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Been out today after work and found a lizzie half groat but the one side is really black I have tried the foil but its still very dark .I have had this before and I think it must be the chemical sprays they put on the crops affecting the coins does anyone have anY ideas on how to clean them up?

I am taking it for granted you are familiar with the foil method, and obviously wet the coin before wrapping it tightly in foil, shiny side towards the coin.
Did your coin become very hot, or was there no reaction ?

And you forgot to say stink  ;D

How could I forget that  :P :'( Pew

Lol  ;D

Nobby tends to use his dremel ;D

 ;D ;D

If its not great condition use a silver cleaner on it to clean it. Then dip it in bleach until it goes black. Then use some more silver cleaner on a rag pulled taught to clean just the high points of the coin. I did it to this one.

Heya guys I'm sure my mate used buffer sol or break cleaner on his hammered coin it can up amazing double check with musket ball but I'm sure that's what he used buffer sol is used to clean alloy wheels to apply stick on weights n I doesn't damage alloy or chrome wheels at all it's amazing stuff hope this helps jus check tho

i'll tell you the best way i've found and works every time.spit on the foil because the ensymes in saliva help break down the rubbish on the coin,but do not rub.if you dont smell eggs ie no reaction.what i do is get cream cif(jif) and rub the suface not for long.you will find that this highlights the high points whilst leaving the rest of the coin as is.if neccesary repeat the cif process if you hav'ent quite done it enough.i dont recommend this method to anyone but for me i have had virtually unrecognisible coins look as if they have been in a cabinet for years.dont forget to thoroughly was off the jiff though.let me know if you've tried it and had bad-good results

Thanks guys I did try the foil didn't get the usual fizzing and mell so I will give some of your ideas a try I will post the before and after pics if I can later.

Hmm.

When I first started collecting coins, I used to use a lot of damaging techniques to clean coins.

twenty years later, or so, I've cut down what I use and try and be far more gentle in cleaning - after all any mechanical rubbing on a coin will quite possibly remove detail from it.

Cif and silver polish both contain abrasives - like very fine sandpaper and are partly loosening the black sulphides with chemical action and partly by abrasive action.

My current process for silver is to modify the silver foil and spit method to one where you wrap the coin in silver foil, but then you put in a plastic (or ceramic) pot with a generous helping of washing soda (which you can buy very cheaply from Asda and the like) and hot / boiling water (the hotter the water the quicker the reaction).

After a while you will see bubbles and scum forming on the surface (if you are bored you can always light the bubbles). you will know that this has worked because the silver foil will have decayed where it touches the coin.

Clean the coin using an old cellulose sponge (which is softer than the silver, so won't sratch it). You might need to repeat this a few times.

I don't use bleach to tone coins - even handling them a few times will tone back the silver.

If I wanted a quicker darkening, I use a combination of liquid soap and some spent jewellers' pickling (i.e stuff I've used to take the red and green corrosion off silver and copper).

I'm usually pretty lucky though - most of the silver coins I have had haven't needed much more than a wash under water.

I use AMMONIA, just soak the artefact for a short while, then using an old tooth brush, clean under running water. ATB AJ

plastic bowl lined with foil, put coin in bottom touching foil , pour generous amount of bicarb of soda on top of coin. take kettle of just boiled water (hotter the better) pour over coin and soda .wait to get knocked back by the stink of eggs as the sulpher leaves the coin and attaches itself to the foil. leave 5 mins then repeat until you are happy with results

sounds good probono i think you've sussed the cleaning,a nice subtle way sounds good.i know it's abrasive but i still like cif because it's quick and i'm impatient.+ i'm a nonker

Just put my hammered to soak in bleach it went completely black both sides so I took it out then put it in foil again this time it fizzed and gave off the egg smell.I then washed it and gave it a gentle rub with foil to bring out the highlights here it is sorry didn't take a before picture but it did improve it.

Well done Webber I have to say I was dreading what you were going to do with it but my apologies for doubting you it's come up a treat and the reverse is a stunner ;)

Well saved lots of detail

Nice coin Webber ;)

well saved bud

looks great ;)

That has bought the shield up really well.  Nice hammered.

John

I tried this with a Vicky thrupence, have a plastic bowl, lay some foil in the bottom, put the coin in, boil a small pan of water, add salt to the water, then pour over the coin and foil, then add bicarbonate of soda, it should stink of rotten eggs, leave until the water goes cold, take out the coin, and rub with a cloth, worked a treat for me.

It works much better with washing soda (which isn't bicarb), but essentially the same (although I don't add salt, although I suppose it could help as an electrolyte).

You should always try and rub the coin / artefact with something that is softer than the metal the item is made from, otherwise it will scratch it. I've used a horsehair brush, but as I've had it for 20 years, there are particles that have been trapped in the hairs, and even these scratch the surface of silver coins - hence using things like sponges (or the cloth as you have suggested, but the missus frowns on my using the dishcloth).

Nice coin WEBBER ,
Good hunting M8 :)

After cleaning silver coins whats the best thing to stop them going again ?

Going black again i should of said

David now there out the ground/cleaned and put away safely, I don't think we need to worrie about them going black in our life time :)
They may tone down a little naturally but that should make the coin more attractive ;)   

Ah right thanks dale , i was just getting some hammered and other coins out to clean and put in an album i just bought,  when i looked at them i was sure they had gone dirtier than i remembered

just done the foil trick on a few and washed and dried,  will see what they look like in proper light tomorrow

another method that works is to use oxy-clean ,just put silver coins /objects in a bowl add oxy-clean powder and add hot/boiling water ,you will literally see the specks of dirt lifting off into the bubbles ,once reaction has finished take out and clean with a silver cloth ,job done

Thanks all a you guys for all the cleaning tips,RIGHT,now all I need is a "few" hammies!! :-\

Does this work with the silver coins encrusted with green from the beach? or is there another method.

Thanks

George

Hi Wondering,well wonder no more,your question is answered with a resounding YES!!!,as long as its silver ;)

Thank you for the reply dingdong, will give it a try  ;D

Your more than welcome "wondering" that's what the DW forum is all about!!
GOOD ISN'T IT ?👍