**Update with result! 5/27**Just received my E-Z-EST - Speed Dip! How to use it properly?
TurboSnail
Posts: 1,668 ✭✭✭✭✭
I got it because one of the ASE business strike coins in dansco I purchased from fleabay has some ugly black dots. I was planning to toss it away as junk silver. But I changed my mind and decide to dip it as a learning curve to identify dip and over dipped.
**Three type of ugliness / Update with the result with the advice from forum members . **
At first, I tried the 25% E-Z/75% water for a few seconds. The result were not effective. Then I re-dipped with 50/50, Coin 1994 was done. But coin 2000 still had some finger prints and a dark chin. But after a couple tries with q-tip tender love with the solution. It was also fixed & only able to notice at a certain angle.
However, the stubborn coin 1991 still needed a fix. So I increased to 100% E-Z. and applied through Q-tip. The black dots around the edge started to disappear. After the second or the third dip. And the dot around the face and body worn off around the 6-7 tries. But the end result was disappointing. As the black dots had not became milk spot/dot.
Thanks guys for the great advice. The Q-tip is great for the tough spot. And the 91% alcohol bath after water did wonder also.
Comments
I like a dip of 50%...half eZest, half distilled water. Make it quick...5-10 seconds...you can always do another. And rinse throughly under the tap and finally in distilled water. Some folks like the final rinse to be acetone or alcohol.
Take your time and don't rush it. If you're not getting the results you want, give up. Don't overdo it.
Lance.
91%+ isopropyl alcohol then blot with a cotton shirt or diaper as a final. The alcohol will drive off any water remaining and evaporate.
I do exactly as Lance does. Crap, he's the one I learned from. Great for hazy coins like mint and proof coins but it will remove any wonderful toning......aaaaah learned the hard way on that. My final rinse is acetone after the distilled water, tap water and dip at 50/50.
bob:)
I use the sink and have 2 bowls - one with water and the other with water and dish soap (like Palmolive).
I use it at full strength. Dip it for 7 seconds while slushing the coin around.
Then run it under the faucet for 10 seconds and put it in the dish soap bowl and slush it around for 10 seconds.
Then put it in the water bowl and let it sit for 30 seconds.
Take it out and blot it on paper towels, then stand it up on the paper towel so it is leaning on something.
I only use it on modern proofs.
How would this work on a Details-Cleaned Slabbed coin?
My guess is the conservation companies have ascending concentrations in cups, 10%-100%, probably also high temp/and other variables for greater effect but they must have something even better because original coins come out looking really slick.
If the black spots are still slightly showing after the dip, then dip a qtip in the solution and do a light spot treatment on the spots. I've done it many times and it usually works great for stubborn areas when you don't want to risk dipping the whole coin again for too long.
Excellent advice from Lance.... a great place to start - and likely finish. Other suggestions also have merit - especially if you are experimenting and have problem coins. Practice on coins with little or no collector value, prior to doing those coins that are important to you. Let us know how it goes... Cheers, RickO
it doesn't do a thing for cleaned coins....they are still cleaned.
bob
It stinks to high heaven when it reacts with metal. Use ventilation. The chemical and vapors breathed is carcinogenic. You know, that's about all the advice I would say, other than " ______ that ____ ! " Wrap each of those coins in a blue or black felt cloth for a few years, or in a wooden drawer. Then, after they get completely and wickedly toned, put them back in the album.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Dip for a couple/few seconds. Rinse rinse rinse rinse. Then rinse again. Use distilled water. Blot dry.
Another suggestion would be to have a bowl of water with some baking soda in it next to where you are using the dip. After you have dipped a coin, drop it into the bowl so that the baking soda can neutralize the acid in the dip. When you are done dipping, then take the coins out of the baking soda and water one at a time and rinse using one of the methods described above.
Do not use the baking soda slurry to scrub the coin(s). It WILL cause abrasion.
Do not transfer any of the baking soda water/slurry back into the dip jar on your fingers. It will neutralize that also. Just drop the coin into the water. Have a towel or whatever handy so that if any of the water splashed up onto your hand you do not carry it back into the dip.
When you are all done and the coins are safely away from the sink, wet your hands and sprinkle some more baking soda onto your hands and scrub them like a surgeon cleaning his hands. This will neutralize the chemical on your skin and greatly lessen any smell on your hands.
Most of the dip we use are pretty much poison, can you imagine being exposed to that plus inhaling the acid from stone tests in a busy shop?
Does anyone know why they don't sell the thioruea fluid alone, or is there always a diluted sulfuric acid bath there too?
I dip a silver bar from time to time.
Latex gloves, bathroom sink with the fan on,
Dip , Rinse in the hottest water you can stand, and pat dry on a terry towel.
I think you intend 'sulfamic acid' ?
Dip, re-tone, repeat. Then dip, re-tone, repeat.
Bump with update
This approach has never failed me, even with nearly terminal coins, and patience cannot be over-emphasized. Plenty of excellent advice in this thread.
@logger7 said: " My guess is the conservation companies have ascending concentrations in cups, 10%-100%, probably also high temp/and other variables for greater effect but they must have something even better because original coins come out looking really slick. "
Your guess would be wrong.
I should have thought the coin with the spots was a lost cause. In the image it looked like they destroyed the underlying surface. When you dip it in any fashion described above you will be left with gray spots rather than black. I learned that the most important part of the conservation process is to know what to touch and what to leave alone and even then a coin will "blow up" on occasion. The second step of the conservation process are the PRE-DIP treatments. If done correctly, even a coin with spots like yours can be made 100% more attractive than if you were to straight dip it in ANY concentration of dip.
That sly old devil @CascadeChris has given some great advice. Very often it is better to "spot-conserve" a coin rather than dip the entire coin. The coin is not worth professional conservation. If I were you, I would try a few different things on several areas so you can learn a few things. That way it's like having four different coins to practice on with one spot rather than one practice dip of the entire coin. The ANA offers a course taught by an ex-NCS employee that covers dipping.
I see I should have read the entire thread first rather than correcting @logger7 and adding my 2c. Does the '91 have gray spots where the black was?
Yes . it became creamy or grey color. The last picture is the 1991. Sorry for the bad image.