Re-Toning a nickel ?

Squirrel322

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Jul 4, 2016
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I have a shield nickel that has been soaking in Worcestershire Sauce to remove the thick crust that was stuck to it. Its working well but it will leave the coin rather shiny. Is there a way to re-tone nickel coins for a more natural look and/or help bringing out the detail?

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Darke

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You can darken it using sulfates. Eggs work if you want to try a cheap way.
 

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Squirrel322

Squirrel322

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Jul 4, 2016
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I will have to do some experimentation. I’ve heard the copper in the nickel is what will react so I will look into methods to tone copper.
 

Darke

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The egg method works on silver coins, but I’m not sure if it’ll have any effect on a shield nickel. A couple of years ago I posted how I cleaned and then re-toned a Barber dime using eggs. Hope this helps.

The cleaning and re-toning of a silver coin

It will usually just darken Nickel. Tends not to take on the blue/gold tones easily since Nickel is pretty non reactive. It just tends to darken the copper content of the alloy to an ugly yellow. With nickels what you end up with really depends on the contamination percentage of the copper.
 

sjvalleyhunter

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It will usually just darken Nickel. Tends not to take on the blue/gold tones easily since Nickel is pretty non reactive. It just tends to darken the copper content of the alloy to an ugly yellow. With nickels what you end up with really depends on the contamination percentage of the copper.

This is good to know. I’ll have to try it on some of my cleaned buffalo nicks. Thanks
 

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