my 2009 uncirculated cent has corrosion
Whippersnapper
Posts: 113 ✭✭
I have 8 rolls of 2009 cents I bought and many have corrosion starting. Some just have dirty spots like a drop of liquid dried and attracted dirt. How can I make these coins look better? Here is one, I am soaking it in ketchup at the moment. I do not know the long term damage of ketchup, but I do know the long term damage of corrosion!
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This is the picture.
Apparently I don't know how to add photos from my phone. I couldn't upload a pic for my profile and I can't seem to upload it here either. When I select a pic it takes me back to typing and there is no pic.
Ketchup is an acid so it won’t help from a numismatic point of view. Unfortunately these zinc cents are just magnets for corrosion. Probably a controlled environment is needed. Maybe intercept shield makes something to contain these?
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
There really isn't a great deal you can do. The zinc cents just don't hold up well over time when they are exposed to the environment.
Since they’re uncirculated I would first look for any that have any kind of error on them. You can n hot soapy water rinse well air dry and then let them soak in acetone do not rub the surface let them dry and put them in a 2 x 2 holder. Many of the spots that you’re seeing are from the wash cycle at the Mint and there’s not much you’re going to be able to do to get rid of them so that’s the best solution. But a set is sealed so if it was me, I would leave it be, sell off and get a better set. You should provide a picture for us to understand what your seeing. Your storage area may need addressed.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
Hey there lil' Whippersnapper,
If I remember correctly the Mint got quite a few complaints in 2009 over spots on the cents. As @Kkathyl mentioned it is from a improper wash. You will not get the spots off without messing up the coin, best to just leave it alone.
Just my spotted 2 cents worth
I did not store them, I just bought them last week. Wrapped in paper rolls, I can't tell the condition until I've opened them. I took a pic but can't figure how to upload.
I'll take your spotty two cents worth. 😄
If you ever get to add a picture later no worry we can comment. I will try to pull one out to see if it looks same for you.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
Did I dood it? Did I Did I? Is it a picture?
I DID DOOD IT! WEEEEEEE!
Well I have a few more with corrosion, I think I will continue with the ketchup, it still looks like crap, but looks much better and maybe I can save them from getting worse. I will have to get some mineral oil or something as I've heard coating them is the way to go. By the way, this is not the coin with the 'spots'. I will get another picture for some of those.
The circulated cents from 2009 were zinc while the ones in the collectors set were mostly copper and satin finished. I bought some new rolls too when they came out and it looks like they have water spots too. Rough year for pennies.
Good ketchup is rather more valuable than any durned 2009 pennies.
But mustard is priceless.
I call him Spot!
Any coins that were in ketchup are toast from a collecting standpoint.
Spots can develop over time.
The outright corrosion seems to be from improper storage of the rolls. That looks like flat out moisture damage.
What does "toady" mean? I'm unfamiliar with this.
Sorry....toast
Spellchecker has been an absolute Bear the last fourty-eight hours.
It even tried to change that last sentence from right to wrong! Twice!
2009 zinc cents are good for spending. Un centavo.
These are worth 1 cent now and they’re going to be worth 1 cent when you’re done. You’re wasting time and ketchup.
Ketchup is valuable! Mustard is more valuable! Zinc Cents are just monetary lint!
Your corrosion one looks like it got wet post mint. Your "spot" one looks like the mint wash problem. You should sort out any that are problem free and spend the rest. Your time & ketchup are worth more than the pennies.
Two questions...... are you using catsup or ketchup? Have you thought about other condiments?
Have you thought about other condiments?
Ideas: Vinegar, chili sauce, italian dressing, pickle juice, Hawaiian Punch, Coca-Cola, apple cider...all are equally offensive to coins.
Coins are offensive to those valuable condiments. Especially mustard.
I know that in the old days (as in early to mid 19th century) they would drop a copper large cent onto a big jar of pickles to help them turn green.
Not sure how good zinc coins are for that or any other food-related purposes.
Now I'm getting hungry. Better stay away from the lumpy ketchup.
Ketchup on zinc cents is not a good idea... acidic substances will attack the zinc in any thinly plated areas. The copper plating might look better when first removed and rinsed, but if the zinc was exposed anywhere, trouble will ensue. Not worth saving these cents. Cheers, RickO
Thanks everyone for your insight and comments. It does make me wonder, at what point a coin is worth trying to save in the views of those that condemned the coins. I see the 2009 series had a total mintage, (by my rough calculations) between 26% to 48% of the last 10 years. Furthermore, if my rolls are an indication of the spotted coins) take another 40 to 50% off those mintages for around 13 to 18% of coins minted (versus later year totals) worth saving. I don't know how much of that is in circulation, but it appears to me these are becoming quite rare and worth the attempt to preserve more.
I'd get as many as I could afford.
Monetary Lint?
LOL. I never heard Zincolns called that. Good one, Bill.
Pete
There are 883 listing on ebay right now. Mintages are 100's of millions. Sorry but these will not be rare even 100 years from now.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC0.A0.H0.X2009+lincoln+roll.TRS0&_nkw=2009+lincoln+roll&_sacat=0
______________Philadelphia_____ Denver_____ Total
Birthplace 284,400,000 350,400,000 634,800,000
Formative Years 376,000,000 363,600,000 739,600,000
Professional Life 316,000,000 336,000,000 652,000,000
Presidency 129,600,000 198,000,000 327,600,000
Total 1,106,000,000 1,248,000,000 2,354,000,000
Ketchup is acidic. Basically, you're giving the coin an acid bath. If left alone, the spotted coins are always going to be problem coins, but the ketchup coins will also be problem coins.
As long as you realize the treated coins will always have issues, there is nothing wrong messing with them, but IMO, it's not worth the time and effort.
Buy yourself a nice set or build a few from your rolls. They are not an investment but are nice to have.
Yes, these are the same numbers I saw. Now lets break it down even further. Mintages from 2010, 1,963,000,000 (the least number) and the most from 2009 at 350,400,000. This way you won't say I'm doing it in my favor because I use the lowest of the last several years vs the highest of the 2009. This shows us that at best, 17.85% of one coin was minted in 2009 vs the lowest year afterwards. That starts to sound more rare in my opinion. And to add to that, we know there were minting problems making it more rare. Also, you did you take into account that there are 8 varieties in 2009? So your 800 coins for sale on eBay is reduced to 100 of each type (obviously that's not correct but you get the idea). Anyhow, nobody has yet answered my question. At what point do you take action to preserve something?
Lil' Whippersnapper,
Even if the mintage or surviving coins was reduced to 1 million per design it would be more than market demand.
"At what point do you take action to preserve something?"
When the value is high enough to offset the time & effort to preserve it.
Nice coins of any date are worth saving.
Zincs are tough because they corrode very easily. Once the corrosion starts on a coin it is ruined and this includes both rot and carbon (black) spots. The rot is the zinc underneath and the black spots are the copper.
Usually the best bet is to pull out all the damaged and poor coins and save only the nice ones. These should be soaked briefly in 91% alcohol and rinsed/ dried. Then store them in a good environment. The attrition on well stored and stabilized cents is low. The attrition on rolls and any coins stored in damp or variable environments is high. There are a lot of completely rotted zincoln rolls out there. Sometimes there will be a few still pristine coins but once these start going bad they go bad pretty fast.
Hang in there. If you can save any of them you may be ahead of the curve.
>
At the point you care about the future and future collectors.
This being said I imagine that nice 2009 cents will be in good supply for the foreseeable future. You just never know though since the number set aside swings widely from year to year and mint to mint. Then the attrition rate is variable as well. Perhaps every unstabilized "log splitter" or some other '09 cent will develop black spots because of mint practices.
If everybody followed the conventional wisdom nobody would have set aside any coins since 1964.
Cool, what does the alcohol do?
It will remove most contaminants. Some will tell you not to use it on zincolns but my experience is that it's OK.
Sometimes oils and chemicals are struck right into the coins (apparently) so it's not 100% effective but few of my stabilized coins have tarnished or spotted.
My experience with this is not extremely deep so you might want a second opinion.
Some people prefer acetone but I can't find it works any better and it is harder to work with and much more dangerous. Don't use 70% isopropyl as the water can affect coins. Mixing a little acetone in the 91% seems to help slightly but isn't necessary.
A soak might hurt zincolns with flaws in the plating but these will probably go bad regardless.
I rinse in warm water and lay out on a towel to gently pat dry.
Why would you re-expose the coins to water after alcohol? The alcohol should evaporate completely should it not?
The 2009 cents were hoarded because of the uniqueness of them and limited mintage of each design. I myself tucked away a box or two of them that I got from the bank. I should probably check on the ones I saved so thanks for the reminder. I would just spend any with rot on them as most have said there as hey were saved more than cents usually are.
Jim
Good point, I forgot about that aspect of the equation. Glad to be in this forum with so many knowledgeable people willing to share.
Many of the Weimar, WWII and post-WWII European coins were cheaply made (i.e. - zinc, aluminum, bronze washed, etc) and consequently the nicer ones became expensive because they were not preserved at all and because they were very much more prone to damage and corrosion.
I think the same situation applies to all Lincolns made since 1982. Someday, nicer ones will be impossible to locate except for a stiff price. Not that it's worth saving a bunch of them, because it's going to be awhile.
I knew it would happen.
it should help to confirm your belief that these coins will have increased value some day