Copper license plate >How to remove patina?

[Crowfriend]

Here's a fairly rare Commercial Pnuematic (cp) Arizona license plate. It's one of the highly desirable copper years. Will a vinegar/ salt bath remove the dark patina? Thanks for any help

 

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[Mackaydon]

This might help:
How to Clean Copper From Tarnish: 4 Steps (with Pictures)
Don.....

 

[Peyton Manning]

and you want to clean it why?

 

[AlienLifeForm]

Rule number one of antiques - removing patina often removes money along with it.

 

[bill from lachine]

I'd leave it as is....it's old and earned it's patina.

 

[Carolina Tom]

From an old car guy... don't clean it. If a car guy buys it, he may or may not want it cleaned.

They are only original once.

Nice find!

 

[Stretch Da Truth]

I would second Toms reply. Do not clean it!
If you are selling it, let the buyer decide if they want to clean it after buying.
If you are keeping it, leave that sweet look.... it takes a LONG time to get that way.
If you absolutely have to clean it, I would recommend Brasso. That stuff is like a miracle worker.

 

[Crowfriend]

Thank you for the responses. I want to keep it and I don't like the dark patina. I removed the tarnish via vinegar and salt. It must have been through a fire and about 30% of the copper is gone. I think I will try to plate it back on with some copper tubing. Someday.

 

[Crowfriend]

Looking pretty bad

 

[Carolina Tom]

Looking pretty bad

View attachment 1472202

Oops...

 

[Stretch Da Truth]

Oh my... that is toasted now.
The vinegar and salt really did a number on that. Try leaving it outside for a couple of weeks and see if looks any better.
I wish you tried the Brasso as that makes my copper clubs shine like they were just poured.

 

[No gold in NY]

It was beautiful before!!!

 

[AlienLifeForm]

Sigh. Might as well go all the way with it now.

 

[chub]

What a tragedy! looked awesome in post #1. Anyway....live and learn.

chub

 

[Peyton Manning]

What a tragedy! looked awesome in post #1. Anyway....live and learn.

chub

or you could listen to us and spare yourself the disappointment

 

[Crowfriend]

or you could listen to us and spare yourself the disappointment

The tragedy was the fire. It melted some aluminum plates. I think the heat caused it to lose some copper. The vinegar was just a wipe, I don't see how it could have dissolved the copper.

 

[Crowfriend]

Sigh. Might as well go all the way with it now.

View attachment 1472285

Why not electroplating?

 

[Peyton Manning]

the copper had a fine patina, cleaning it takes away all the history. no one wants metal cleaned

 

[hvacker]

Are we talking a lot of value? Historical value has limitations that won't determine value such as rarity, condition, demand.
I know a guy that was all bummed because he shined up a brass mortise. The mortise had a retail of 30-50$
Not enough to be concerned over. I know a lot of people want to keep things as they are. I understand that
but I will weigh value and enjoyment over value if the value is low enough to not matter.
If everyone kept stuff as found there would be no restored hot rods. Plus a lot of stuff as found looks like crap.

 

[Crowfriend]

That's true some like the aged metal, others don't. I have quite a few old plates with great patina, but I sure don't find the patina that was on the copper plate to be pleasing at all. If I had sold it and found out later it was missing some of the copper that would bother me. Why would anyone prefer that eludes me. As stated, I hope to replace the copper. That would give me quite a bit of satisfaction. It seems that the majority of posters are of the opinion that removing the patina somehow removed the copper. You are wrong with that assumption. While I was not happy to find that copper was missing, I sure am glad I was able to reveal it for what it is.