Welcome guest, is this your first visit?
Member
Discoveries
 
Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Charter Member
    us
    Mar 2005
    Birmingham Alabama
    ML Explorer II, TDI, GB 2, Aquasound, Quick-triggered CZ-20.
    197
    Old coins & gold rings

    '2 Cent' Restoration

    This ‘2 cent’ coin was worn and badly corroded so I didn’t have much to lose by trying to restore it.

    I decided against electrolysis because of the type of corrosion and I wanted to maintain as much detail as possible.

    I also could have saved a lot of time and hassle by lightly scrubbing with a brass coin brush which would have removed the corrosion but the result wouldn’t be pleasing and the detail would probably have suffered.

    A ‘2 cent’ coin is made from the same composition as an Indian head penny so I tried heated hydrogen peroxide since it’s probably the least invasive cleaning method other than using plain water.
    I soaked it 2 hours using a Pyrex dish and candle warmer and checked it every 15 min or so. The peroxide barely fazed the corrosion plus the visible ‘2’ had nearly disappeared and it exposed the pitting.

    The next process used ‘Lime Out’ (similar to CLR). I soaked the coin 20 min. then scrubbed it lightly with a toothbrush. Much of the corrosion was removed and more detail could be seen but it also exposed more of the pitting especially on the obverse which had the worse corrosion, (probably because it was the side facing up in the ground).

    I soaked it another 30 min. in ‘LO’ and rubbed the coin but didn’t scrub it. Much more detail was revealed and almost all the corrosion was gone except for the edges where the pitting was the worse.
    I could have stopped there but I was still hoping to expose more of the detail so I soaked the coin another 60 min. in ‘LO’. Initially I thought the additional soaking had caused the detail to nearly disappear, that was until I scrubbed the coin again with a dry toothbrush which surprisingly brought out the detail again but in some aspects not as well as after the 30 min. soaking.

    Lastly I applied Blue Ribbon coin conditioner which further enhanced the detail to the point that I could make out most of words on the reverse and see the ‘2’ and oak wreath. The detail was much better when held at an angle to the light, whereas the detail was better when viewed from 'straight on' after the 30 min. soaking. The obverse improved very little except that more of the shield was visible and the ‘1’ in the date could be seen though not apparent in the pictures.

    The pictures show the changes after each step. I only showed the obverse ‘before and after’ pics because the corrosion was so bad and there wasn’t much to see.

    Pics # 1 & 2- After water cleaning and light toothbrush scrubbing.
    #3 - After 2 hr hydrogen peroxide
    #4- After initial 20 min treatment with ‘Lime Out’
    #5- After additional 30 min soaking in ‘LO’
    #6- After additional 60 min soaking in ‘LO’
    #7- After dry scrubbing coin with toothbrush
    #8- After applying Blue Ribbon with some rubbing (straight on shot)
    #9 & 10- Showing coin at an angle to the light
    HH
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails  '2 Cent' Restoration -dscn3035-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -dscn3039-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2686-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2701-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2714-1.jpg  

     '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2730-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2757-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2775-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -img_2791-1.jpg    '2 Cent' Restoration -dscn2820.jpg  


  2. #2

    Jul 2005
    Romeotopia
    6,661
    4 times
    All Types Of Treasure Hunting
    Banner Finds (4)

    Re: '2 Cent' Restoration

    Ouch...good effort but that is one hot mess!
    If the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy, punch a higher floor!

  3. #3
    us
    Mar 2009
    Connecticut
    Prizm III Teknetics T2
    2,031
    2 times
    All Types Of Treasure Hunting
    Banner Finds (2)

    Re: '2 Cent' Restoration

    doesn't matter how hard you try...that ones gone....just like my 1st one.

  4. #4

    Sep 2007
    Dirtyville
    Explorer
    11,410
    41 times
    Banner Finds (2)

    Re: '2 Cent' Restoration



    I say keep trying, you just have to believe!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails  '2 Cent' Restoration -faith.healer.jpg  
    AMERICAN DIGGERS ON SPIKE: THE TRASH WE WOULD LIKE TO DISCRIMINATE OUT!

  5. #5
    Charter Member
    us
    shhh...the person who posted above me just farted but wont see this since you scrolled down.

    Dec 2009
    St. Charles County, Missouri
    Tesoro Vaquero, Bounty Hunter Land Star
    1,466

    Re: '2 Cent' Restoration

    The good news is you just bumped up the value of the rest of them.
    Heckuva try though!
    When detectors are outlawed, only outlaws will have detectors

  6. #6
    Charter Member
    us
    Mar 2005
    Birmingham Alabama
    ML Explorer II, TDI, GB 2, Aquasound, Quick-triggered CZ-20.
    197
    Old coins & gold rings

    Re: '2 Cent' Restoration


    Restoring a nasty dug coin is a challenge but can be satisfying especially when your able to expose the date or detail of an older coin that was previously a corroded slug. Hopefully someone will gleam something in the post that will help them. Gopher your right, this '2 cent' made my first '2 cent' look a whole lot better. HH

 

 

Sponsors

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Search tags for this page

faith healer

,
heated hydrogen peroxide corroded penny
,
how to restore a 2 cent piece
Click on a term to search for related topics.
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.1.3