Electrolysis and Baking Soda Worked a Miracle on My 1917 Mercury Dime

[cyberborikua]

Today it was a rainy day in Chicago. Cold and windy for a change . I could not go out for a hunt so I looked at several videos and info online on cleaning coins because I recently posted on a 1917 Mercury dime I found with a heavy coat of dirt and green algae for being submerged in a small lake for many years. Some good folks suggested the usual electrolysis, baking soda, vinegar, ammonia, tumbler, etc. Even a savvy folk suggested using aquarium snails and microbes to eat the algae (Very ingenious indeed. I need to try that later ). Well, I found that making an electrolysis kit is rather simple and gathered what I needed to make one: a 6-12v phone adapter (we have some in the house), a metal washer, a plastic bowl, distilled water, and salt. I also read about making a baking soda paste to remove the black tarnish on silver coins. So, a rainy day, nothing else to do, let's clean that ugly looking Merc. The pictures below speak by themselves. I first applied electrolysis for a few minutes. That removed the dirt/algae coat, but not the black tarnish. I tried ammonia, vinegar, and soap. Nothing worked as well as the Baking Soda did. The paste immediately removed the black tarnish and the Mercury emerged to life, from the ashes, just like the phoenix bird! I was astonished by how quickly my dilemma was resolved with two simple solutions. The Merc is ready to join the other three I previously found. They also received a baking soda wash and all look shiny, like new minted ones! And they all lived happily ever after. The End.

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