Any good ways to clean unidentifiable colonial coppers?

[Fossils]

Hey all,
I found a few coppers that have become super corroded from acidic New England soils. Have y'all had any success at cleaning/identifying toasted coppers with no detail left on em? I'm thinkin of soaking the coppers in hydrogen peroxide for a day, but I'm not sure if it'll do much.

 

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[powrsurg]

Hello, keep in mind, whatever you do to the coin, you can never undo. If you decide to clean it, be prepared to wish you hadn't. All this said, I think Andres pencils are the best way to go. Electrolysis doesn't work on coppers. Post a picture of what you found. Id like to see it.

 

[villagenut]

Although I don't find coppers here in Florida, I have noticed that most who do find worn out ones tend to rely on what little info they can see from shining a flashlight across the surface of the coin at a sharp close angle, then take note of bust contours and what letters may be discernible. There may be one little hint that will identify the copper.

 

[flyadive]

Also try using a couple drops of heavy cream or half and half on an oil less toasted copper. Let sit for a bit as the heavy cream separates.
You may start to see some details without damage to the coin.
Don’t put too much cream on the coin, just enough to cover without overflowing or spilling over the edge.

 

[Fossils]

Thanks for the replies so far!
Here’s one copper:


Sometimes I think I can see the outline of a bust on one side, but I might just be imagining things The other side is completely wiped. I figure there’s nothing to loose experimenting on it since its pretty much toast right now

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Sometimes the most details a toasty copper will ever reveal is when it is first wiped of dirt and the temporary verdigris carries the lost detail. Yours is most likely a colonial KG coin. Sometimes you can smooth off the crust (with scotch brite pad) and recover a faint raised bust facing left or right. Sometimes this method just takes it from toasty to ugly.

 

[smokeythecat]

What I have learned in the last few years is removing the dirt can be the worst thing you can do to a toasted copper. Fluids also tend to kill them. Use toothpics or the Andre's pencils. Go slow.

 

[SanMan]

What I have learned in the last few years is removing the dirt can be the worst thing you can do to a toasted copper. Fluids also tend to kill them. Use toothpics or the Andre's pencils. Go slow.

Guys,..... I have a question.

On a clapped out coin that you,...well actually, want clean.
A gentle slow clean that affects the parent material in no way what so ever.

Has anyone used tumbling or vibratory finishing with maybe walnut shells, no rouge.
Or something even more gentle,..... wood chips, it would take some trying.

The time you let it run in the machine is the one thing.
The other is "wet or dry",.....
The next other is what media.

Or, use one media for 5 hours,.....
Have a look at the piece, maybe let it run some more,....
Maybe change out the media for an even finer / gentler media.

And let that run for whatever,....

After you done a few, you would get a feel for "more time", "add water", "change media".

You have to clean the media every so often.
It gets dirty, the water, if you are using water, will turn black.

Anyone ever gave gentle tumbling / vibratory finishing a try for cleaning up these kinda coins?

 

[treasureguy56]

You never never tumble coins unless you plan on turning them into a bank or the machine .