My Gold Queen's Beasts were infected....but I cured them!

[BackyardBullion]

Howdy all!

I just got some of my 1 oz Gold Queen's beasts out to film a video only to find that something has afflicted my Lion and Yale....DREADED COPPER SPOTS

As you can see the Lion is particularly bad (patient zero for sure) and the Yale has just one spot that I can see. 

I was pretty sad and thinking, well that's it for that Lion, no premium for me any more!

So I had a quick google and decided to roll the dice and try to clean them off myself. 

I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU WANT YOUR COIN TO RETAIN PERFECT CONDITION - IF YOU WANT PERFECT PLEASE SEND TO PROFESSIONAL COIN CONSERVATIONISTS

I used Aluminium Tin Foil and Bicarb of soda and very hot water - an old trick that has been used for cleaning coins for a long time. 

And it worked a treat!

You would hardly believe that this Lion is the same coin...the spots are completely gone and I am over the moon with its transformation!

 

 

So that is my experience of cleaning copper spots - pretty easy to do at home. 

That said, please see the disclaimer above as I am not a professional coin conservationist!

[AgD]

Great results. Did you just leave it in the foil to boil so to speak or gentle clean 

[BackyardBullion]

1 minute ago, AgD said:

Great results. Did you just leave it in the foil to boil so to speak or gentle clean 

I had the foil, coin and bicarb in the takeaway box.

Poured boiling water over it and left it to bubble and fizz for about 5 minutes. Then came back and hey presto....cured!

[AurumArgenti]

I've heard this is a good method for copper spot removal.😜

[Howie]

Just buy Coppers might turn into Gold!

[RoughDog]

Oh no.  Not the dreaded copper in your pure gold. 🤣

[danmc82]

1 hour ago, RoughDog said:

Oh no.  Not the dreaded copper in your pure gold. 🤣

It may be the 0.001% left after refinement 😜

[Stacker2020]

Are the scratches on the Queen's cheek, in the after pictures, on the coin or a capsule?

[BackyardBullion]

1 minute ago, Stacker2020 said:

Are the scratches on the Queen's cheek, in the after pictures, on the coin or a capsule?

Likely from the "dab" drying I did. Its not perfect by any means. 

[Stacker2020]

No, but it does look a lot better without the blight!

[MickB]

Would the same treatment be used on a proof?

[BackyardBullion]

48 minutes ago, MickB said:

Would the same treatment be used on a proof?

Gosh knows - I probably wouldn't as you can see there are micro scratches now. But, it's at least 99% better than it was.

[kimchi]

I have never done this but I know some who have some expertise here and I'd suggest (apart from not doing it on expensive coins if you have no experience!) using pure distilled water only with a final rinse again in distilled water and then let air dry.

[maminzlaten]

I have Wilhelmina gulden (0.900) with a very ugly dark dot right on her nose. It drives me insane. Wonder if this would help...

[Booky586]

7 hours ago, RoughDog said:

Oh no.  Not the dreaded copper in your pure gold. 🤣

You laugh, but red spots on modern pure gold coins are a problem none of us want.

[RoughDog]

15 hours ago, Booky586 said:

You laugh, but red spots on modern pure gold coins are a problem none of us want.

Agreed, don't want red gold.

 

This issue just makes no sense to me.

It supposed to be pure gold plus some really minute percentage of something else.  The really tiny percentage should be mixed in the gold not on it.

Even if it was on the gold why would it change from a gold colour to red?  Gold coloured copper that changes back to it's original red colour. 🤨

It can't be under the gold because gold doesn't work that way or all gold plating would be awful.

Also the sovereigns and Krugerrands from many years ago don't seem to have the issue yet they have a much higher percentage of copper.

I rekon it's must be the Gremlins new batch or 👽👽👽👽

 

[Booky586]

4 hours ago, RoughDog said:

Agreed, don't want red gold.

 

This issue just makes no sense to me.

It supposed to be pure gold plus some really minute percentage of something else.  The really tiny percentage should be mixed in the gold not on it.

Even if it was on the gold why would it change from a gold colour to red?  Gold coloured copper that changes back to it's original red colour. 🤨

It can't be under the gold because gold doesn't work that way or all gold plating would be awful.

Also the sovereigns and Krugerrands from many years ago don't seem to have the issue yet they have a much higher percentage of copper.

I rekon it's must be the Gremlins new batch or 👽👽👽👽

 

After a search on the net I couldn't find a definitive cause of red spotting. A few good explanations showed up though. The older theory is alloyed copper, while more newer theories are surface contamination during the minting process.

Whatever the cause, a similar thread came up on this forum a few years ago with alternative ideas about removing the "dreaded copper spot":

 

[Notafront4adragon]

21 hours ago, maminzlaten said:

I have Wilhelmina gulden (0.900) with a very ugly dark dot right on her nose. It drives me insane. Wonder if this would help...

I just did this on an old 0.900 coin and it worked very nicely.

[Airhead]

I suppose they could be oxidation crystals, so once removed the gold is even purer ?

Would a quick rub with duraglit be a no-no, it has tarnishguard 🙃