Graphic example of what soaking a coin in oil can do**Updated Pics**

JRocco

I have always believed in letting a coin soak in mineral oil to help loosen heavy crud and in some cases corrosion. Understanding, of course, that any damage done to the surfaces by corrosion or verdigris will not be reversed. I put this One Penny Model, silver (1814 - I believe) in oil a year ago and decided to take a look at her tonight. Well take a look. Pics taken with a better camera, but you can get the idea. This one will go back in the oil for a while longer to work a little more, but the difference already is amazing. Look at the die crack on this coin that was only partially evident before. All that has been done was rolling a Q-Tip soaked in oil over this one, and prodding a little with an oil soaked toothpick to loosed things up a little.

fc

neat post. thanks for sharing.

ReleaseTheHounds

that's a cool looking piece!

Animalkeeper

I am not familiar with that issue - is it copper outside with a silver insert? Much improved although a year seems like a tad long...

notwilight

Nice crack.

JRocco

<< <i>I am not familiar with that issue - is it copper outside with a silver insert? Much improved although a year seems like a tad long... >>


I stand corrected. It is from 1844.
I knew nothing about this piece, but after posting it HERE I learned myself.
We have some sharp guys that post here.

Animalkeeper

<<We have some sharp guys that post here. >>

I knew that anyway but I'm still get impressed from these types of threads. Thanks. Cool find - and cool trick. I've got some crusty IHCs I'd like like to experiment on....

NumisOxide

Nice result.

N8

Very nice
Type/Brand of oil

JRocco

<< <i>Very nice
Type/Brand of oil >>



Hey N8,
Years ago I believe that olive oil was preferred. Probably because it was thought to be more "natural". But olive oil goes rancid quickly and has to be changed often. So good old generic mineral oil is the way to go. Get the generic cheap stuff for a buck and change a pint.
I have found that long soaks work better and short soakings...a month or two...do nothing.

Shortgapbob

Very nice result. I'm impressed.

N8

Thanks JRocco

ms70

I wonder what soaking in a penetrating oil like WD-40 would do?

Good post, thanks for sharing the pics!

doughmaking

<< <i>I wonder what soaking in a penetrating oil like WD-40 would do?

Good post, thanks for sharing the pics! >>



I heard WD-40 works really good, but I dont know the actual effects on a coin after? Hopefully someone can tell us....
Jason

goldboy

Great post! a lot of people wonder about self-cleaning their coins and Im sure this will help out quite a few!
BTW...............nice cent!

lordmarcovan

I use to have some of those Moore models. They are listed in the Krause "Unusual World Coins" book.

They're the earliest bimetallics I've seen. Very cool.

Myqqy

Wow- those are some cool results! Thanks for sharing...

seemyauction

What Kind of oil do you use?


AL

StrikeOutXXX

Great results!

I've tried soaking some metal detecting finds in olive oil, but I'm not a patient person, and after a month, I just throw them back in the MD box. I've read to try grape oil, and now your post with mineral oil, so it look slike I"m just going to have to be patient. I have a few very similar indian heads maybe I can try one in each and see how they turn out.

Veep

As an ex-metal detector guy, I'd have to say that your results are very, very impressive! You might think of starting a third-party soaking service. Turnaround is one year. Economy is two years.

mheffner2

JRoc - and 6 more months later? Love to see how it looks today.

pb2y

A dramatic difference and no apparent damage.
Thanks for the info.

GoldenEyeNumismatics

Those are great results!

stev32k

That's a pretty amazing difference. I wonder if it works on silver as well?

JRocco

<< <i>JRoc - and 6 more months later? Love to see how it looks today. >>



I was going to give it another full year, but I will take a peak at it and let you know.

As a chemist I can say one thing with certainty....oil is amazing stuff when given a chance to really work.

librtyhead

............patience won out.

TwoSides2aCoin

Add nickel and vinegar and you have a numismatic salad

jessewvu

what kind of container did you store the coin in? Is glass better than metal/plastic? I have a 1866 IHP that has really really nice details but needs to be cleaned. I would love to soak it in something for a long time.

JRocco

<< <i>what kind of container did you store the coin in? Is glass better than metal/plastic? I have a 1866 IHP that has really really nice details but needs to be cleaned. I would love to soak it in something for a long time. >>



I go out and buy a few small sized glass Gerber or BeechNut baby vanilla custard jars.
And because I am a cheapskate at heart, I force myself to eat the pudding then
clean the jars and fill them 1/2 way with mineral oil.
I must have a dozen jars soaking coins on top of my bookcase so the cats can't knock them over.

coinman420

nice results, i`ve used olive oil but looks like mineral oil works better. nice coin

librtyhead

And because I am a cheapskate at heart, I force myself to eat the pudding then
clean the jars and fill them 1/2 way with mineral oil.
I must have a dozen jars soaking coins on top of my bookcase so the cats can't knock them over. >>




It's not the coins is it.........................it's the puddin.

pb2y

<< <i>And because I am a cheapskate at heart, I force myself to eat the pudding then clean the jars and fill them 1/2 way with mineral oil. I must have a dozen jars soaking coins on top of my bookcase so the cats can't knock them over. >>

It's not the coins is it.........................it's the puddin. >>



Don't let cats mess with your coins, albums, ect.

TwoSides2aCoin

<< <i>

<< <i>And because I am a cheapskate at heart, I force myself to eat the pudding then clean the jars and fill them 1/2 way with mineral oil. I must have a dozen jars soaking coins on top of my bookcase so the cats can't knock them over. >>

It's not the coins is it.........................it's the puddin. >>



Don't let cats mess with your coins, albums, ect.

>>


I think that is part cow

jdillane

<< <i>

<< <i>And because I am a cheapskate at heart, I force myself to eat the pudding then clean the jars and fill them 1/2 way with mineral oil. I must have a dozen jars soaking coins on top of my bookcase so the cats can't knock them over. >>

It's not the coins is it.........................it's the puddin. >>



Don't let cats mess with your coins, albums, ect.

>>



Tell me that's not a real cat! Paint him / her with stripes (or spots) and.....

smokincoin

I understand the photos were with 2 different cameras and the bath was a year long, but the silver doesn't seem to have been affected. Is this correct? Is the mineral oil only good with copper? Thanks for sharing!

oreville

JRocco: Glad to see that the mineral oil worked well for you. You summarized the benefits of the mineral oil very well.

I have been a big fan of mineral oil since I was taught how great it was back in the late 1960's. I have been talking it up for years now on these threads.

Mineral oil works best on copper coins, minimally on copper-nickel and silver coins.

CarlWohlforth

I tried olive oil on an old copper coin with good results. If I were buying oil I would buy mineral oil. At the time I just stole some olive oil from the kitchen.

jdillane

JRocco, is it time for an updated post with status pics?

JRocco

Deal.
I will try to get to it later if the kids give me a few minutes to myself.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>One Penny Model, silver (1814 - I believe) >>

Switch around the last two digits in your date. More like 1841 or thereabouts. Early Victorian, not Georgian.

I cannot remember if the center disc is silver or not. Had my Krause "Unusual World Coins" volume not gone AWOL recently, I could investigate that for you. I think the centers were just white metal of some kind. Maybe German silver. Aaah, I gotta find that book.

JRocco

<< <i>

<< <i>One Penny Model, silver (1814 - I believe) >>

Switch around the last two digits in your date. More like 1841 or thereabouts. Early Victorian, not Georgian.

I cannot remember if the center disc is silver or not. Had my Krause "Unusual World Coins" volume not gone AWOL recently, I could investigate that for you. I think the centers were just white metal of some kind. Maybe German silver. Aaah, I gotta find that book. >>



Take a peek at THIS site my friend

JRocco

As a side note.
I had the brass and silver varieties, but after A LOT of searching I finally found, a couple of months ago, a copper center variety to add to the little set. And a nice little example of a grease filled die also.

lordmarcovan

Ah! Well, there you go. Ain't the Internet grand.

I had several of the pennies and a couple of the crowns. These are very cool.

Just the fact that the Litesiders have tolerated this thread here without grumbling speaks well of them.

ricko

True, olive oil, if left uncovered, may go rancid... however, olive oil is slightly acidic, therefore MAY work faster than mineral oil... I have used both... I do like mineral oil for most applications - and the lack of acidity can be a plus for a long soak. Cheers, RickO

OPA

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>And because I am a cheapskate at heart, I force myself to eat the pudding then clean the jars and fill them 1/2 way with mineral oil. I must have a dozen jars soaking coins on top of my bookcase so the cats can't knock them over. >>

It's not the coins is it.........................it's the puddin. >>



Don't let cats mess with your coins, albums, ect.

>>



Tell me that's not a real cat! Paint him / her with stripes (or spots) and..... >>



How much does she, he weigh? And does it hurt when she, he, jumps on your lap? And I hope the cat is declawed ... could get nasty if not.

lordmarcovan

That cat is an Internet classic. Been around for years. Photoshop job.

Broadstruck

So now what do you use to degrease the coin after it's been in mineral oil

lordmarcovan

Paper towel or soft cloth.

Same as I use with my Vaseline method.

Wipe on, wipe off. Gently, of course.

lcoopie

now I have to explain to my wife
why I am buying mineral oil and baby food
this is some hobby

JRocco

<< <i>So now what do you use to degrease the coin after it's been in mineral oil >>



Hey Broadstruck,
I do as lordmarcovan has said.
When I want to take all the oil off I give it a few rinses with acetone and that takes the oil off completely.
I like to leave a little of the oil on copper as it tends to give it a protective coating and can help it retain a lot of its Red color.
Old timers used to coat their copper coins in oil intentionally to help them retain their color.
I dug the coin out and it did improve. Give me a few to download the pics I just took.

JRocco

I dug this one out and gave it a quick roll with a Q-Tip saturated with the oil.
Darn if it didn't take off even more of the built up crud/corrosion. This does show as a different coloring to the underlying copper as this copper (under the crud) was not exposed to the air as was the rest of the coin.
I'll take it.
And in a few decades the coloring will all catch up so I will call this oil soak a good conservation tool in the big picture. Hopefully someone can enjoy this piece much more even long after I am gone- the goal of conservation.


And to make it even more rewarding...look at this great recut letter that can now be seen. There are some other recut letters though not as prominent as the E. This helps tell me a lot about how they coined this piece also as it looks like they hand punched each letter instead of using a gang punch.