The Hopefully OK Shark Pit Cookie Coin **PICTURES**

[ClonedSIM]

Okay, very sorry about the delay. I know I wrote a lot and never actually showed anyone anything, and for that I apologize. But I have shots now that I hope will make me proud. The first set of pics here is of the Barber Dime. Please keep in mind this was the firrst time I tried this, so it was all trial-and-error. You can see the back of the coin actually revealed itself very well, with the exception of the mintmark. The front of the coin turned out to be my downfall, however. I had revealed the date, but as I tried to duplicate the results from the back, the coin sheared right down the center, depthwise. You have no idea how brittle these coins are. Just as a reminder, this coin went through four baths in a vinegar/isopropyl alcohol/baking powder bath, then into the electrolysis for three more baths of about 15 minutes each, then a bit flaked up for me to begin working with in manually. Anytime I was not working with the coin it was submerged in olive oil. The first pic is the back, the second is the front, which is mostly unrevealed, but I zoomed in on the date for the third pic which, if you can't tell, is 1903.

 

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[JakePhelps]

Great job!! at least we know what it was Better than it remaining a mystery forever

 

[ClonedSIM]

Okay, now for the Barber Quarter, which is the cream of this particular cookie coin crop. ?The process on the quarter went exactly like this. ?Since I worked on the dime first, the quarter sat in olive oil for three days and nights. ?I think this was the secret, along with the fact that the quarter was thicker and sturdier. ?After that, I did four rounds of the baking powder/vinegar/isopropyl alcohol bath, then three rounds of 15 minutes apiece in the electrolysis. ?I changed the solution between each electrolysis session, which was a solution of water and common table salt. ?After that, it was all hand working to remove the hard outer crust, which left a softer thin layer of black coating just on the surface of the coin. ?Ths I removed with alcohol swabbing and bathing in dish soap. ?The first pic is the front, which I'm afraid suffered the worst wear. ?The second pic is the back, which came out quite well I thought. ?The third is the O mintmark, tiny, just under the eagle's tail.? The forth pic is the reeding, which was just visible. The date is 1900.

 

[ClonedSIM]

Here are just a couple of pics showing my weapons in this cookie coin war.? I know the electrolysis machine is crude, just an adapter cut and split and wrapped around a couple of stainless steel spoons, so don't poke fun!? ? The second pic is just the various stuff I used. I also want to thank Rob for allowing me to experiment with some of this coins.

 

[JakePhelps]

Wow That looks like one of the best looking coins yet! no offense floater Is there a way to stabalize it the way it is? I think trying anything else would be pushing it right?

 

[ClonedSIM]

To be honest, the quarter seems to be perfectly stable. The coin is solid through and through and, with the exception of a few spots here and there, the surface is intact. The dime is a different story, though. I think that one might have made it if it had soaked as long as the quarter did in the olive oil.

 

[Floater]

B E A U T I F U L​

AF that is excellent. The detail on the back of the barber is amazing. The dime is also excellent . The front of the quarter is good but the back is unreal.
So with the concoction you made of the chemicals was this all cold process or did you heat them and or did you just use the swabs and then just do manual cleaning.
I know yousaid you soaked them in this but for how long and how much cleaning or picking did you have to do.

Jake No offense taken. AF did a great job and achieved some unreal results. Boy it would be really neat if we all got together and did a whole cleaning session together . Boy is that a Nerdy thought or what. I cant believe I said it. ROFL

Well The split in the dime is not unusual either as I will post shortly in the Shark Pit 2 experiment. Also The surprise pics will be in there.

Sorry AF just trying to lure them into the original experiment . LOL

Rob you have to be psyched about this so far.

 

[ClonedSIM]

You should be proud of your work & your posts on these coins! I salute you! Thanks for everything,? Rob

Hey, I'm just happy I didn't kill the coins and make a mess of the whole thing. I'll try to get these coins shipped back to you tomorrow so you can see them up close.


Floater, with the powder/vinegar/alcohol solution, I would build a small mound of baking powder, set the cookie on this, then cover the top with more powder. Then I poured the alcohol around the outside, sort of like a moat, leaving a mound of powder dry on the top. Then I poured in the vinegar directly onto the powder and let it sit until if stopped fizzing, about 20 minutes. I attribute this and the soaking in the olive oil to how well that quarter hung together. The whole solution probably weighed in about two ounces without the coin. I never did try heating the coins, other than the heat that was generated by the electrolysis machine. On the quarter, I did have to use a bit of force to get to the manual cleaning. In essence, I took a piece of 40 grit sandpaper and kind of struck the edge of the coin at an angle to knock away a bit of the crust. After that, I used a walnut pick to dig at the heavier top crust until I was able to get the pick far enough below to pop off a piece of the crust. I just kept doing that all the way around until there was only the soft inner layer of crust left, and this I removed with cotton swabs and alcohol. The picking took about two hours on the quarter. The dime went faster, but I never did get to finish that one, so we'll never know. Of course, the whole thing would have made more sense if I had used the camera the whole way but...well, next time I'll know. Now, let's see your new pics, Floater!

 

[Floater]

Thanks AF . I will try this out. The pictures are really important to get this process down. I refer back to them a lot when I am working just to see how far I pushed a step or where I was at in the original experiment. I am really hoping Conservator comes up with something with the coins he has too. It should be interesting to see how well he does. I know his electrolysis did not work out but I think he used way to much power. I also really wonder about how the Olive Oil worked out here. do you really think it stabilized the coin or do you think it penetrated down to form a loosening of the actaul surface areas. Interesting stuff. Talk later. HH

 

[ClonedSIM]

I believe, and I could be way off on this, that the olive oil helped to stop any reactions that may have been occuring in the crust of the coin after the vinegar/alcohol soak or after electrolysis as well as helping to soften the crust. I know when I got to actually removing the crust, although it was still pretty firmly attached to the coin surface, it did come free with a little work and once I got it off it took the consistency of, and I know this sounds strange, but it took the consistency of a piece of dried orange peel. Do you know if olive oil is an acid or a base? I can't think, but it may be slightly acidic, and that may have played a roll too.

 

[Floater]

I believe it is slightly acidic. but it also an oil so it does make some sense and the Orange peel effect as you put it is an excellent description of the way it came off. Mine so far have been much more brittle and I can see where the oil could loosen and congiel this at the same time. I love this stuff. I just wish I paid more attention in Chemisrty class instead of trying to figure out how to use the bunson burner as a flame thrower. LOL Later . HH

 

[ClonedSIM]

I just wish I paid more attention in Chemisrty class instead of trying to figure out how to use the bunson burner as a flame thrower. LOL

Or trying to figure out how to snag a hunk of raw sodium to go chuck in the lake?

 

[Nana40]

That turned out very well af!!!!

 

[ClonedSIM]

Thanks, Nana! I was a bit nervous that I would screw everything up at first, but it turned out okay! Happy Hunting!

 

[Floater]

Or trying to figure out how to snag a hunk of raw sodium to go chuck in the lake?

Yea the old Dry Ice is nice in the water and makes a great Fog. I also used to love the Magnesuim strips. Lite those babys up at night and it was too cool, especially when we used to light up the whole nieghborhood.LOL

 

[JakePhelps]

I like those solid blocks of magnesium for starting campfires, you can just crush em up and they are pure magnesium powder....very fun

 

[ClonedSIM]

Let's be honest with ourselves here. We seem to like anything that blows up with light, heat and noise. Are we just a bunch of pyros at heart?

 

[Vrent]

nd kind of struck the edge of the coin at an angle to knock away a bit of the crust. did you soak it in olive oil after cracking the edge? I was driving Floater nuts I wanted to smack the edge of the little cookie he had so bad

from science class one of my favorites was to take the magnesium strips and hang em from ballons full of helium, before lighting them and letting them go...of course the time we filled the estes rocket with magnesium powder was cool too
as I always told my kids just remember Fire is our friend and always remember it is alive it breaths , eats, sh*ts, and grows probably smarted than most of the politicians in the country

Floater gonna be down your way for a good part of next week in vero beach now and will be in aventura tomorrow and sunday for the wedding miami monday morning and boca raton tuesday and hanging out till sat for orlando

HH Vrent

 

[Floater]

Sounds Good Vrent I was going to mail your glasses but look me up or I will send them . I couldnt find the right box to send them untill today. Been real busy. Later Ill call ya tommorrow.HH