Coin Chemistry: Why You Need to Know About It
By Mike Thorne
November 05, 2007
The topic of my column this month is coin chemistry, or, more specifically, the second
edition of a book on the subject. Weimar W. White is the author of Coin Chemistry:
Including Preservation and Cleaning.
White is particularly qualified to write about coin chemistry and coin preservation and
cleaning. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, a chemist with 19 patents, and
has published several scientific articles in the field. As he puts it, he "is very interested in
coin chemistry as it relates to the cleaning and preservation of coins. [White] is hopeful
that this book will be very helpful to collectors in understanding coin chemistry and coin
care."
Before continuing with this review, I would like to briefly consider the following question:
"Is it worthwhile to review new editions of previously published books?" Obviously I must
think it is or I wouldn't continue doing it. This book in particular is about a topic that I
think is of vital importance to all collectors, whether they realize it or not. To paraphrase,
"The coin you save may be your own."
That is, it's quite possible to "kill" your coins with improper handling, storage, and
cleaning. White's book is a vitally important addition to the subject and should be studied
by all collectors interested in preserving their treasures for a future generation of
collectors.
So what does this new edition have that the first edition didn't have? Well, for one thing,
the cover of the new edition features a much nicer coin.
On the first edition, there's the obverse and reverse of an 1884-O Morgan dollar, graded
Mint State-65 "with full cameo contrast." This is a nice coin, to be sure, but not one that's
particularly valuable. According to a recent issue of Coin Dealer Newsletter, an 1884-O
dollar in deep mirror prooflike MS-65 is worth $550.
White has gone dramatically upscale with his second edition. This time the coin on the
cover is an 1870-CC Seated Liberty dollar that White says would grade Proof-64, as it is
probably a presentation piece minted to celebrate the opening of the Carson City Mint.
According to Numismatic News' "Coin Market," an MS-65 of this date, with no pretensions
of being a branch-mint proof, is worth $42,500.
But we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, so let's look inside. For openers, the second
edition is 21 pages longer than the first edition. Because the first edition had only 72 pages,
the additional material makes the second edition nearly 30 percent longer. The added 30
percent consists of four new articles - White's book is a compilation of articles he has
written for publications such as The Numismatist, the Gobrecht Journal, Numismatic
News, and Coin World. Here's how White summarizes the new articles:
[O]ne article explains the techniques that three Grading Services use to determine the
degree of surface reflectivity for prooflike Morgan dollars. Another article shows the
photos of a coin before and after it has been professionally repaired. Another one explains
how a coins' weight can be used to help identify a rare coin.
"Still another article tells how a half-dime was conserved by removing ugly black tarnish
so one could tell if the coin showed wear from being circulated or not."
White also indicates that he has added several new coin photographs to increase collector
interest.
In my opinion, one of the most interesting "articles" in the book is an unpublished one
titled, "Electrolytic Cleaning of Toned Silver Coins." This is a method requiring an
aluminum plate, a bowl, boiling water, and baking soda. The tarnish on a coin is removed
by a chemical reaction that White details. No scrubbing is involved.
Of course, the problem is obtaining an aluminum plate. White mentions that you can
purchase such a plate from TeleBrands Corp. I had no success in locating such a plate at
TeleBrands Corp. online, although I did find a source for aluminum and other types of
metal plates. The problem was that they were relatively expensive and shipping added
another 50 percent.
One of the chapters that I think will interest virtually all coin collectors is titled, "A Review
of Coin-Cleaning Practices." For example, there's cleaning with sodium bicarbonate, also
known as baking soda. This involves making a thin paste of the soda and using this paste
"to remove dirt, stains, metal sulfides and other foreign materials."
White writes that when used by an experienced person, this method can produce satisfying
results. When used inappropriately, however, the coin can have "an artificial scrubbed or
scoured appearance." I once used this technique inappropriately to remove about $500 of
the value from a nice Extremely Fine 1917-S obverse mintmark Walking Liberty half dollar.
Another technique that White discusses in this chapter is the use of an acid-thiourea dip. I
have even seen coin dealers applying this cleaning method in the men's bathroom at coin
shows. This is actually not a bad method as long as you use it on appropriate coinsi.e.,
coins that are at least About Uncirculated; lower grade coins will look "cleaned" after a
dip. In addition, you can ruin a nice coin if you overdip it (keep it in the dipping solution
too long, dip it one too many times). From my experience, stopping the action of the "dip"
is crucial.
This chapter ends with the topic, "Should You Clean?" Obviously, this is a topic you will
want to read before applying any cleaning technique.
Another of the book's chapters gives an answer to the question of whether or not to clean.
The chapter's title is "Toning Is to Silver What Rust Is to Iron: Bad News." The subtitle is
"Rainbow Colors Sign of Damage."
As usually happens when I review a new coin book, I run out of column before I run out of
things to say about the book. If you didn't purchase a copy of the first edition of this book, I
would strongly recommend this edition to you. Of course, if you did buy the first edition,
then consider what I said this book contains that its predecessor did not; if the topics are of
interest to you, then you'll want to obtain this edition, also. You should be able to find it at
Amazon and other online booksellers.
By Mike Thorne
November 05, 2007
The topic of my column this month is coin chemistry, or, more specifically, the second
edition of a book on the subject. Weimar W. White is the author of Coin Chemistry:
Including Preservation and Cleaning.
White is particularly qualified to write about coin chemistry and coin preservation and
cleaning. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, a chemist with 19 patents, and
has published several scientific articles in the field. As he puts it, he "is very interested in
coin chemistry as it relates to the cleaning and preservation of coins. [White] is hopeful
that this book will be very helpful to collectors in understanding coin chemistry and coin
care."
Before continuing with this review, I would like to briefly consider the following question:
"Is it worthwhile to review new editions of previously published books?" Obviously I must
think it is or I wouldn't continue doing it. This book in particular is about a topic that I
think is of vital importance to all collectors, whether they realize it or not. To paraphrase,
"The coin you save may be your own."
That is, it's quite possible to "kill" your coins with improper handling, storage, and
cleaning. White's book is a vitally important addition to the subject and should be studied
by all collectors interested in preserving their treasures for a future generation of
collectors.
So what does this new edition have that the first edition didn't have? Well, for one thing,
the cover of the new edition features a much nicer coin.
On the first edition, there's the obverse and reverse of an 1884-O Morgan dollar, graded
Mint State-65 "with full cameo contrast." This is a nice coin, to be sure, but not one that's
particularly valuable. According to a recent issue of Coin Dealer Newsletter, an 1884-O
dollar in deep mirror prooflike MS-65 is worth $550.
White has gone dramatically upscale with his second edition. This time the coin on the
cover is an 1870-CC Seated Liberty dollar that White says would grade Proof-64, as it is
probably a presentation piece minted to celebrate the opening of the Carson City Mint.
According to Numismatic News' "Coin Market," an MS-65 of this date, with no pretensions
of being a branch-mint proof, is worth $42,500.
But we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, so let's look inside. For openers, the second
edition is 21 pages longer than the first edition. Because the first edition had only 72 pages,
the additional material makes the second edition nearly 30 percent longer. The added 30
percent consists of four new articles - White's book is a compilation of articles he has
written for publications such as The Numismatist, the Gobrecht Journal, Numismatic
News, and Coin World. Here's how White summarizes the new articles:
[O]ne article explains the techniques that three Grading Services use to determine the
degree of surface reflectivity for prooflike Morgan dollars. Another article shows the
photos of a coin before and after it has been professionally repaired. Another one explains
how a coins' weight can be used to help identify a rare coin.
"Still another article tells how a half-dime was conserved by removing ugly black tarnish
so one could tell if the coin showed wear from being circulated or not."
White also indicates that he has added several new coin photographs to increase collector
interest.
In my opinion, one of the most interesting "articles" in the book is an unpublished one
titled, "Electrolytic Cleaning of Toned Silver Coins." This is a method requiring an
aluminum plate, a bowl, boiling water, and baking soda. The tarnish on a coin is removed
by a chemical reaction that White details. No scrubbing is involved.
Of course, the problem is obtaining an aluminum plate. White mentions that you can
purchase such a plate from TeleBrands Corp. I had no success in locating such a plate at
TeleBrands Corp. online, although I did find a source for aluminum and other types of
metal plates. The problem was that they were relatively expensive and shipping added
another 50 percent.
One of the chapters that I think will interest virtually all coin collectors is titled, "A Review
of Coin-Cleaning Practices." For example, there's cleaning with sodium bicarbonate, also
known as baking soda. This involves making a thin paste of the soda and using this paste
"to remove dirt, stains, metal sulfides and other foreign materials."
White writes that when used by an experienced person, this method can produce satisfying
results. When used inappropriately, however, the coin can have "an artificial scrubbed or
scoured appearance." I once used this technique inappropriately to remove about $500 of
the value from a nice Extremely Fine 1917-S obverse mintmark Walking Liberty half dollar.
Another technique that White discusses in this chapter is the use of an acid-thiourea dip. I
have even seen coin dealers applying this cleaning method in the men's bathroom at coin
shows. This is actually not a bad method as long as you use it on appropriate coinsi.e.,
coins that are at least About Uncirculated; lower grade coins will look "cleaned" after a
dip. In addition, you can ruin a nice coin if you overdip it (keep it in the dipping solution
too long, dip it one too many times). From my experience, stopping the action of the "dip"
is crucial.
This chapter ends with the topic, "Should You Clean?" Obviously, this is a topic you will
want to read before applying any cleaning technique.
Another of the book's chapters gives an answer to the question of whether or not to clean.
The chapter's title is "Toning Is to Silver What Rust Is to Iron: Bad News." The subtitle is
"Rainbow Colors Sign of Damage."
As usually happens when I review a new coin book, I run out of column before I run out of
things to say about the book. If you didn't purchase a copy of the first edition of this book, I
would strongly recommend this edition to you. Of course, if you did buy the first edition,
then consider what I said this book contains that its predecessor did not; if the topics are of
interest to you, then you'll want to obtain this edition, also. You should be able to find it at
Amazon and other online booksellers.
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