How to Remove Green Corrosion From Your Silver

[orm25]

Hey guys,
Do your coins have that green corrosion on them? Well you would probably want to get rid of it to make your coin look nicer wouldn't you?
So here's a way to remove that horrible, ugly corrosion from your silver.
All you will need: is some vinegar (better if more concentrate), a container, a soft brush (eg. toothbrush) and of course something silver that has that green corrosion.

First things first, find a coin or some silverware containing green corrosion on it.

Eg: A 1/24 thaler coin with minor green corrosion on it


Then, just fill your container with some vinegar (doesn't have to be too much), and drop the silver in.
Let it sit for a couple of hours in the vinegar, but best if it sits over night.


Once you think its ready (corrosion should have turned a brown color), remove the silver object from the vinegar and brush with a toothbrush or something like that.
If the corrosion is not gone completely, put your silver back into the vinegar until you think it achieved its look.

Tadaaa!! Your green corrosion should have decreased and the silver object should look more clean.

The good thing about using vinegar is, that it's a weak acid and will not do severe damage to silver. But beware! Do not put anything made of copper in if it's something you don't want to ruin. Vinegar will make it shiny but it will also remove the details on it.

 

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[jerseyben]

I would strongly recommend that as an alternative to vinegar, you try acetone first. It is safer on the coin than vinegar.

 

[huntsman53]

I agree with using Acetone! I am sure that the O.P. only meant well and was trying to help but vinegar will pit Silver coins especially if left in it for a long period of time. If you do use vinegar, make sure to thoroughly rinse the coin and even a bath in water with dish washing liquid would be best. The vinegar can actually penetrate into any pores or cracks in the Silver and do more damage unless neutralized by the water and dish washing liquid bath.


Frank

 

[orm25]

Here are the results of vinegar + bi-carb soad scrub on a corroded silver coin (free city of Riga schilling 1578).

 

[GatorBoy]

The last two posts brought up two good points...
Here is what I do with heavily crusted saltwater silver coins.
1) soak in fresh water. I use distilled water. "CL." In tap water.
2) 50/50 muriatic acid water bath.
3) fresh water and bicarb bath "this neutralizes the acid"
4) electrolysis
5) fresh water and soft bristle toothbrush.
Coins like cobs that aren't going to be graded the same way as colonial or clad can even go into a tumbler with polishing compound as a last step.
Every silver shipwreck coin the Fisher organization cleans gets that.

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[jerseyben]

I think this guide over here can help you

Vanguard, the method described in your link is sufficient. However, I would strongly discourage using such a method on any coins. That method is more for polishing silverware and such.

 

[hannahgodfrey]

I’ve seen that kind of corrosion on some of the coins in my nephew’s coin collection. We cleaned one coin with vinegar and other with acetone. The one cleaned with acetone looked better. Maybe because we didn’t keep the coin in vinegar long enough….

 

[jerseyben]

Acetone will not hurt the coin in any way while vingear will harm the surface of the coin. Cleaning with acetone is actually the only "homemade/backyard" cleaning that can be done to a coin that is considered to be proper cleaning. In most cases, a coin cleaned in this way will be suitable for grading by TPGs. A coin cleaned using vinegar will most likely be deemed "improperly cleaned" or "dipped". Note: This is assuming most coins (not all) and is for a gentle cleaning with a q-tip only. The acetone method is for cleaning otherwise relatively problem free coins, save for some surface grime or pvc contamination.

Also note that the methods described above seem to work just fine for the coins posted. In that case, a coin with environmental damage that is extremely detrimental to the coin will need to be addressed and acetone will likely do nothing in such cases. In those cases, a more harsh cleaning would actually help to increase the eye appeal of an already badly damaged coin (heavy corrosion, saltwater damage, etc).

 

[GatorBoy]

Well put

 

[twiasp]

Ever tried Olive Oil to clean coins? Not sure where but think on some Metal Detecting forum somewhere they used it, said it was VERY slow to do but you just toss in and check every so often and doesn't seem to damage the coins. Unsure as i have never tried it.

 

[sagittarius98]

Ever tried Olive Oil to clean coins? Not sure where but think on some Metal Detecting forum somewhere they used it, said it was VERY slow to do but you just toss in and check every so often and doesn't seem to damage the coins. Unsure as i have never tried it.

I think that only applies to copper.

 

[jerseyben]

I think that only applies to copper.

Cleaning coins with olive oil is a topic that is addressed on TreasureNet all the time.

Some people swear by it and I know you can get a lot of opinions on it from many folks who post here.

In my experience, it is a waste of time because it doesnt really do much for your coins.

Also, please understand that this method is ONLY for dug coppers. Best of luck.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Lemon juice works just fine on silver coins, just takes a bit longer, but smells a hell of a lot better as for cleaning copper coins with Olive Oil, it doesn't clean them, it just brings out the patina better.

SS