What do you do, when the UNTHINKABLE happens . . . . . . . ?

ZoidMeister

What do you do, when the UNTHINKABLE happens . . . . . . .?

So, you have this really nice, fairly clean coin, token, or medal, but it's got a small bit of smoodge on it. It has a nice matte finish on it, so you have to be really careful NOT to compromise the finish. To get the smoodge off, you know you can take care of that with a little trip to the Acetone Spa.

You carefully lower it in for a few minutes . . . . but wait, you have just used the little wooden paddle you use to extract said coin, token or medal in a different solution. You don't want to "cross pollenate" the chemicals, so you grab a little brass spudge tool you have lying around.

It's not as wide, but it'll do, right?

Wrong! The spudge tool is somewhat chrome plated. It has a somewhat hard edge, and in a moment of idiocracy, the tool slips, the planchet slides across it's edge, and . . . . . . . .

I mean, how do you recover from something like this? After the screaming, swearing, and use of some "perfectly good English," you calm down and try to weigh your options.

That's when lessons learned from the "CircCam" discussions come to mind.

If life gives you lemons . . . . . . screw it, I hate lemon-aide, give me some Mike's Hard Cider to get through this . . . . . . .

So my only option left, other than to toss it out or buy a new one (which I did anyway), is to try give this piece a circulated cameo conversion.

I therefore tossed this medal into my pocket with about 6 bucks of clad quarters, dimes, and nickels. I was looking for an "accelerated" aging process. And I am getting the results I was looking for.

Here it is after almost one week of pocket carry.

The matte finish is wearing down nicely. The scratch above does not penetrate deeply into the surface, but just breaks the matte finish away. High points on the planchet are getting a nice polish.

It's better, but the original gouge is still visible and a couple new ones have appeared.

Back into the pocket it goes . . . . . . . .

About 2.5 weeks into pocket carry (and one night buried in a flower pot in my backyard) and this bad boy is really starting to take on the appearance I was hoping for.

The fields are now nicely lightened. The areas around raised elements are starting to darken. High points are nicely polished. A few "bag marks" and additional scratches all lead to the newfound character of this piece.

Here is how it looks after 2.5 weeks . . . . . .

The fields on the reverse need a LOT more work. The complexity of the design has the high points "protecting" the fields. I need the lettering to get a bit more evenly polished to make them readable.

All in all, I think another month of pocket carry will get this "once damaged" piece back to a respectable, but different than original, finish.

Heck, I might even go back out and bury it in the backyard to see what additional "environmental enhancements" I can get to the brass . . . . . . . .

Z

ricko

I like the new appearance...Not sure what time in the ground will do to it... a lot depends on the type of soil and the alloy you have....Good luck...Cheers, RickO

PerryHall

@ricko said:
I like the new appearance...Not sure what time in the ground will do to it... a lot depends on the type of soil and the alloy you have....Good luck...Cheers, RickO

He was joking. At least, I hope he was joking.

CaptHenway

When you said "the unthinkable" I thought of the time that my mother-in-law called to say that my first wife was in the ER and I never got to say goodbye...........

BryceM

Schtuff happens. It basically worthless with a huge field scratch, so you've pivoted about as well as you could have. It has a nice look now.

Stuff like this happens all the time...... It's just a bit of gunk. That should come right off with a little acetone and a Q-tip. Hmm. It's stubborn, maybe a rose thorn. Nope, still on there. Maybe a toothpick. That'll be OK. Hmmmm. Stubborn little spot. Maybe a paperclip if I'm careful...... Yep, that did it, but now there's a clean spot that draws attention. Maybe I can just smooth that out a little. Ooop, too much. Just a buffing wheel on a dremmel should fix that....... Well, now those hairlines are pretty obvious. If it just hit it lightly with a wire wheel. Oh, shoot, it grabbed it and if flung across the room and now it has a huge rim bump. I can probably smooth that out if I can hold it in the vise, find a file and a hammer.....

PerryHall

@BryceM said:

>

That should come right off with a little acetone and a Q-tip.

Make sure you don't use the type with the plastic stick with the acetone. It'll melt the plastic.

BuffaloIronTail

I am really impressed by your methods, the work you put into it, and of course, the result.

Pete

thebeav

I also think it looks pretty good.
Nice pictures !

ZoidMeister

@ricko said:
I like the new appearance...Not sure what time in the ground will do to it... a lot depends on the type of soil and the alloy you have....Good luck...Cheers, RickO

@PerryHall said:

@ricko said:
I like the new appearance...Not sure what time in the ground will do to it... a lot depends on the type of soil and the alloy you have....Good luck...Cheers, RickO

He was joking. At least, I hope he was joking.

Actually, I was hoping to get the brass in the recessed areas to darken a bit. LordMarcovan calls it "CircCam" or a "circulated cameo" look where the fields and recesses are dark, but the raised features are polished a bit from wear.

So no, I am going to bury it for a few days. Hopefully stimulate some "advanced environmental enhancements."

Z

FredWeinberg

....as long as it's not a Stella

Catbert

I think you could go for a raging lightening look with a few more scratches behind the buried sword!

JRocco

We have all dropped a raw coin at some point. If we were thinking ahead it would have fell harmlessly on
a piece of felt from only a few inches or something similar. The point being when handling a raw coin
always assume Murphy is in the room with you so try to minimize the hazardous items like coin tongs, a cup of coffee,
staples, even a heavy glass that all can become weapons at Murphy's disposal.

kiyote

@FredWeinberg said:
....as long as it's not a Stella

We should have some giant final blowout where Fred tells that story one last time... I always feel for him, being reminded of that like every three months.. 😩

it would be like if someone kept bringing up the time I threw up on a girl I liked in fifth grade over and over and over

ZoidMeister

@kiyote said:

@FredWeinberg said:
....as long as it's not a Stella

We should have some giant final blowout where Fred tells that story one last time... I always feel for him, being reminded of that like every three months.. 😩

it would be like if someone kept bringing up the time I threw up on a girl I liked in fifth grade over and over and over

I don't think I've heard that story . . . . . . I'm new around these parts . . . . . . .

.

Do Tell . . . . . . !

ZoidMeister

@Catbert said:
I think you could go for a raging lightening look with a few more scratches behind the buried sword!

It will definitely be interesting to see how this develops. I found that carrying it with a pocket knife I have (tht has a stainless steel clip) tends to create quite a few additional scratches in the fields.

Right now I am hoping for a bit more "darkening" of the metal in the recesses. No wat to accelerate that and have it still look vaguely natural I suppose.

Z

1Mike1

clarkbar04

One night in the flower pot did it. Nothing like a steer manure bath.

kiyote

@ZoidMeister said:

@kiyote said:

@FredWeinberg said:
....as long as it's not a Stella

We should have some giant final blowout where Fred tells that story one last time... I always feel for him, being reminded of that like every three months.. 😩

it would be like if someone kept bringing up the time I threw up on a girl I liked in fifth grade over and over and over

I don't think I've heard that story . . . . . . I'm new around these parts . . . . . . .

.

Do Tell . . . . . . !

I wasn’t feeling all that great but I went to an assembly anyway to watch a stage magician and somehow ended up sitting behind my crush. I sneezed twice, thought I was going to belch but ended up throwing up my afternoon lunch of macaroni and cheese. About half of it went down her back. She called me Pukey and Vomit-Tron for months and pretty much never forgave me

pursuitofliberty

@kiyote said:

@FredWeinberg said:
....as long as it's not a Stella

We should have some giant final blowout where Fred tells that story one last time... I always feel for him, being reminded of that like every three months.. 😩

it would be like if someone kept bringing up the time I threw up on a girl I liked in fifth grade over and over and over

Part of the beauty that is @FredWeinberg is that Fred finds the time to insert a tidbit in an apropos thread, and say it in a quiet, self deprecating manner.

Bravo!!

Mizzou

Keep that one and sell the new one that you bought, it has character

TwoSides2aCoin

Great story. I mean dreaded. Your pain helps me heal from mine.

TwoKopeiki

You and I have very different definitions of "unthinkable"