Removing green death from copper

shirohniichan

I heard about using sudsy ammonia to remove green death, but it ended up stripping the medal. The medal looks like it has been dipped now.

Is there any safe way to get rid of the green death without affecting the toning on copper?

ormandh

acetone. -Dan

Refrema

Olive Oil, but it takes a long time, and will test your patience.

I would also like to find out if there is a good way to retone copper that was stripped.

Bob

ccrdragon

acetone won't touch 'green death' - the only way to remove the green is a long soaking in olive oil. ammonia and copper is a bad idea... (guess you found that out)

crito

acetone removes olive oil quite well

GDJMSP

This stuff will remove it, but I can't say what it will do to the toning.

Biox

MacCrimmon

It would be interesting to see that label on the Biox to see what kind of organic compound is floating around in the bottle.

As to darkening dipped or "ammonia-fied" copper or bronze, Dellers Darkener is a sulfur-based liquid solution which is sold for just that purpose. How much and how long to apply is a trial and error gambit. Try it on some pre-1982 Lincolns first though......heaven forbid you do this to a Vic.

shirohniichan

Has anyone picked off green spots with a toothpick? I haven't tried it, but I imagine soft wood wouldn't harm the coin's surface.

MSD61

<< <i>Has anyone picked off green spots with a toothpick? I haven't tried it, but I imagine soft wood wouldn't harm the coin's surface. >>



I've used a toothpick after the coin has soaked in olive oil to soften the green death up. But if you do decide to use a toothpick you should do this under magnification and with great care.

291fifth

Are you talking about corrosion or the waxy green buildup that occurs when a copper coin has been in contact with leather for a long period? The waxy buildup can be removed with the ammonia solution but corrosion can't.

theboz11

I use a rose thorn or a large thorn from a Bougenvia(sp?) after soaking and under a binocular microscope. Most cna be removed if it isn't to old. Else you get a black spot or a corrosive pit.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Has anyone picked off green spots with a toothpick? I haven't tried it, but I imagine soft wood wouldn't harm the coin's surface. >>

Toothpicks are good for removing verdigris of the loose dirt type, but the wood is too soft for tougher cases. As Boz mentioned, a nice hard thorn is better, since it has a sharper point, is made of harder material, and yet is still softer than metal.

Don't cringe when I say this, because what I am about to say is a dangerous procedure, but on bad pits with active green corrosion, I often will (carefully!) take the point of a pushpin and work at the affected area, using an eyepiece or loupe so I can closely watch what I am doing. After removing the green corrosion with the pin, I am left with a lot of bright copper scratches in the affected area, which is bad, but hopefully these are only within the crater caused by the pitting. I then retone the spot with a mix of Vaseline and powdered sulfur. There will still be a pit there, but it won't be as awful looking, hopefully, and the cancer will have been removed. Remember, though, this surgery is only for dire cases, as a last resort. I would certainly try the thorn treatment first, and follow up with the Vaseline/sulfur mix, or just plain Vaseline, if you don't have any areas that need retoning.

shirohniichan

Now that I found a coin to try the olive oil on, I can't find my bottle of regular olive oil. It had been sitting in the guest bathroom for a couple of years, and I wonder if my wife used it or threw it away.

lordmarcovan

Since my last reply to this thread, I published my little bag of tricks.

Except the hot peroxide trick. Didn't write that one up. I only recently discovered that. For crusty dug stuff.

Not sure if any of my tricks will help, but I shared what ones I have.