Verdigris in shillings

[Crown Jules]

Hello All.

I've just rediscovered my old childhood hobby of coin collecting (Shillings mainly) after finding my old coin collection in a coin folder, in a box, in the shed.

On looking through my coin folder, I discovered a page where one of the coins - A Scottish 1945 shilling, is very green.The coins surrounding it have touches of green/verdigris

My question is...As the coin in question is of little value, shall I just bin it? Fortunately, the coins are in date order, so the others on the page are also of little value.

I seem to recall that the shilling had verdigris when I first got it around 30 years ago, but although the coins aren't touching it's either spread or the conditions have affected the others.

My most worrying question...I have older shillings in the same folder, but these seem ok to the naked eye. Should I just leave these alone or try and find if they have any traces of verdigris? Or would they be ok because of the silver content? Excuse my ignorance, as I'm a adult beginner!

Thanks in advance

(I think I've attached the picture)

[Rob]

Unfortunately it is unlikely to be worth more than melt. 500 silver pieces with few exceptions are quite plentiful in top grade, so people will just wait for a decent example to come along. If VF or less they effectively aren't very collectable.

They will go green from the pvc sleeve. Not a good way to store them. You should use either a cabinet, 2x2 flips with mylar windows or acid free envelopes.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Rob

[Crown Jules]

Thanks Rob. Never realised re the pvc sleeves.

The other shillings in the album are from 1800's, so I will put these somewhere better. Hopefully these wont have bee affected?

[Peter]

You should try a dip in 100% Acetone (not nail varnish remover)

Rinse in distilled water and pat dry.

Experiment.

There is also an USA product called verdicare.

This should solve your problems.

Welcome and good luck.

[Stuntman]

As per my olive oil thread, I've found that 2 weeks immersion in olive oil clears up quite a lot of that verdigris on the .500 silver. Certainly worth a try in the first instance if you haven't got any acetone handy, like me.

[copper123]

Well your 1945 shilling is only worth melt value at the moment - but it would not halm having a go at cleaning it - the above two ideas are well and good , remember as the coin is only worth scrap it does not matter much if you ruin it.

Congrats on starting up the collecting again - you should find it nostalgic and more fun than years ago , also its more expensive as well , but you can't have everything can you?

Edited October 19, 2015 by copper123

[Paulus]

Just noticed, happy birthday Copper123!

[Hussulo]

Devinetly get any other coins you have out of those coin sleeves. As Rob says it looks like it is made out of PVC which reacts with coins and damages them over time. If you are lucky and get to them quick enough the acetone might help. You can buy acetone on ebay. I always make sure i have a bottle handy. Try and get 100% acetone. I've tried verdicare as well but it didnt really work for me. Maybe the coin I used it on was too far gone.

[copper123]

Oh thanks , you dont tend take much notice after 50 LOL

[Crown Jules]

Many thanks for all your replies. Will deffo experiment on that coin, using olive oil. And I'll get some acetone in case it's spread to valuable coins.

At Copper123 yes I'm enjoying it already. There was no internet for research when I was a boy..so had to rely on library books. And lined paper for cataloguing instead of spreadsheet or databases... Oh, and Happy Birthday!

Looks like this forum is pretty active, so look forward to being a member

Jules