I knew this would happen!

[Emperor Oli 0]

I said a few months ago that i was afraid of verdi gris appearing on my coins and now it has happened. I've spotted it on about ten of my coins which have been swiftly removed and some are for sale on ebay now (with a warning of course). I have ordered about two or three kilos of silica gel and a few boxes for it. Plus, I'm going to borrow a dehumidifier before the silica gel arrives to hopefully stem the flow. My cartwheel penny too has verdi gris on it, a very fait stroke of deep green. I'm incredibly annoyed!

Does anyone have any tips to lower humidity to a safe level besides a dehumidifier and silica gel?

[Sylvester 15]

This is eaxctly what happened to me, this is why i refuse to buy any copper coins now, or any cupronickel ones...

There are presumably methods of controlling humidity like a dehumidifier...

Hopefully the dehunmidifier will help prevent it.

If it doesn't and your house (like mine is a humidity box), then you'll either have to have the coins in airtites... (if that even works), slabs would i presume work, otherwise if the worst comes to the worst ditch the copper. (I hope it doesn't come to that)

[Master Jmd 50]

will capsuals prevent verdigris?

[Emperor Oli 0]

Probably but I'm not buying any after shelling out £100 on a bloody cabinet! Silica gel will probably do fine

[Sylvester 15]

What would happen if you put the coins in capsules then put them in your cabinate? (i've done this with that tin farthing of mine... seems alright to me)

[Emperor Oli 0]

It crossed my mind but then I thought my farthings just fit in their holes with perhaps a millimetre around the edge so if they were in capsules, I would have to put them in the next biggest hole and they would take up lots of space. I may (ooh this has just come to me) buy a Lindner (sp?) from Chris to use. If those are not air tight, I could just buy the capsules to put in them.

[Sylvester 15]

i wouldn't be too bothered about having to put them in the halfpenny trays, the main thing is preventing it happening to any more of you coins...

I've been there, i lost a fifth of my coins to PVC damage and a fifth to verdigris, including some my BU 1937 coins.

So i cleared the lot out some time since, the damged ones went, all the copper went, all the cupronickel went and most of the .500 silver. (And latterly i cleared out all the remnants of the collection that had survived unscathed, i.e the other half of the '37 set)

The only coins that escaped and damage totally were the .925 silver coins and the gold.

So i know exactly how frustrating it can be...

[Sylvester 15]

infact i nearly quit coin collecting altogether i was that annoyed.

[Master Jmd 50]

I dont think that i would like to keep any of my new farthings out of capsuals, i may put them in capsuals and in a lindner tray...

[Half Penny Jon 0]

What conditions encourage vergredis? I keep my collection in capsules in Lindner trays and they all seem to be alright.

[Emperor Oli 0]

Excess moisture in the air causes it HPJ. And its VERDI GRIS

I saw one with some on and I thought oh well you win some you lose some (it was only a hapenny from the forties I think) but then I found about six and just screamed many many expletives at the top of my voice.

[Half Penny Jon 0]

I think my bedroom is a low risk area because it is usually quite hot but all the same, I will have to keep my eyes peeled though.

[Master Jmd 50]

Excess moisture in the air causes it HPJ. And its VERDI GRIS

I saw one with some on and I thought oh well you win some you lose some (it was only a hapenny from the forties I think) but then I found about six and just screamed many many expletives at the top of my voice.

were theese in a folder?

[Half Penny Jon 0]

Thankfully it wasn't your farthings Oli!

[Sylvester 15]

damp and humid...

Basically if you live in a house that just happens to have alot of water vapour in the atmosphere, or even the hot weather over the past few weeks was also very humid... i had some low grade German zinc pfennigs in a plastic envelope they were sweating and leaving patches on the flip, i removed them sharpish... (kitchens and bathrooms are particularly bad due to the steam), anyhow the humidity will react with the copper sooner or later and result in a copper oxide forming... verdigris.

Best conditions are dry, so either cool and dry or room temp and dry, probably even hot and dry. The main thing is no water vapour.

Unfortunately as my house is Victorian and the insulation is naff as soon as it gets humid outside during summer everything in the house goes much the same. There is a dehumidified down the cellar which has to be emptied daily cos of the water it extracts... but cellars usually are damp. If we had one upstairs i should imagine it would pull out just as much water. (Even drying clothes over radiators causes water vapour).

So if you live in a humid house then my suggestion is collect gold, you'll never have any problems, you could even leave them out on the side uncovered and nothing much would happen.

Silver is not as good as silver coins can develop verdigris but it's not easy for them to do so.

Copper/Bronze/Nickel Brass/Cupron Nickel... all have a high copper content so they are high maintainence from a storage point of view.

[Half Penny Jon 0]

Does a cabinet still provide adequete protection against Verdi gris? Also, does storing them in capsules lower the risk of it occuring?

[Emperor Oli 0]

Ha! It didn't for me did it?! I think capsules might, as they are, for want of a better word, encapsulated!

[Half Penny Jon 0]

I might copy Sylvester and keep my coins in capsules in a cabinet!

[Emperor Oli 0]

Only if you live in humid, damp houses, like Sylvester and I. My house, in Mellor (an old Roman town) is located on a huge hill with piss poor weather allyear round. It's rarely sunny, apart from in summer when it's unbearably hot. It's always damp and wet so that's probably my problem. If you live nearer to sea level then I imagine that you woun't suffer the same fate.

[Half Penny Jon 0]

I live in a relativly modern house, and I have a large radiator in my room so I hope that will minimise the risk of verdi gris.

[william 0]

I also live in a modern house, right by the sea, and there is a vent in my room, and my coins are in capsules, so I'm safe!

[Master Jmd 50]

Im safe too then...

[Emperor Oli 0]

After some thought, I have decided unfortunately to cut short my farthing date run to 1937-56. Because of the spectre of verdi gris hanging over, I really cannot afford to lavish money on farthings to have them ruined by this horrible affliction. To this end, I am offering for sale six BU farthings, all with full lustre

• 1919
  
• 1927
  
• 1931
  
• 1932
  
• 1934
  
• 1936
  

They will be priced competitively so PM me if you want them. I will, however, complete my rather thin date run of 1937-52 and then probably move into gold. I fancy getting a sovereign from every monarch from George III to our Queen Elizabeth but we'll soon see. I'm sad to be leaving them but as I said, it would ruin my collection if they did succumb to verdi gris.

Edited June 25, 2004 by Emperor Oli

[Sylvester 15]

I'm sorry you have to do this but on the whole it is probably the best thing you can do to be honest in the long run.

A sovereign from every monarch is a challenge and don't expect William IV to be easy though!

If you wanted a nice date set of 20th century type stuff a nice one is London Mint half Sovereigns, 1902-1915. (they are Farthing size and they'll fit in the same spaces the farthings would have occupied)

At about £35-£60 a piece it's not cheap but it's very possible. Edward VII ones aren't that difficult. (well not when compared to the silver or the bronze stuff at least).

I'm gonna get some shield reverse sovereigns again shortly, i miss the ones i used to have, so i'm gonna speculate in a few London ones, hopefully i'll not go mad and try collecting them again, although it would prove cheaper than these blasted sixpences.

[Emperor Oli 0]

Thanks for the tip about the half sovereigns! £35-£60 is what I was expecting to pay really, plus gold holds its value so i suppose it's a good investment as well as an enjoyable hobby! Gold just has an aura around it that's quite indescribable doesn't it. I'm getting quite giddy now just thinking about starting but I'm going to finish my meagre date run first!