3/5/20 Report - Wreck and Artifacts of the Erebus. Squire Pope Manor Explored. Too Much Cleaning Spoils The Coin.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Four-Reale Cleaned By Electrolysis

Photo by JamminJack

JamminJack has provided photos of some nice coins that he cleaned with Muriatic Acid.  Here is a four-reale that he cleaned using electrolysis.

Jack said, "When we used to find clusters or heavily corroded reales, most of the time they were sold as is. Back then, an encrusted coin would bring a higher value with the mystery of possibly having a date, full shield, etc. Now it seems a cleaned coin is worth more!"

 "This 4 reale was heavily encrusted. The smooth areas are very thin. Possibly, a "razor" coin, but exstensive electrolysis and scrubbing the coin removed more surface then needed." 

Same Four-Reale Cleaned By Electrolysis

Thanks Jack for reminding us of the dangers of electrolysis when over done.

If you look at the Sedwick auctions, you'll see some coins that were sold as clumps and brought good prices.

Jack, like the author of this blog, prefers coins under-cleaned rather than overcleaned.

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Source: See CBC.CA News link below.

Here is a very nice article on the salvaging of the wreck of the Erebus complete with photos of recovered artifacts.

Here is a short excerpt from an article about the HMS Erebus.

Epaulettes that came from a lieutenant's uniform were found on the lower deck of Erebus in September 2019. The upper part of each epaulette is made of twisted, gold-plated silver wires over sheet metal. (Photo: Marni Wilson)

Items recovered included epaulettes from a lieutenant's uniform and ceramic dishes. The epaulettes, Bernier said, were found in a drawer filled with a lot of sediment but otherwise empty of artifacts, leaving the impression that they were abandoned.

"On the flip side, in the ship's pantry, there's barely any sediment, because the density of the objects is so big. You would have plates stacked up 13 high."

And here is the link if you want to read more about that.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/erebus-wreck-exploration-franklin-expedition-mystery-artifacts-1.5469843

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Local archaeologists believe they’ve uncovered remnants of the original Squire Pope manor at Wright Family Park, a discovery that would debunk a generations-old belief that all traces of the historic Bluffton structure were lost to time, erosion and the 1863 Union Army “Burning of Bluffton.”

Town officials say that last fall, Heyward House volunteers — representatives of the town’s historical preservation society — came upon very old bricks while metal-detecting on the Wright Family Park lawn at the end of Calhoun Street.

The breakthrough launched archaeological work on the property...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.blufftontoday.com/news/20200228/archaeologists-find-remnants-of-what-could-be-squire-pope-manor-in-bluffton

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

It looks like the surf will be higher this weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/1/20 Report - Acid Cleaning and Electrolysis. Silver Nuggets and Other Small Finds. Mystery Object.

Written by the TreasureGuide for  the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Two Eight-Reales RECLEANED by Jammin Jack

Photos by Jammin Jack.

If you are wondering if it is better to use electrolysis or muriatic acid to clean your old silver finds, you might consider what Jammin Jack concluded.

I previously showed some eight-reale coins that Jack cleaned with Muriatic acid.   He then decided to go back and reclean some coins that were previously cleaned by electrolysis.

Here is how he put it.


I recleaned a few coins that I were done with electrolysis process.

I usually do not like cleaning patina, but this group were heavily corroded. The coins came out better and with more visible detail. 

I cannot go back in time, but regret choosing electrolysis over bathing with a diluted muriatic solution. 

Above and below are the tree coins that he recleaned.

Third Coin RECLEANED by Jammin Jack.

Thanks for sharing Jack.
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Bits of Silver Found On A Treasure Coast Beach Last Week.

These bits of silver look like they were melted.  I cleaned them up before having them tested, and they are a high purity of silver.  They were found in a relatively small area of a few yard or two.

I cleaned them using acid, baking soda paste in aluminum foil, and then buffed them.

The small silver pieces were just a few of numerous small objects found in January and February on days when the beach was producing cobs.

Here are some of the other small bits found the same day in February when I found the silver bits.  They include lead, copper, and maybe brass or bronze.

Group of Various Small Metal Pieces Found On A Treasure Coast Beach Last Week.

I previously posted the following similar group of small items found back in January near the same location.

Previously Posted Group of Small Finds From January Hunt.

I found no silver bits on that day in January, other than a four reales and three half reales, but no small melted silver pieces like those shown at the top of the post.

If you read Douglas R. Armstrong's The Winter Beach Salvage Camp, you'll see that lead scrap and copper are perhaps the most commonly found metals from the test pits, but also reported from multiple pits are small pieces of scrap silver.  The small bits and pieces found in the past two months seem to closely mirror the finds from Armstrong's salvage camp explorations.

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John Ellmore found the following item and wondered what it is.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Mystery Object Found by John E.

Photo by John E.

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The surf is around two feet and the tides are small.

Sourec: MagicSeaWeed.com

It looks like an increase in the surf is expected for next weekend.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/8/20 Report - Beach Renourishment Projects and Conditions. Spanish Colonial Finger Rings and Other Subjects.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Rio Mar Still Closed
Photo by DJ

Beaches are being renourished around the Treasure Coast.  Rio Mar is still closed.

Ugly Sand at Vero South Beach
Photo by DJ

DJ sent in the following report.

Went to a few beaches starting with Riomar - STILL dumping sand. SO I went to South Beach and took that picture looking south toward Sandy Point. Decided to go north to Turtle Trail. There were 7 detectorists there. One told me they thought last nights’ front might have helped. I ran into Terry Shannon there as well, always a great guy! Had very good things to say about your work, results and dedication. Only down side today was a jerk that refused to fill his holes, I have seen this guy twice now over the last two months. Did not like my asking him to be a responsible detectorist. People like this guy will ruin what little freedom we all have left to detect on a public beach. As I was leaving, ran into three more detectorists arriving. 

Seagrape looked the same as Turtle; lower beach front, lots of small shells, so I did not take a picture. Headed up to Treasure Shores. Passed Golden Sands which is still closed for more sand dumping.  Three detectorists at Treasure Shores, I walked north towards the big curve. Beach front was lower and lots of small shells kicked up from the past days southerly winds. Mostly aluminum but plenty of sneaky targets, solid signals in two directions but the result was an aluminum can end (circular) or the top ring. 

Thanks DJ.

Anyone know where the sand is coming from?  I noticed a lot of trucks going back and forth from out west.

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There is a lot of discussion about the question of silver rings on the 1715 wrecks.  Just a couple of days ago I posted a link to an article about one beach find that was "certified" by one company to be 1715 Fleet.

The subject of silver rings and their apparent absence on 1715 Fleet wrecks has been mentioned in this blog several times in the past.  Cathleen Deagan, in her book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 - 1800, vol. 2: Portable Personal Possessions, published in 2002,  presents on page 126 an illustration showing several  1715 Fleet rings.  One of those rings is described as a silver Claddagh ring.  Claddagh rings have remained virtually unchanged in design for centuries.  If that illustration is correct, the ring I posted the other day may be the first certified silver 1715 Fleet ring, but it is not the first 1715 Fleet silver ring recovered.  Unfortunately Deagan does not give other details on where the ring was found.  Perhaps one of you salvage people can tell us.

We all know about the relatively common copper-alloy rings and gold rings, but you might be surprised to know that many rings made of other substances were brought to the New World but are very scarce among the salvage records.  Shipping records show (Deagan, 2002, p. 116 and 117) that among the many finger rings shipped to the New World between 1511 and 1613, many were made of glass, some of jet, and some of bufano wood.  Silver wasn't specifically mentioned, but examples have been recovered from Spanish colonial archaeological sites.   Shipping records presented in Deagan's book document several thousand glass rings shipped to the New World in 1590 and thousands more in 1592.  You can understand why those might not survive the ocean for hundreds of years.

I'll also point out the Deagan example ( p. 83) of a 17th century silver "sacred heart" finger ring from Santa Catalina de Guale (Georgia), so we know they were present on Spanish colonial sites but perhaps not common.

Well-informed readers and salvage divers provided some welcome comments on the subject.  A couple mentioned that silver rings might not survive very well in the ocean, and a couple also were surprised that the ring was certified.


Below are a few comments from Jammin Jack.

If any were found, most likely from an overlapping wreck from a later period. 

Certifying the ring was surprising to me, but I am sure Steve had reliable sources.

Also, most research material may include sites from the Gulf, Atlantic, Caribbean, etc. This can cause very controversial arguments, but silver rings on wrecks have always been rare - ANYWHERE! ...

Jammin Jack also told of an experience he had with electrolysis.

I found a (ear)ring back when Noah Wells was leaving the lab. Bill Moore took over the process. We all thought possibly silver with gold filigree and hoping 18th century. I wished I left it alone. After cleaning, it was silver, and very fragile. It was determined late 1800s, and had a small value. I still have the ring as a reminder that sometimes cleaning can ruin the historical value. The below picture is the day I found it. If I showed what it looks like now...well, we learn from our mistakes. 

Silver Earring Find Before Cleaning.

Photo by JaminJack

My first attempt at electrolysis also taught me a lesson. I ruined a buffalo nickel. Thankfully it wasn't any big deal, but I did learn that if I used electrolysis, the process should be carefully monitored, which is something I do with any cleaning method these days. I think it is one part caution and one part curiosity. I like to make sure nothing bad is happening and I'm too curious to wait long to find out how it is going.

When monitoring progress on any cleaning I'm doing, I now like to view the object under magnification.  I've recently learned that you can think an item is clean when there is still some encrustation, sand or shells attached.  I just feel like I get a better look at what is going on when I use magnification.

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The surf will begin to increase tomorrow, but only reach 3 -5 feet Monday, and then decrease again after that.

The tides are getting bigger.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/16/19 Report - Recent Finds: Musket Balls and Ring. Great White Sharks Migrating. Bigger Surf Coming Soon.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Recent Treasure Coast Beach Finds.

Finds and photo by DJ

Here are some recent finds made by DJ. 

DJ had the following to say about the musket ball finds.

-Musket balls - pleased the Equinox found these so effortlessly. I think if there is a good target within 8-10 inches this machine will find it most times. 

-lots of lead bits, too small to identify. 

The musket balls were where one might expect; found on the 10th. The next day I went back and only found a small musket ball that was cut into a 1/8 piece. 

DJ wondered why some of the musket balls were cut down in size. What do you think?

He also found the following ring which he described as, Gold-ish ring - light weight ring and found in a large shell pile against the odds...

Ring Found by DJ.

The ring was found back when the shells were being thrown up, I hit 6 targets that sounded pretty good on the Equinox but each were the old pull ‘rings’. The 7th was this ring. I took it into West Bay for an opinion that turned out to be ‘not old’ I appreciate those folks opinions very much.

So I started to clean the ring, first soaking, then gently prying off the green, then 10% acid and when nothing else happened I tried electrolysis for an hour. Seemed to help and I was able to get enough crust off to determine a pattern engraved or stamped into the ring. So I began to use some (hand rubbed) light metal jewelry polish and broke it into four pieces.

Further reading I found a reference to 9k gold that was mixed with silver or brass and had gold applied to the surface. Someone else had a similar experience and thought that his gold and green ring was the base metal leaching out, giving it a green ‘silverish’ look. Hated that I broke but glad it was not a really old or valuable find. 

Ring Broken in Four Parts.

Photo by DJ

Thanks for sharing your finds and comments DJ!  Congrats.

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A  great white shark measuring 9-foot-8 inches in length has been tracked entering Albemarle Sound—a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina...

OCEARCH has been tracking sharks off the North American east coast for several years, revealing how great whites often migrate thousands of miles from more northerly latitudes to the warmer waters off the coast of Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida during the winter...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.newsweek.com/great-white-shark-swimming-north-carolina-coast-1471951


By the way, I understand that the North Carolina beaches have had some good erosion lately.  But it is also cold there.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

November beach conditions have been better than they were the past few months.  With the beach sand levels reduced in some locations, further erosion could get us down to some good hunting.

One thing I noticed a few days ago when checking out a cut below the Fort Pierce inlet, the eroded beach was curved, as you would expect, and while the sand in front of most of the cut was mushy, there was a spot that was less mushy and where more targets were found.  I don't think it was a coincidence that the firmer sand and better targets were at the spot where the beach curved most sharply.

If you walk along the beach front and find a firmer spot, check it out.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/3/19 Report - Lead Seal Finds. 1715 Fleet (?) Wax Seal Find. Info on Sounding Weights. Cleaning Lead Artifacts.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

The Nathan-Melech/Eved Hamelech seal found in the City of David.
(Photo Credit: Eliyahu Yanai, City of David)

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered a rare clay seal mark and a 2,600-year-old stone stamp bearing Biblical names amid the ruins of a building destroyed by the ancient Babylonians...

The tiny 1 cm seal stamp has been dated to sometime from the middle of the seventh century to the start of the sixth century B.C. Deciphered by Dr. Anat Mendel-Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem, the stamp features the words: “(Belonging) to Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King.” In the second book of Kings 23:11 “Nathan-Melech” is described as an official in the court of King Josiah. The seal is described as the first archaeological evidence of the Biblical name...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/rare-ancient-treasures-bearing-biblical-names-discovered-in-jerusalems-city-of-david

One of my favorite Treasure Coast finds is a wax seal.  I'm not talking about the seal used to impress a mark in wax, but the actual stamped wax itself.

I found it at the water's edge at Turtle Trail.

The reason I like it so much is the improbability of something as fragile as a small slab of wax surviving hundreds of years on a beach or in the surf.

Unfortunately the design is not clear because of wear and sand impressed into the wax.

Here it is.

It isn't easy to see the design, but there is a bird that looks like an eagle.  On the left photo, the wing is outlined in red.  On the right photo, the head, body and thighs are outlined lightly in red - perhaps too lightly.

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Yesterday I showed Terry's lead sounding weight find.  Lead usually doesn't need much cleaning, however if you want to see the surface, there are some good methods.

The TAMU conservation lab provides detailed instructions for cleaning lead.  Looking at Terry's sounding weight, I don't know how much I'd do to it, but if I wanted to clean it, I'd first look at what could be mechanically removed.  I prefer applying pressure to encrustation instead of strinking it.  A slow increasing pressure will often cause encrustation to crack so it can easily be removed.  Then I might test a little acid and/or electrolysis.

Here is a bit of what the TAMU conservation manual says.

CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF LEAD Because of the ease of treatment and the availability of the chemicals, the most widely used conservation treatment for lead from any archaeological environment is the acid treatment described by Caley (1955). The lead is immersed in 10 percent hydrochloric acid, which will remove any adhering marine encrustation, along with lead carbonates, lead monoxide, lead sulfide, calcium carbonate, and ferric oxide. This treatment is good for lightly corroded specimens, and it gives lead surfaces a pleasing appearance. The surface detail that is preserved by this treatment varies with the degree of corrosion when recovered. For more diagnostic lead artifacts, Caley's method has been superseded by electrolytic reduction, which has the ability to convert mineral products back to a metallic state. For the general cleaning of lead without a lot of hands-on labor, however, Caley's method remains an acceptable and much-used technique, provided that the object is thoroughly rinsed after treatment in order to remove all remaining hydrochloric acid residue...


ELECTROLYTIC REDUCTION CLEANING The ability to control the speed of the electrolytic reaction through current controls makes electrolytic reduction especially useful for lead coins and medals or, indeed, any specimen where surface detail is important or reduction and/or consolidation of the corrosive layers is the objective...  Normal Reduction Lead artifacts with substantial metal remaining can be cleaned by the normal electrolytic reduction process using 5 percent sodium hydroxide, anodes of mild steel or stainless steel, and a current density of 2-5 amps/dm2. Very satisfactory results are achieved by this technique...

With either acid or electrolysis, go very slow and closely monitor the process.

I've discussed and illustrated .electrolysis before

Here is the link to the manual,

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/CRL/conservationmanual/ConservationManual.pdf

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Here is a description of how a sounding weight was used.

Taking soundings, or casts of the lead, is done when the vessel has headway on, the leadsman casting the lead forward and getting the depth as the vessel passes over the lead, resting on the bottom. The method of procedure is as follows:

The leadsman grasps the leadline at the toggle and swings the lead back and forth, parallel with the side of the ship, the leadsman being in a projecting lead stand, or in the chains in a sailing vessel, the lead is sent over head for two full turns and released at the bottom of the swing flying forward at a tangent, and almost parallel with the surface of the water. The motion of the swinging lead is opposite to that of a wheel turning with the motion of the ship. Assuming a right hand throw, from the starboard side, the left hand of the leadsman holds the coils of the line, freely forward, so it can run out without hindrance and without kinks. As the line flows out and the lead reaches the bottom, the leadsman grasps the running line with his right hand and pulls it rapidly plunging it up and down to feel the bottom. Feeling bottom, he plumbs the line up and down as the ship passes by the lead. He bends over and notes the mark above the water. If a mark is directly at the water, he calls out that mark, as "by the Mark five". If slightly under water "Mark underwater, five." If the five is three feet up, ""and a half four", if the five is six feet up," by the deep four." And so on , calling the marks and deeps or the spaces in between. If the mark is seven, for instance, is a quarter fathom out of the water (1.5 ft.) the leadsman would call, "and a quarter less seven." Before the next cast the leadsman will look at the arming and report the state of the bottom and clean the arming for the next cast. This gives you the general idea. The leadsman sings out the marks and deeps. He never uses "sir" as some are apt to do. The soundings should be called out sharp and clear. Leadsmen should practice casting the lead from both starboard and port lead stands...

For more interesting facts, check out this site.

http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1800soundinglead.htm

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Looks like I won't be able to get out for a few days.  It has been hard sitting out some of these days.  I left a spot half-done  that I badly wanted to finish.

If anyone has beach reports and photos,  I'd like to post them.

Looks like tomorrow the surf will decrease a bit from around three to five feet down a foot or so.

I've received a some thoughts on the gold mystery find that I posted the yesterday.  Still looking for more.  I expect to address that tomorrow.   Thanks to all contributors.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/2/18 Report - Cleaning the Roughest of Coins: Acid and Electrolysis Comparison. Easy to Build Electrolysis Tank.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeacesreport.blogspot.com.

1935 Buffalo Nickle

I noticed a couple of old coin finds that were heavily encrusted.  They were the size of nickles, but that is about all I could tell from the green crust, attached sand etc.  I decided to see what they were.  

I couldn't find my electrolysis equipment so I started cleaning the first coin (below) with acid.  Then I decided to throw together an electrolysis tank, which I used on the other coin. 

1935 Buffalo Nickle.

They say never clean coins, but when they are badly damaged and you know the surface will never be good, there is no harm in it.  That was the situation in this case.

The key to using either acid or electrolysis is to watch it carefully and not over do it.  You can easily remove too much material.  In this case I just wanted to see what the coins were.

I remember that the first coin I ever used electrolysis was on a Buffalo nickle and I did over do it.  I learned to watch the process carefully as it proceeds so you can stop before it goes too far.

I couldn't find the electrolysis equipment that I've used the last thirty or forty years, so I quickly grabbed what I had and made a new kit.  Here is what I used.

AC Adaptor From An Old Book Light.

I found the AC adaptor you see in the photo above, cut the cord and stripped the wires and attached alligator clips.  Got an old ice cream container, filled it with water and mixed in a spoon full of salt.  One clip was attached to a bolt and the other to the coin.  I taped the wires to the container so the items were in the water, but not the alligator clips.  Then just plug it in and check every once in a while to see how it is going.

You can see it better in person than in the photo, but the date "1935" appeared on the coin.  Also notice the clear high relief of "FIVE CENTS." The coin was evidently lost while in nice new condition, but the years in the ocean took its toll.  You can see there is still encrustation on the coin, which could easily be removed if desired.  And there is a big glob of rust under his tail.

It only took a couple hours, which I was very pleased with.   This adaptor is only 500 mAmp, which I thought might be slow, but it worked fine.

The coin that I cleaned with acid turned out to be a 1944 silver war nickle (below).

1944 Silver War Nickle.

I've given directions for cleaning coins with acid before, so I won't repeat all of that.  I use the smallest container and as little acid/water as will do the job - just enough to immerse the coin.  A plastic cap, such as a cap from a spray paint can will do.

Reverse of Acid Cleaned Silver War Nickle.

 Notice that there is still corrosion that could be removed.  Also note the P mint mark above Monticello.

It wouldn't take long to clean this one up a little better.

When I started, I didn't intend to do a comparison, and I should have taken photos of the coins before they were cleaned, but what I found out is that the the acid and electrolysis treatments were both similarly effective in about the same amount of time.

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a treasure diver?  Not many people have done that.  I'm not talking about an occasional recreational dive, but committing to an entire season of full time work on a treasure boat, putting everything else aside for the long shot chance of making the big discovery that most people only dream of.  I'm going to be able to tell you what that is like.

Most of us metal detect recreationally.  We metal detect when we feel like it.  We walk out on the beach and hope to find something, but we don't take the risk of committing a full season to the quest.  You never know if it will be a good season or a poor one.  It is a real gamble.

I'm going to be able to tell you how one fellow not only became a treasure diver, but also became a part of one of the biggest and most historic treasure finds of all time - the 2015 1715 Fleet 300-Year Anniversary find worth 4.5 million dollars.

I plan to do that in the near future in one form or another.

---

Also, for another time, I have a summary of the courts ruling on what is thought to be the Trinite shipwreck near Cape Canaveral.

For now,
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/17/17 Report - Clumps, Conglomerates and Encrusted Objects and Some Tips on Cleaning.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Bottle Attached To Conglomerate

The most unusual conglomerate I ever found was the one shown above.  A modern soda bottle was firmly attached to the clump.  What caused it to adhere so firmly is not clear to me.  It is a good example of how various types of objects and materials can get stuck together.

In the past I've shown a variety of conglomerates containing a variety of objects.  One of he best is the one shown below from the Wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge.

Source: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Appearing in Popular Archaeology
( http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/12012013/article/raising-pirates )

I recently showed a couple of bolts found by Darrel S, that had a half reale attached.  That one can be found in my 12/6/17  post.

Wish we had a picture of Clint's 1984 find.  That would be amazing.

John C. sent the following photo of a clump with void left by a dissolved spike or something.

Crust Around Void Probably Created by Dissolved Iron Spike.
Find and phioto by John C

Encrusted objects are for me can be both interesting and frustrating.  They can be mysteries and can present problems.  They can provide pleasant surprises.  You never know what might be hidden by the crust.  It can be difficult to figure out how to treat them.  Archaeologists can use x-rays to get an image of what might be inside, but, of course, we don't usually have that.

When the original object has dissolved, leaving a void, you can get an idea of the shape of the original object even if the object no longer exists. When the object or objects remain within the crust, the problem is removing the object without damaging it.

Darrel sent the following picture of an object in an electrolysis tank.

Object in Electrolysis Tank.
Photo submitted by Darrel S.

My tank isn't nearly as nice.  For a small spike I was using an old ice cream container (below).  Looks like it was time to change the water.

Making Rust Soup.

Darrel wrote up the following instructions for cleaning encrusted objects.


Simple way of cleaning encrusted objects.

You will need gloves, eye goggles, container large enough to put EOs in, distilled water, pliers, and muratic acid.

Place EOs in distilled water to rinse salt water and allow minerals to escape.

Allow EOs to dry and place in empty dry container.

Put gloves and eye goggles on and pour acid slowly into container. Be sure objects are totally submerged.

Use channel locks or pliers to grab objects out of acid. Check time to time. Some objects may take a day or more. Some only hours.

Once completely dissolved, rinse with water and then allow to dry.

Object may revert back to rust color due to lack of electrolysis process (professional way of preserving.)

If you want to keep the object, soaking in Osthmo will preserve for a while.

Once you practice and perfect this process, you will enjoy finding EOs, knowing you can clean them.

REMEMBER,  Always add acid to water, NOT water to acid..  

Darrel also has a long process for restoring iron objects. He says, "Iron's natural state is grayish silver. The black color comes from oxidation. Some of my objects took up to a year or more."

Below are some objects restored to gray.

Iron Objects Restored to Gray Color
Photo by Darrel S.

I'm going to quit there for now.   As I recently explained, I can only do so much in a blog post.  We've only barely touched on the subject, but I hope that helps get you started in the right direction.  Check out related posts and other resources that I've provided throughout the years.

How far you want to restore an item is a matter of personal preference.

One additional thing I will say is if you do electrolysis or otherwise clean an iron object, it is still iron and will rust again if you are not careful.  You might choose to coat it to prevent that.

I better wrap this up.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/21/16 Report - Preparing and Cleaning Encrusted Coins. Another Front Going To Come Through.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Encrusted Coin Found by Mark P.

I received the following email from Mark P. a couple of days ago.

Hi there,

I've been following your blog daily for several months now and have spent some time going back through old posts as well. Thank you for sharing your wealth of information to the public. As a new detectorist, I have learned a lot from you, and I know I am only scratching the surface.

One thing I would like to learn more about are cleaning techniques, so I hope you will share some of that knowledge in future posts. In some of your old posts, you mentioned links on the home page to good resources for that, but they are either gone now, or I am not seeing them.

I'm specifically interested in learning how to clean fully encrusted coins that can't even be identified in their present state. I've seen some photos you have posted on recent finds and they turn out beautifully. But I'm not even sure where to start.

Specifically, I have what is possibly (it's too encrusted to tell) a 200+ year old copper coin that I'd like to clean enough to at least be able to identify it. I am not worried about any value it may have, but I want to be able to identify it and don't want to damage it any more than it already is.

Any advice or links you could provide would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

P.S. Attached is a photo of my possible 1797 Isle of Man half penny - or you know, maybe it's an arcade token. 

Thanks for writing Mark.  The method I use for cleaning silver cobs was originally described to me by Bill Popp, and I posted Bill's instructions way back at the beginning of this blog.   It got deleted with other very early posts.

Bill encouraged me to use the diluted muriatic acid method on silver cobs, and it worked very well.  It is actually less dangerous than electrolysis, another commonly used method.

The first time I tried electrolysis, I used it on a Buffalo nickle, and damaged it.  Since then I learned to use electrolysis more effectively and still commonly use it on some types of objects such as iron artifacts but use muriatic acid on silver cobs.

You can use the link immediately below to find a description of the muriatic acid method.  I have used it almost exclusively for silver, although I am told it works as well for copper coins.  

http://www.ehow.com/how_5171679_clean-coins-muriatic-acid.html

I have run into situations (two that stick out in my memory) when coins were encrusted with a crust that muriatic acid would not penetrate.

I prefer to know what type of coin I might be dealing with before starting.  I like to know if the coin is silver, copper or whatever.  I also like to have a good idea of what type of coin it might be, but that is not always possible.  You will also want to know if you have something that might be very valuable or that should be treated with the utmost care.  Assume that it is until you have a good idea that it is not.  And when you don't know what to do, don't do anything until you get some direction.

For me, one of the first steps is to soak any coin.  Soaking a coin in water can loosen a little crust or remove dirt.  Use water that doesn't have a lot of chlorine or chemicals in it.  Vinegar wouldn't be a bad choice in some cases.  See how much of the crust will come off with soaking.  After that, try to remove any crust that can be safely removed mechanically.  A jet of water can be helpful and might be better than rubbing.  Rubbing can create scratches.

For heavy crust, I prefer to crush rather than chip, brush, or hammer.  I use pliers, sometimes needle-nose pliers, and squeeze the crust.  If you squeeze rather than brush, chip or hammer, you can apply a very measured amount of force.  Start with very little force and gradually increase the force as necessary, but be careful.  Some of the crust will most likely crumble and fall off. Hitting or hammering the crust is less controlled and more dangerous, but a light tapping can be helpful.

Globs of crust, like that shown on the coin in the top view, can be squeezed with needle-nose pliers. Make sure to not hit the coin itself though. With little globs like that, you might not need to put the coin between the tips or teeth of the pliers.  If you have crust on both sides, you can put the entire coin between the pliers.

With some of the crust safely removed, you might be able to better identify the coin.

After removing as much of the crust as you can by mechanical means, start the acid bath.

I like to keep a close eye on what is happening.  Closely monitor progress.

A paste made of wet baking soda can be used on silver coins after the muriatic bath to remove the black patina.  Some people prefer to leave them black.  I don't like a real silvery look and typically under clean rather than over clean.

I have a lot more experience using Muriatic Acid to clean silver rather than copper coins but have been told that it will work as well on copper.

If you want a very detailed description of various cleaning methods, take a look at the TAMU conservation manual by using the following link.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/CRL/conservationmanual/File12.htm

That might be more than you really want to know, but it will give you a lot of good information.

Hope that helps.

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The wind is going to shift this afternoon.  For a couple of days it will be coming from the south. Then as the front comes through we'll have a west wind, and then back to a north wind again.

On Saturday the surf will be nearly flat.  At the beginning of the week, the surf will be increasing again.  Expect something like three to five feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net