Ready to take the dremel to it!!!!~WAH

[Gypsy Heart]

Ok....just how long does it take to clean something in olive oil......Should I just take the large cent I found ,put it in a mason Jar filled with oil and rebury it?? That way maybe in a hundred years someone will dig it up and it might be CLEANNNNNN!

This cent has been soaking since November and nothing...nada..zilch. I read one of Ashleens posts where she gave up and took copper cleaner to it.....I dont think I want to do that ...but at least she found out what it was....alas.... I would like to identify it sometime in this lifetime

 

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[EDDE]

try lye someone on here has a post about lye and eatin corrosion not metal etc foget i saw it the other day...

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Gypsy,

lye is what I use on some of the artifacts.? Rust falls off.
Keep a close watch on the item.

It's your call on what you think the coin may be worth.

Do not think it is recommended.

You can get it at Ace, they call it "Red Devil"
and sell it in the department with the drain cleaners.

Just enough cold water to cover the coin; mix in as much lye as you can, but keep it a
liquid, put in the coin.? Wear gloves and protect your eyes. Use glass bowl as mixture will get
really hot.

I would not leave it overnight without checking on it.? It will get the job done.
On artifacts that are in really bad shape, it will just eat up and you won't have
anything left but rust and metal flakes; could eat your coin up also.

Coin folks will have a heart attack from reading this.

But, if your at the point of using a Dremel, go for it.

Your call.

have a good un..............

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Thanks Sherm and Dekalb...but I am not cool on playing with lye.....is there anything else...how about rust remover? Toilet bowl cleaner, Peroxide , Coke?? .....I am no coin genius ....but its the only large cent I have ever found and I would like to see what it is......in this century....

 

[PBK]

If you're trying to remove wax-like oxidation, xylene (a.k.a. xylol) is a good solvent. However, it should be used only in a well-ventilated area. (Google "xylene" for details.) After cleaning, be sure to follow up with a conditioner/lubricant like Blue Ribbon or Coin Care.

For hard encrustation, an olive oil soak can sometimes help... eventually. Think in terms of months. Unfortunately, the downside of removing such deposits is the same as with electrolysis: for every bump of corrosion removed, there is likely to be a corresponding pit or pockmark.

Also, with either method, remember that on really old coppers some of the very fine details may be fully oxidized. When the gunk is gone, they're gone, too? and you can never put back what you take away.

In my experience (much of it hard-bought), old coins generally benefit most from a good leaving-alone.

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Thanks alot.....Patience??.... ....not one of my strong points ......but I will just leave in olive oil for awhile and see what happens.....

 

[hollowpointred]

i recently had some luck cleaning an old large cent with electrolysis. the coin was so badly corroded that i couldnt see anything,so as far as value, this baby was about worthless from the door! but...i wanted to know what it was and the year. i wouldnt recommend this on coins you can id already. only on really cruddy ones that are not worth much. heres what i did.
1- fill a glass jar with water and add salt to it. i used as much as the water would dissolve.

2-get an ac adapter like the kind you charge cell phones with. !!! this is important!!! the output of the adapter should be 9 volts or lower and the one i used had an output of 210mA. low voltage and amperage is very important.

3- cut the end of the adapter cable where it would go into the phone and strip the wires. attach alligator clips to both ends.

4-attach a small piece of stainless steel to the positive side of the adaptor. clip the coin to the negative side

5-put both the coin and the stainless piece in the solution so that they are covered by the water. make sure they are not touching each other or the side of the jar.

6-plug in the adaptor and the coin should start to fizz. check it every 5 or 10 minutes by rubbing the coin with a toothbrush and the corrosion should slowly start to come off. dont leave the rig running unattended,keep an eye on things!

this worked for me however, as already stated, when the corrosion comes off expect that some of the detail will too. however it should get the crud off enough to be able to id and date it. if you do a search of the site for "ELECTROLYSIS" you should find a thread that floater wrote about a year ago. his electrolysis rig is way better than mine and his expanation of how to do it is better as well. check it out.

 

[Jeffro]

At this point, if you really want to do it, electrolysis might be the way to go. Olive oil only loosens the crud buildup, not corrosion. I would do what ever you can without chemicals first. Maybe even a light tumble in soft grit?

And check it frequently. Stop when its recognizable, then decide how you want to proceed?

Tough call on something like this....

 

[gldhntr]

gypsy,,, while never tried on coins i have used naval jelly and c.l.r. {calcium,lime,rust} remover on several relics to good end,,,,the naval jelly seems to work best, covering item, let soak 20 min or so, toothbrush it, rinse it, repeat until desired results are reached............gldhntr

 

[diggummup]

I bought some of those ridiculous roman coins on ebay and they've been soaking in olive oil for well over a year.I can make out a face on one of them and a couple other distinguishing marks on a few others.Nothig great,so olive oil helps a little after about 4 months or so.It only does so much though.That's my experience with it.Be careful with the homemade electrolysis,it can ruin coins if not careful, I learned the hard way!

 

[hollowpointred]

Be careful with the homemade electrolysis,it can ruin coins if not careful, I learned the hard way!

this is very true! keep an eye on it every step of the way.

 

[Illinois Jeff]

I am new to this web site and detecting in general, but i have had some luck with plain vinegar. it is acidic so you will need to be careful and watch it close. i have done several copper pieces, pennies etc. and although they are not perfect, i was able to identify them easier. hope it works!

 

[AK in KY]

Naval Jelly will work fair on coins. But, it turns them a very weird color.

AK in KY

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Thank You everyone. I am going for the naval jelly. I am starting to see a tiny bit of silver showing through on one side ...I thought I had a copper...but evidently not....whatever it is ,it is really covered in corrosion...appreciate all of your help.

 

[downindixie]

I found a 1907 Indian head,I soaked it in olive oil for months,evry one in a while I would use a soft brush on it and resume soak.It finally appear that its condition was x-fine,"Liberty was excellant,but had a green patina to it.A very beautiful green patina.But being a dum-ass in my younger years I tried electrolysis.Well,I couldn't even read the "Liberty",I was sick,but I learned!

 

[gldhntr]

ever get your coin cleaned gypsy ?? g

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Not yet...I look at it longingly every day ...LOL...begining to see a little silver color....still in the olive oil...and every once in a while I take a cloth and rub it and then put it back in ...and then do the little dance and chant...I hope its seelver...I hope its seelver...LOL...everyone scared me out of using more drastic measure..... :P

 

[hollowpointred]

ahhhh....dont be too scared! its not as dangerous as you might think.give the oil thing a fair chance, and if it doesnt work, try something else. if you are carefull, the electrolysis should improve the coin enough to at least id it. at some point you have to ask yourself "what have i got to lose".if the coin is so cruddy and corroded that you cant id it, it isnt worth much. if you clean it with electrolysis and you lose some definition but you can id and date it,it still wont be worth much, but at least you know what youve got.the only thing more i can add is to take everyones advice against cleaning a coin with electrolysis that is already in ok shape or is otherwise readable. in that case it may do more harm than good.

 

[EDDE]

try this one...http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/peroxidetip.html

 

[alwayslookin]

Here you go Gypsie---take your pick!!