of that coin was on the outside and took the brunt of the soil damage and I knew this side of the coin was not going to look as good as the rest . The majority of these coins had the hard almost "crystal-like coating , no soaking in olive oil , hot peroxide would clean these. The green was a very hard and brittle coating and a tooth pick would just break before anything came off. This is where my dental picks came in handy to "pop" the hard stuff off. the coins underneath were beautiful .

[del]

1802 large cent , on the edges of this coin i could see small patches of ruddy red exposed copper . This is never a good sign so I knew that the corrosion had undermined areas of the surface and its details . This prompted me to avoid any chemicals like peroxide as the peroxide will get into any areas and clean them out of dirt that the corrosion is hiding. As you can see the coin is a bit porous but still holding a lot of detail , if i soaked it in peroxide it may have loosened more of the dirt that held the detail together.

[Restoring Your Finds]

You're clearly an expert. Look at that video. Scalpel on roman coins. I'm sure you'll like it ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm0UKo0s49o

[del]

Very nice tips ! I like the use of the high watt light. Never heard of this one.

Yeah those high wattage flood lamps work well , they can actually get the coin hot to the touch and speed up the drying and flaking of the crusty dirt.


You're clearly an expert. Look at that video. Scalpel on roman coins. I'm sure you'll like it ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm0UKo0s49o

I would never consider myself an "expert" by any means just been cleaning these coins for more than 15 years now . I would never use a scalpel but some of the steel picks are very sharp and I do use them in the same way at times. I wish our copper cons held up as well as those old Roman bronze ones did . Thanks for the video .

[Digger Don]

Ok, so now I know where to send my coppers for cleaning. LOL.
Amazing job on those coins Dan! :clapping:
It's hard to believe that they are the same coins.

[del]

Ok, so now I know where to send my coppers for cleaning. LOL.
Amazing job on those coins Dan! :clapping:
It's hard to believe that they are the same coins.

Lol , Don with some practice and a little bit of confidence anyone can get these results form their coins . Seeing the true surface condition of the coin is important on how to clean it but there are some coins that are so far gone that cleaning will only make them worse . This I believe is the most common mistake for many trying , they get a dirty copper and just plop it into some chemical to remove it when they were'nt paying attention to what the coin surface's looked like or condition. Then they blame the chemical for "ruining" it .

Thanks Don .

[Donnie B]

This is a fantastic post! I have ruined too many coins and tokens by not having the patience or the knowledge on how to get the best results for the particular coin. I'm going to put some of these methods to work this winter and will post before and after pics.

[del]

This is a fantastic post! I have ruined too many coins and tokens by not having the patience or the knowledge on how to get the best results for the particular coin. I'm going to put some of these methods to work this winter and will post before and after pics.

Thanks Donnie , I often tell new people to put their decent shaped coins away somewhere and practice on the really toasty or shot coppers . Experimenting on these will give them the best hands on experience and confidence and they can't ruin a coin that already has no possible value . Then when they get some idea as to how chemicals or cleaning techniques affect coins they can go back to their salvageable ones with some insight .

[del]

Here is an 1850 large cent that was very crusty , even after it dried out good the dirt wasn't lifting up off of it . This one i soaked in cool water for about an hour and then placed it about an inch or two under the heat lamp (i did this a number of times) and slowly the crust started to lift up first around the edges . The reason the dirt was holding on is because the coin was a bit porous and after i could tell that it wasn't real bad i did give it a hot peroxide soak . it came out pretty nice despite the damage it already had.

[Gaspipe101]

Great thread thanks for sharing.

[Lodge Scent]

Seeing the true surface condition of the coin is important on how to clean it but there are some coins that are so far gone that cleaning will only make them worse . This I believe is the most common mistake for many trying , they get a dirty copper and just plop it into some chemical to remove it when they were'nt paying attention to what the coin surface's looked like or condition. Then they blame the chemical for "ruining" it .



Truer words have never been spoken Dan. I admit I did that to a few coppers until I started copying your techniques. These days for me, every copper gets "dry cleaned" first to see what condition it is really in. Quite often, "dry cleaning" is all they will get.

Excellent post.

Jeff

[del]

Great thread thanks for sharing.

Your welcome Gaspipe , I hope some of it was helpful .


Truer words have never been spoken Dan. I admit I did that to a few coppers until I started copying your techniques. These days for me, every copper gets "dry cleaned" first to see what condition it is really in. Quite often, "dry cleaning" is all they will get.

Excellent post.

Jeff

Jeff we all have had bad experiences on coppers when first starting out , there wasn't forums around to help out when i first started . I think we owe it to those just starting out to help and try to keep them from making the same mistakes we did early on . Thanks for the input Jeff.

[del]

A king George II pictures of recent out of the hole and partly cleaned and then cleaned better with the Eurotool scratch pen.

[calabash digger]

great thread thanks for posting it

[MangoAve]

I missed this post, Dan. Wow. I need you to teach me how to do this. I have only had a few coins come out good after toothpick-ing. Maybe I need to invest in a Jeweler's loop for this. I was thinking at some point I should get a magnifier with better magnification than the current one I have. And with LED instead of incandescent.. Daylight LED shows a true color vs a yellow light. Great job on those.

[del]

Silver can be dirty or stained with rust or other and be stubborn to come clean . This seated quarter looks pretty good right out of the ground but soapy water only removed the loose dirt but wouldn't remove the dark stain from the upper shoulders , head and stars area of lady liberty and that same stain was on the extreme lower portion below the eagle's talons from olive branch to arrows on the reverse. The diluted CLR with water removes the stain almost completely yet retains the coin's natural "aged silvery grey". I'f I kept using the CLR I probably could of completely removed the stain all together but it is much less noticeable .

[del]

This copper was unrecognizable when I first dug it and after I got it home I had to wet it with water to see an image (that's when the first picture was taken) , I saw just a very brownish crud that seemed very thick and stubborn (more so than usual) when I used the tooth pick . The tooth pick took very little off and I saw no reddish exposed rough copper areas so I put it some cold peroxide to soak for about half hour . At which time I again tooth picked it and some of the crud came loose , then some more soaking. Another half hour and I had the crud off and I could see how worn smooth it truly was , then dried it off good and applied a coating of Ren-Wax . Then when the wax was dried I buffed it with a soft bristle brush .

[geodehunter]

By chance do you happen to have a picture of the dental tools you use when cleaning your copper coins? Thanks

[del]

By chance do you happen to have a picture of the dental tools you use when cleaning your copper coins? Thanks

Hi geodehunter , the dental picks are only used as a last resort to remove the most stubborn and hardest of cruddy verdigris . Here are a few that I have used at those times and I prefer them to be a bit dull and not sharp . Thanks

Dan

[Full Metal Digger]

Wow Del, you are a master restorer for sure. If I find any largies or coppers on my trip I would definitely want to see your technique first hand.

[geodehunter]

Thank you for the picture and the info del I really appreciate it.

[groundhog53946]

Spectacular job with those coins! Too bad that we don't hardly have any of those in the ground here in Wisconsin that I could try that out on but great job


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[del]

A matron head large cent recently found 637726377363774 before , partially cleaned and then initial cleaning complete ! now onto the "smoothing out the rough areas and then to waxing and preservation .

[Full Metal Digger]

I remember this thread Del, it's probably the most informative post ever on this forum. Thanks for bringing it up again. HH, Dave.

[del]

I remember this thread Del, it's probably the most informative post ever on this forum. Thanks for bringing it up again. HH, Dave.Thanks Dave , I'll be adding more examples of coins as I find and clean them . This matron head was just found yesterday and once I have waxed or preserve it I'll follow up with a final picture.

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[Cooper]

You sir are an artist

[Seabornescout]

Great info for a new detectorist. Thank you for an informative postings.

[del]

I'm a late bloomer when it comes to using a tumbler , but i have been doing a lot lately and have had some amazing results . 69053 here are two military and patriotic/political button( left to right scripted "LA" artillery , a "Jacksonian era" patriotic eagle and an enlisted Navy reversed eagle with shield and anchor button ) all of these were so crusty and dirty to identify until some hours in the tumbler .

These fancy buttons were nice finds but their looks were something to be desired until again some hours in a tumbler brought out their real beauty 69054 now they are really appealing !


shield nickels and even some two cent coins are just so rough and dirty but some gentle massaging with some small gravel and dish soap and they show off much nicer. 69055 I wouldn't recommend all your finds to go into a tumbler but try some of your rougher items and you might be surprised with the results .

Dan

[Donnie B]

Great post. That bumblebee button may actually be something very special. It could be something political. I didn't know you had a reversed Navy button. It has the shank too. Not a commonly found button either.

[del]

Great post. That bumblebee button may actually be something very special. It could be something political. I didn't know you had a reversed Navy button. It has the shank too. Not a commonly found button either.

many of those buttons were just to dirty to see designs on them , yeah i like the bubble bee one too. my backmark button to non backmark ratio is about 5 to 1 , i never thought so many more had backmarks to them

[OxShoeDrew]

many of those buttons were just to dirty to see designs on them , yeah i like the bubble bee one too. my backmark button to non backmark ratio is about 5 to 1 , i never thought so many more had backmarks to themDan, is it safe for the shanks?

[del]

Dan, is it safe for the shanks?

Drew if the shank looks delicate then i would avoid tumbling the button , but loading the tumbler with a lot of buttons and gravel can cause some shanks to break from the shear the weight . I would use your best judgement on with some items and how much at a time to do.

[del]

here is a very badly worn copper 69186, it was found in a continuous wet area in front of an old cellar site near the old road , you can clearly see the ruddy reddish areas around the edges of exposed copper metal. the coin was also noticeably thinner on one side of the edge than the other and I knew it wasn't in great shape so i made the decision to tumble the coin .6918769188

[Tony Two-Cent]

Very unexpected and impressive results, Dan! It looks like the date is 1831? Did you use any kind of aggregate when you tumbled it?

[del]

Very unexpected and impressive results, Dan! It looks like the date is 1831? Did you use any kind of aggregate when you tumbled it?

Tony I use the equivalent of uncolored aquarium gravel and a dab of dish soap , copper coins are usually tumbled for only a couple of hours at a time before being re-evaluated for longer or not. some of the brass items may go longer .

Dan

[Donnie B]

I gotta try the tumbler again.