Has anyone had any luck dipping clad coins from 60's & 70's Mint sets?
newcollect
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MS70,acatone, E-Z-EST etc.
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newcollect
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I had a few mid 1970s quarters I dipped in E Z EST. Went terribly wrong, they had all sorts AT looking colors. Then i rinsed in acetone, that made no difference/made it worse. I may still have them somewhere.
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Yea - quite a lot.
Acetone will not affect metal...it is an organic solvent. Cheers, RickO
What is on them you want to get rid of? I have used MS70 and acetone with moderate success on uncirculated. You have to remember the outside layer of clad is mostly copper/nickel (75/25) over a copper core. So what have you used on copper cents and had success with?
EZest first with a first rinse of water.Finish with rinse of water with a pinch of baking soda to neutralize the acid and final rinse in hot distilled water.
You can use EZest on pennies but the will come out looking a sickly white sheen.Rinse with distilled water and put between the cardboards of a pre 64 mint set. Install back in mint envelope and leave in a sunny window for a day or two to return back to red condition. There are ways to speed the process up but only time and practice will be your friend.
Has anyone had any luck dipping clad coins from 60's & 70's Mint sets?
Yes! They are treated differently from 90% silver coins. Unfortunately, AFAIK, the conservation services don't reveal how to do it.
BTW, Clad coins that are dipped in EZest have a very unnatural PINK edge.
@GRANDAM said: "You should never dip a clad coin."
Why is that? The edge color I mentioned?
@TeamDennis said: "You can use EZest on pennies but the will come out looking a sickly white sheen.Rinse with distilled water and put between the cardboards of a pre 64 mint set. Install back in mint envelope and leave in a sunny window for a day or two to return back to red condition. There are ways to speed the process up but only time and practice will be your friend."
Oh my.
Try this if you must,; however, once you put EZest on a copper coin IT WILL NEVER GO BACK TO ORIGINAL RED. Of course, it helps if you know what original "red" copper looks like.
I beg to differ. You cannot tell the difference between an untouched one.I have already impressed my LCS who has been in numismatics for over 20 years and sold me a 1954 proof that was badly hazed.He could not believe it was the same coin.You can also use a 10% to water solution that won't scare you so much. Mind you this will only work on mint state with no browning on the copper.
There's too much surface copper for most common chemicals to produce good results.
I have been told by an expert in Modern Clad Coinage that dipping clad coins is a BAD idea. Unless you really know what you are doing the coin can turn an ugly off color,
If you do dip in EZest or Jewel Luster type of product you should dilute the dip 50/50 with water,,,, do a very quick dip and throughly rinse in distelled water followed by a rinse in a baking soda water mixture followed by another water rinse.
It can be done .
If they aren't too far gone a long soak in 91% isopropyl alcohol will sometimes work.
A little acetone in the mix helps sometimes.
It's sickening how fast these have turned bad.
I believe a well diluted mix of 10% ammonium hydroxide is used by some but my luck with this isn't good. It can leave obvious damage sometimes.
There's another thread on the topic from some months back.
@TeamDennis said: "I beg to differ. You cannot tell the difference between an untouched one.I have already impressed my LCS who has been in numismatics for over 20 years and sold me a 1954 proof that was badly hazed.He could not believe it was the same coin.You can also use a 10% to water solution that won't scare you so much. Mind you this will only work on mint state with no browning on the copper."
Differ all you wish. NOTE: A 1954 coin is not CLAD. Therefore, it is something we are not discussing in this thread.
My 4 year old girl can dip a silver proof with great results.
Now, back to the subject: CLAD COINS. I have been paid to conserved hundreds & hundreds of clad coins. I don't DIP them in EZest. However, my peers and I have used EZest on clad coins. So perhaps we are actually in agreement but just differ on the method employed. When you or your dealer friend "dip" a clad coin, by using my microscope I'll probably be able to tell (at least 95% accuracy) that you did it.
@GRANDAM said: "I have been told by an expert in Modern Clad Coinage that dipping clad coins is a BAD idea. Unless you really know what you are doing the coin can turn an ugly off color,
Again, clad coins are conserved on a daily basis. I did six this morning (after calling for permission) to raise their eye appeal. There are several different chemicals that are used. Unfortunately, that information is proprietary; however, two of them are well known - MS-70, and EZest.
I appears that expert in modern clad coinage is giving very good advice - don't dip coins unless you know what you are doing.
I'll add this. You can know what you are doing, have years of professional experience in a conservation lab, be using fresh chemicals, etc, etc. yet occasionally a coin will "BLOW UP."
You can't use aqueous dips like you can with silver. But non-aqueous solvents should not present an issue.
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Actually, he said "pennies" (cents) whose composition is the same through 1982.
"Original" red copper is actually a copper sulfide compound. The paper he's referring to is probably high in sulfur content. So, in fact, as long as you don't etch the surface during whatever dip you are doing, you should be able to return the "original" red copper.
Thanks I forgot he said copper way up the thread. I think I already posted DON'T DIP COPPER IN EZest.
Are you talking about a pre-1959 mint set’s cardboards or the yellow envelope the 1959-1963 mint sets came in? 59-64 were in cello in an outer envelope.
Yes, I have. I believe a majority of the coins in this registry set have been dipped.
ModCrewman SMS Registry Set
I guess you should know.
I have, but I don't dip business strikes. I carefully blot the obverse and reverse with a q-tip and diluted EZ-Est, then rinse in distilled water. It nicely removes fingerprints, haze, and ugly toning while preserving the luster, and keeps the copper visible on the edge from turning pink.
One of the problems is that mint set haze makes every coin look like an MS-70. No one can afford conservation of everything just to find the ones that really are high grade.
It's a mess.
Remarkable set.
This gives me some hope.
I use both the cardboards and envelope.The older the better.
What about old canvas? From early 20th century bank bags.
If you wish, try commercial grade oxalic acid (also good for removing rust stains from shipwreck gold) or hydrogen peroxide.
Always test thoroughly on expendable coins before trying on your collection pieces.
Interesting you mention hydrogen peroxide . I cleaned some corroded copper once by submerging the coins in hydrogen peroxide in a paper cup then popping the cup in the microwave and boiling it. I believe I read about it here on the forum . Boiling peroxide really fizzes up when you have a copper coin in it
This is a very interesting thread.
It's an oxidation reduction reaction. The copper gets reduced from the oxide/sulfide/etc. back to copper metal. The peroxide gets oxidized, generating oxygen gas from the peroxide (H2O2) which is what causes the bubbling.
You can also use hydrogen peroxide to power your submarine torpedoes. But this has certain disadvantages....