Olive Oil Soak?

Icollecteverything

Would this be a candidate for a soak in olive oil or something else or lost cause? I think it has gotten worse since I bought it years ago. The pic is not great, it is actually darker colored but with some green spots.

hockeyfan9

Olive oil won't hurt it so you have nothing to lose. I would start with a 2 week dip. Cool coin worth keeping either way!

harasha

I would not think that this coin would be a candidate. It actually appears to be in very decent shape, for what it is.
Why do you think it is worse than when bought? Do you live in a humid area?
That being said, olive oil residual may offer protection from excessive moisture, but there may be better materials than that.

Icollecteverything

I am not sure but I think the little green spots of corrosion are new or worse then when I bought, probably 20 years ago. It was sealed up pretty well and my other coins have fared just fine.
I have never used oil or anything else so I am open to suggestions cause I'm the virgin!

harasha

There are people on the Forum who know better than me. My gut feeling, however, would be a light swab of the coin. But I may be totally off base; wait for an ancients expert who will have a definitive answer. In fact, I am not familiar with hockeyfan9's focus of interest, but his answer may be the best.

STLNATS

I'm pretty sure olive oil is acidic, so you are very likely to make things worse. Haven't really had the need to clean coins myself, but here's a link to a great site. You may need to rummage around to find exactly what you need, but if you join you'll find the folks extremely knowledgable and helpful. Good luck!

link to uncleaned coins discussion

BTW, not to belabor the point, but what was this stored in? Needs to kept in mylar or similar inert product for long term storage. Had a bad experience early on so now every coin I buy goes into a safe flip, regardless of where the coin came from, just to be sure.

Icollecteverything

Thanks for that site STLNATS, looks like I have lots of reading.

Regarding holders, the following method is what I devised for my better coins. First I would do the holdering at a desk with a lamp close by and aimed at the table to make sure everything was dry. (also best in winter when heat is on) Then I would take 1/2 of a non-PVC flip and put the coin inside it, then put it in a 2x2 with the open side of the flip in the fold of the 2x2. Staple the heck out of it trying to make it airtight and then flatten staples with plyers.

I like 2x2's because you can write all the information on them and put them in the vinyl pages and then in binders for display. With this method they seem to be about as air tight as you can get, the coins don't rotate, and they can not get scratched with staples or anything else. Pain in the butt to remove though.

I also have used silica packets when storing in SDB's or safe.

STLNATS