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Has the "Central America" restoration process ever been disclosed?
topstuf
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I saw in the Redbook (outdated) that the USS Central America coins were conserved and the conservators didn't say how they did it.
Have they ever disclosed the process?
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It's a multiple bath solution / electron current process that can take weeks or months. Not sure of the solution elements or electric current used. Silver and Gold use different procedures. You can probably dig deeper.
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A very interesting subject to have brought up; thanks.
Diggin' deeper here, boss.
https://www.pcgs.com/news/pcgs-grades-second-round-of-gold-coin-treasure
"Evans, a numismatist specializing in the coins of the S. S. Central America, is carefully conserving the coins in the S.S. Central America Numismatic Conservation Laboratory at PCGS headquarters in Santa Ana. "
So....does PCGS know how it's done?
Interesting topic !!!
It's a proprietary process. In other words, it's a secret like the formula for Coca Cola. The major grading services who do conservation work also don't give away their secret "tricks of the trade." Why give up your trade secrets to help your competition?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
This captured my attention on Instagram.
Seems like it could be an interesting job to learn the ins and outs of rehabilitating coins!
Ink erasers?
LOL. Their is NOTHING secret about conserving metal. It has all been done before and is in the literature. There are some specific methods that are possibly done that are not disclosed. However, although proprietary, they are not secret either. The main methods of any conservation boil down to mechanical, chemical, combination of both, and especially the TIME INVOLVED to do the conservation.
In fact, I believe there are images on the internet of groups of fishbowls connected up with bunches of wires. That is a slow method.
Bob Evans briefly goes over the process in this video
https://youtu.be/hXWtaA7chU0?t=28 and in an article from the May/June 2018 RCMR https://www.qgdigitalpublishing.com/publication/?i=490181&m=&id=19968&p=#{"issue_id":490181,"page":12}
Here is what I wrote in 2000 and reprinted more recently at our website.
William T. Gibbs, Coin World
https://coinworld.com/voices/bill-gibbs/2018/02/eighteen_years_ago.html
I may have seen another video of Mr. Evans working on the coins someplace as I don't remember this one. Now, I wonder what the secret solution could be that causes the baking soda solution to bubble up when it is added to the container. Gee, any chemists around?
Baking soda is a base. Need an acid to cause a chemical reaction... bubbles.
What is the acid?
I did a lot of experimenting, for a couple of years, back in the early 2000's.....had a room set up for just that purpose (when I lived in Seattle). Learned a lot...made quite a few mistakes too. Cheers, RickO
Baking powder with any acid will form carbonic acid which breaks down to carbon dioxide, which is what the bubbles are.
You can create the effect at home with baking soda and vinegar.
This "secret solution" is what I was referring to when I referred to proprietary secrets. The general procedure is well known but the specifics that would allow a competitor to duplicate the exact process is not.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I know which one it is not! LOL.
Thanks for all the replies! Fortunately, the folks I know remove the iron crust much faster with none of the soaking nonsense or "secret sauce**" and the coins come out absolutely beautiful with no evidence of conservation. Movies are fun to watch; but time is money.
**I wonder if ketchup would work?
Ketchup is acidic.
Now why am I thinking about mustard.
So long as the coins are stable in the long run, whatever the process is is okay with me. Some coins have held up for what seems to be the foreseeable futures. Others have “gone south” (ended up with ugly copper stains) after a few years. I saw one the other day that the sellers touted as a great coin which totally turned me off. Like they say, one man’s delight is another man’s poison.