treating brass token

[Emperor Findus Cladius]

My first decent find of 2010 was a brass palmolive token (have found 3 aluminum, have been wanting a brass). As these are not all that uncommon, I went ahead and threw it in with my copper coins to be tumbled. As we know being buried does not treat brass very well, and as expected it came out a little rough, but much easier to read. I have seen some folks treat their old copper coins with something (some type of oil?) to darken them an make them easier to read. Any ideas on what I could use?

 

[watercolor]

It's better NOT to use oil on any coin.
I use bee's wax instead.

For non-valuable copper, I use a hot, hydrogen peroxide bath and a soft tooth brush to dislodge & remove crust.
You may need to leave it in the peroxide bath for 10 or 20-minutes (per each side of the coin) with intermittent
brushing or, until it's the way you like it. Then rinse & soak in either distilled or tap water.

After the copper is dry, it will have a slightly darker color and look dry and dull. To improve the sheen of the coin,
coat it in melted bee's wax (from any craft store) and gently wipe or buff off the excess wax with a cotton cloth.

Hope this helps,
watercolor

 

[Iron Patch]

It's better NOT to use oil on any coin.
I use bee's wax instead.

For non-valuable copper, I use a hot, hydrogen peroxide bath and a soft tooth brush to dislodge & remove crust.
You may need to leave it in the peroxide bath for 10 or 20-minutes (per each side of the coin) with intermittent
brushing or, until it's the way you like it. Then rinse & soak in either distilled or tap water.

After the copper is dry, it will have a slightly darker color and look dry and dull. To improve the sheen of the coin,
coat it in melted bee's wax (from any craft store) and gently wipe or buff off the excess wax with a cotton cloth.

Hope this helps,
watercolor

So why wouldn't you use peroxide on a valuable copper coin? Better is better.

You also need pretty good condition to wax otherwise it will look terrible. Very few of my dug Colonial coppers would benifit from a wax treatment.

 

[watercolor]

So why wouldn't you use peroxide on a valuable copper coin? Better is better.

You also need pretty good condition to wax otherwise it will look terrible. Very few of my dug Colonial coppers would benifit from a wax treatment.

I've never found a valuable copper

 

[Iron Patch]

So why wouldn't you use peroxide on a valuable copper coin? Better is better.

You also need pretty good condition to wax otherwise it will look terrible. Very few of my dug Colonial coppers would benifit from a wax treatment.

I've never found a valuable copper

Well find it and use it, and get back to us.

 

[sniffer]

I use Johnson's paste wax, in the yellow can, no petroleum and easier to use