So I was packing up my grandmother inlaws house on the weekend. I was eyeing off an old pottery jug. Picked it up to have a look at it. And what I find inside, was a whole heap of 1c, 2c, 5s 10s and 20s. I managed to find a 1c with a date of 1977. My gmother inlaw has no idea of who put them there. Only problem is they have all oxidised green from the copper. So, question, how do I clean them in bulk, as they are all in pretty bad shape.. Thanks in advance.
Dump them all into a bucket full of cloudy ammonia (available at Coles/Woolies), leave overnight, rinse off and then rub down with baking soda.
lol, the newspaper really does have an aussie coin thief heading. Oh the irony!! "Coin thief steals antique Ajax jar full of old copper aussie coins" ...I assume. hehe
Buzz the jug. I'm a 51 baby from Sydney. $25, F2F. It looks like the one the chemical company mixed me up in.
Jug is not for sale sorry. I'll try the ammonia tonight. And see how it goes. I'll keep you all posted... Could turn it into a competition. How much in the hoard?
Phosphoric acid is in coke. According to the science books and the internet coke will disolve a penny. According to people who have actually tried it, the results aren't so spectacular. http://www.finishing.com/336/08.shtml I have used nitric acid on a copper coin and it makes them very bright and shiny. I have never used coke to remove verdigris, I have a chemical solution called verdi-care http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/products/verdi-care.html which is from the US but I wouldn't use it on these.
Jersey experts start work on Celtic coin hoard Silver and copper coins, gold jewellery. http://beta.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-28903146 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnPjovXco1s[/youtube]
Cloudy ammonia & baking soda together is what some jewellers recommend, the baking soda fizzes and breaks down deposits or something. I use it to clean diamonds and they come up a treat.
