How to clean these Barbers? White patina?

[capri_auto]

Found these barbers on Saturday, but they have a white patina I never saw before As of now I am leaving them as is, I don't want to try anything until I hear some opinions on how to properly clean them. It's hard to tell from the scans but all 3 of these coins are near mint with full liberty. Unfortunately they look like sick cows!

Any experience you can share would be great, I tried lemon juice and it got the green tarnish off but did not effect the white patina

 

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[Iron Patch]

A coin dip would probably do it. I've used Tarn-X on the same condition with ok success but it's pretty harsh stuff and too much exposure can hurt the coin.

It's funny, I just found this video and it's exactly how I was using the Tarn-X. If the video doesn't work go to http://www.metacafe.com/ and search ... How to clean a coin

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[keverett]

If you use any method that is more harsh that the lemon juice, they will most likely look "cleaned". I'm sure you could remove most of the patina with baking soda or electrolysis but the coins will look like they were cleaned. Seeing as how you said they all have full liberty on them, I'm not sure I would clean them too harshly. If you do, they will only be worth silver melt value. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[Iron Patch]

If you use any method that is more harsh that the lemon juice, they will most likely look "cleaned". I'm sure you could remove most of the patina with baking soda or electrolysis but the coins will look like they were cleaned. Seeing as how you said they all have full liberty on them, I'm not sure I would clean them too harshly. If you do, they will only be worth silver melt value. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

If you sold those to a dealer (lets assume they are key dates) I would bet $1,000 he'd pay you next to nothing, then clean them and raise the price by many times. Cleaned coins lose some value depending on the method used, but ugly coins don't get near full price either. In this case I think the trade off is worth it... if you do it right.

 

[Kut2TheChase]

It could be tree sap or even Lye.

 

[capri_auto]

If you use any method that is more harsh that the lemon juice, they will most likely look "cleaned". I'm sure you could remove most of the patina with baking soda or electrolysis but the coins will look like they were cleaned. Seeing as how you said they all have full liberty on them, I'm not sure I would clean them too harshly. If you do, they will only be worth silver melt value. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

If you sold those to a dealer (lets assume they were key dates) I would bet $1,000 he'd pay you next to nothing, then clean them and raised the price by many times. Cleaned coins lose some value depending on the method used, but ugly coins don't get near full price either. In this case I think the trade off is worth it... if you do it right.

I think it would be worth it to clean these as well, but only if I don't damage them. I'll never sell this stuff anyway, but I do want to make them more presentable and hold their value.

I read that egg shells or a banana peal might work: http://forums.ebay.com/db1/topic/Jewelry-Gemstones/White-Patina-On/510177559

Anyone ever try this?

 

[Iron Patch]

Here's the one coin I found like that and cleaned it with tarn-X the way the guy does it in the video. Both my digging bud and I thought there was no detail because of the thick white film, but it turned out pretty good. I've also cleaned one for a friend (who's a member here) and he was happy with the result.

 

[Iron Patch]

If you use any method that is more harsh that the lemon juice, they will most likely look "cleaned". I'm sure you could remove most of the patina with baking soda or electrolysis but the coins will look like they were cleaned. Seeing as how you said they all have full liberty on them, I'm not sure I would clean them too harshly. If you do, they will only be worth silver melt value. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

If you sold those to a dealer (lets assume they were key dates) I would bet $1,000 he'd pay you next to nothing, then clean them and raised the price by many times. Cleaned coins lose some value depending on the method used, but ugly coins don't get near full price either. In this case I think the trade off is worth it... if you do it right.

I read that egg shells or a banana peal might work: http://forums.ebay.com/db1/topic/Jewelry-Gemstones/White-Patina-On/510177559

Anyone ever try this?

That's if you want to tarnish something.

 

[Wldbil]

What has worked best for me is Virgin Olive Oil, it is a long process and you have to let it soak for days sometimes. But it does not harm the coins and they come out looking pretty good.

 

[Iron Patch]

What has worked best for me is Virgin Olive Oil, it is a long process and you have to let it soak for days sometimes. But it does not harm the coins and they come out looking pretty good.

It's slow, but does take white off dug pewter so I can understand it working. I would definitely try that first, because unlike a copper coin, the methods for cleaning silver in that condition will still be available if the oil fails.

 

[rhedden]

Regardless of how you clean them, don't be surprised if the white "patina" is still there when you are done. I can't tell from the photos, but white toning on a dug silver coin is sometimes not toning, but very fine pitting in the surface. There are millions of little, tiny corrosion holes that are not visible to your eye, which impart a white appearance to the coin. No amount of electrolysis or JewelLuster can remove pitting, so it will still be there after any type of cleaning. It is also possible that your coins truly have some white oxidation on the surface, which can be removed. Since the surfaces are already very unattractive, I don't see any reason not to soak these in coin dealer's "dip" for a while. I have had good luck with Tarn-X, and some people like the aforementioned JewelLuster. The last resort to remove a thick layer of white grime would be a careful, gentle cleaning with baking soda paste and a cotton swab. This method requires some serious practice, or else the coin will end up with hairlines on its surface or an unnatural shiny appearance. I once dug a key date Barber dime with a film of white stuff on it, and I was able to remove it by the baking soda method without making the coin look cleaned. However, I had a lot of practice on less valuable coins (e.g., dug silver Roosies and Washingtons). Hope one of these suggestions works for you.

BTW, do any of the coins have a mint mark?

 

[capri_auto]

Regardless of how you clean them, don't be surprised if the white "patina" is still there when you are done. I can't tell from the photos, but white toning on a dug silver coin is sometimes not toning, but very fine pitting in the surface. There are millions of little, tiny corrosion holes that are not visible to your eye, which impart a white appearance to the coin. No amount of electrolysis or JewelLuster can remove pitting, so it will still be there after any type of cleaning. It is also possible that your coins truly have some white oxidation on the surface, which can be removed. Since the surfaces are already very unattractive, I don't see any reason not to soak these in coin dealer's "dip" for a while. I have had good luck with Tarn-X, and some people like the aforementioned JewelLuster. The last resort to remove a thick layer of white grime would be a careful, gentle cleaning with baking soda paste and a cotton swab. This method requires some serious practice, or else the coin will end up with hairlines on its surface or an unnatural shiny appearance. I once dug a key date Barber dime with a film of white stuff on it, and I was able to remove it by the baking soda method without making the coin look cleaned. However, I had a lot of practice on less valuable coins (e.g., dug silver Roosies and Washingtons). Hope one of these suggestions works for you.

BTW, do any of the coins have a mint mark?

None of the quarters have a mint mark unfortunately, the same day I dug a 1912 half with an S mark though. The half didnt have any staining but was not nearly as detailed as these 3 quarters. All three of the quarters were on top of eachother in the hole, there must have been some kind of reaction.

I will try the olive oil, if that dosent work I'm going to leave them as is for now. Thanks for all the great advice guys!

 

[Argentium]

I had good results with Tarnex on some uncirculated Peace dollars , common date - not rare !
I was impressed because the Tarnex in no way diminished the mint luster on the coins - but did
remove some nasty looking black spots - I would heed Iron Patch's advise about not leaving them
soaking too long - a few minutes - and keep checking . Argentium.

 

[Iron Patch]

I had good results with Tarnex on some uncirculated Peace dollars , common date - not rare !
I was impressed because the Tarnex in no way diminished the mint luster on the coins - but did
remove some nasty looking black spots - I would heed Iron Patch's advise about not leaving them
soaking too long - a few minutes - and keep checking . Argentium.

I'd do like in the video.... Q-tip and running water. So you can do a little, rinse, check, and repeat if necessary. You'll find you tend you move the tarnish or whatever around the coin so you try and absorb as much of it as possible. Maybe start at the outer edge and go towards the center so it doesn't build up at the rim making it hard to get at. But practice first on junk silver.

 

[mr_larry]

Has anyone ever tried Nevr-dull?

It is an impregnated wadding like wool or something that doesn't scratch coins and uses some sort of petroleum product to remove tarnish. You can get it at most any hardware store. I've tried it with normal tarnished silver coins that have only melt value, and the coins cleaned up nicely.

Link to the product at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/George-Basch-Nevr-Dull-Wadding-Polish/dp/B000VPBMCO

 

[The Patriot]

I was quite happy with the results IP... brought out nice crisp dates and other details on the coin...