BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
I've been an advocate of the peroxide method for cleaning old copper coins for a while now--and I've noticed others' good results with Ammonia and Q-Tips...
So I tried it.
It appears that Ammonia does as well as water does on coins that have a nice green patina on them--but with the added danger that the Ammonia can remove the patina if you use the Q-tip too aggressively.
Other than that, little difference.
As it is, I use peroxide EXCEPT when there is a nice green patina that is even and stable. In that case, I use water to clean the coin because I don't like how peroxide can darken coins that have such a nice green hue.
So on to the coins that are brown and/or crusty.
The Ammonia did an equally good job with the brown ones as peroxide did--but again, the danger of removing the patina.
The crusty ones the Ammonia only removed the dirt--and didn't touch the green crusty corrosion. Peroxide is the only thing I've found that can help with this--and you still must pick the corrosion off as you go with a toothpick in order to turn what's underneath the same color as the surrounding patina.
These are just my findings--and they should in no way be taken as a stick in the eye to anyone who uses Ammonia on their copper coins.
My money is still with peroxide.
Regards,
Buckleboy
I've been an advocate of the peroxide method for cleaning old copper coins for a while now--and I've noticed others' good results with Ammonia and Q-Tips...
So I tried it.
It appears that Ammonia does as well as water does on coins that have a nice green patina on them--but with the added danger that the Ammonia can remove the patina if you use the Q-tip too aggressively.
Other than that, little difference.
As it is, I use peroxide EXCEPT when there is a nice green patina that is even and stable. In that case, I use water to clean the coin because I don't like how peroxide can darken coins that have such a nice green hue.
So on to the coins that are brown and/or crusty.
The Ammonia did an equally good job with the brown ones as peroxide did--but again, the danger of removing the patina.
The crusty ones the Ammonia only removed the dirt--and didn't touch the green crusty corrosion. Peroxide is the only thing I've found that can help with this--and you still must pick the corrosion off as you go with a toothpick in order to turn what's underneath the same color as the surrounding patina.
These are just my findings--and they should in no way be taken as a stick in the eye to anyone who uses Ammonia on their copper coins.
My money is still with peroxide.
Regards,
Buckleboy
