Mad scientist in Colorado performs diabolical experiment

[Butch in Colorado]

Well, OK, not really a scientist but I did do a bit of experimenting. I have been playing with electrolysis and wanted to try it out on a silver coin. I stumbled across a hammered Columbian Exposition Half Dollar that I somewhere got in a seeded hunt or something.

Here are the before pictures. As you can see it is nice and gunky and the hole in it made it easier to attempt this test.

Front
[attachment 33148 HPIM01832.jpg]

Back
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Here are a couple of pictures of the coin "in the soup!"

[attachment 33150 HPIM01852.jpg]
[attachment 33151 HPIM01862.jpg]

I cooked the coin for about 2 hours with a DC 6 volt, 200 milliamp power supply in a mixture of 1 teaspoonful of salt and about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. I then cleaned all the junk off of the coin with baking soda.

And here is the finished product. Worked out very well.

Front
[attachment 33152 HPIM01912.jpg]

Back
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Now maybe I'll think about cleaning the Civil War gun site I found at DIV V....maybe.

 

[Craig in Alabama]

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[charlie (ky)]

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[Anonymous]

That seems kind of long to me. When I "cook" a toasty silver coin (usually out of the water or from a swampy, damp area), I let it run for a couple minutes at 12v, then rinse it off, and try to get the gunk off. Normally, two sessions of "cooking" are good.

I realize you're "cooking" yours at 6v, so it would take longer, but I dunno about 2 hours.

HH from Allen in MI

 

[Butch in Colorado]

I'm gonna troll the flea markets for a higher rated power supply and that will probably lower the time thing. I probably did not have to leave it in that long but as I said I'm experimenting so I have no gauge as to how long to cook these things.

I wait until the water gets murky and then clean it with the baking soda and it takes a while for it to get murky. That and I got a little distracted as well.

 

[Anonymous]

that I bought, I believe, at Wally-World, for about $8. It's a 300 milliamp, and a variable voltage output from 3v - 12v. I usually run it at 12v to speed the process along.

I noticed your coin, as it looked a little pitted. Granted, some pitting is expected. I guess I'm more used to "cooking" lightly tarnished silver, instead of heavily encrusted ones. Here's a quarter I recovered from a river this year, in about thigh-deep water:

[attachment 33185 20060417Washington.jpg]

If you look on the obverse, upper-right side, you'll see some pitting. This is from all the corrosion, silver oxide and/or silver sulfide, which when removed, leaves a pitted surface.

The same thing happens with copper coins, which is why I rarely "cook" my coppers, unless they're horrendously eaten up, and I want to try to get a date off them. Of course, when coppers are that far gone, it's pointless to try to get a date anyway.

HH from Allen in MI

 

[Lawrence in Alabama]

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[John M (Ct)]

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[General Ray]

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