Enamel Removal

[DaveG38]

Here's a question I don't recall anybody raising before. Does anybody know if there is a non abrasive way of removing enamel from a coin? By this I mean the colours applied to coins, often in Georgian or Victorian times for broaches etc. I guess it will always depend on what the coating consists of and how it was applied, but any ideas anyone?

[IanB]

If its vitreous enamel i.e. glass then unless it is loose and you can pick it out then the only way I know is to soak it in hydrofluoric acid but I would not go anywhere near that stuff, its highly dangerous. It may be possible to break it by tapping it and then picking out the pieces but depends on how well it was applied in the first place.

If its the resin type of enamel, I have burned it out in the past but its very sticky and makes a mess.

 

[PWA 1967]

It all sounds a lot of messing about and think it would be better left as it is.

[Nonmortuus]

From what I have read, depending on the base metal it seems a furnace with the coin suspended in it will see the enamel melt and run off the coin. Obviously you would need to check the melt point of the enamel against the coin it sits on