Hard times opinions please ?

JamesMurray

I posted this in tokens for tuesday but it was swallowed up with my question , the pictures do not do this justice at all , the token has remarkable colors and depth.My concern is the reverse , magnified greatly we see a crud of some type.It's not on the obverse.How can i best remove this without discoloring the token or doing any harm ?

llafoe

It looks like the crud is polish?

JamesMurray

That's what i thought at first too , i'm not sure it is because there's none on the front.Why just the back ? Its like a residue only the back was subject to , i just dont want to harm it in any way.

llafoe

If it's friable, I suspect it's polish.

JamesMurray

Thanks , i'll try and get a pic under natural light tomorrow , the problem i have is that picture was under a 500w spotlight , it's washed all color out. To the naked eye the gunk isnt visable , but magnified it's more a green color.The token itself is electric copper with blues and purples.I appreciate your thought's , if it's polish it should just come off with a light cloth , i'm not sure it's polish.I'll get that pic in daylight.

kurtdog

Yes, those do look like the telltale signs of a polish job of some kind. Maybe car wax?

EDIT: Seriously, have you tried a little bath in acetone?

Teva

<< <i>Yes, those do look like the telltale signs of a polish job of some kind. Maybe car wax?

EDIT: Seriously, have you tried a little bath in acetone? >>


I was also thinking some kind of wax?

sinin1

it could be an organic material like fat


I would go with an acetone soak for a couple days

BillJones

I know the color is way off in this picture, but it still looks like this token has been cleaned been cleaned or something. Perhaps when you get a better picture we will know for sure.

As for the crud, I'd be tempted to leave it alone. You don't known what you will find under it when you remove it. It could be bright copper which would look worse that what you have now. A lot of old copper coins and tokens have this kind of stuff on them. It sort of comes with the territory.

BTW I think the variety is Low 33, a.k.a. HT 48. It is a common R-1.

CertifiedGoldCoins

I once owned a Trade Dollar (genuine) that presented a similar appearance. The white "stuff" was granular, and the consensus was that the residue was left over from someone making a mold. Hmmmm.....

ANACONDA

I would gently wash it with some pressurized hot water....go slow.

shorecoll

You might try acetone on a small spot. Some copper weenies would soak it in olive oil and pick the crud out with a soft rose thorn, but as Bill said you might make it worse, and depending on where you live, soft rose thorns might not be available. I would not try to remove it with a cloth.

JamesMurray

Thanks everyone , it's out of my hands today for pictures cos we have a blizzard outside , thanks for the ID Bill , i can label this now. I like your idea Anaconda , thank you