Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Restoration of shipwreck silver 8 Reales 1783

  1. #1

    Restoration of shipwreck silver 8 Reales 1783

    Ave!

    We received a salt water-corroded 8 Reales silver coin from the wreck of the El Cazador (1783) a few days ago for our restoration service. This was our first experience with a 'shipwreck' coin and I wasn't sure where to begin...but had to start somewhere.

    As seen in the before photo, we began by removing all the red encrustations by gently scraping them off with a new and very sharp scalpel blade, using a circular motion whenever possible. When doing this, it's important to use as little pressure as possible as you don't want to leave scrape marks or lines in the metal.

    Once all the red blemishes were removed, we soaked the coin in a solution of Mint State cut 50% with distilled water for 24 hours, allowing the solution to gently penetrate the salt-caused encrustation.

    The next step was to apply a soft-bristle brass brush (SBBB) in a battery-powered Dremel tool to the coin's surface under running water. A SBBB is an awesome tool for cleaning any encrusted coin, but the trick is to only use the very tips of the brush, just tickling the surface, rather than bearing down. In this case, the Mint State solution did it's work and the encrustations came off in a snap, no electrolysis necessary.

    Just thought I should share,

    KevinName:  Shipwreck .jpg
Views: 129
Size:  111.3 KB

  2. #2
    Administrator del's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Connecticut
    Posts
    13,014
    thanks for showing it off and the results /
    its a very nice improvement Kevin , are the red areas from rusty iron laying on the coin while on the ocean floor?? do you work on these with a large high powered magnifying glass or microscope ??

    Dan
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

    XP Deus II , DFX ,TDI sl -

    Click here to view my finds album


  3. #3
    Ave Dan,

    Not really sure where the iron deposits come from as I'm not a chemist. :-)

    I only use a common lighted magnifying glass from Home Depot.

    Best,

    Kevin

  4. #4
    Veteran Member Skamaniac's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Goldendale, Washington
    Posts
    1,305
    Great results. Thanks for sharing.
    Land of Two Seasons - Snow and Fire Danger.

  5. #5
    Elite Member Digger Don's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Northern Illinois
    Posts
    3,785
    Excellent job on the restoration.
    Oldest Coin: 1699 William III Halfpenny


    20
    24
    Silver 4
    Indian 3, Buff 1, V Nik 1, Rosie 2, Barber Dime, SLQ 1,

    YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoU...FVGumMQ/videos

  6. #6
    Elite Member The Rebel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Southwest, CT
    Posts
    2,060
    You do AWESOME work! Do you work for a museum?
    Minelab Manticore / SPECTRA V3i, Pro-Pointer II. Lesche Digger.
    Oldest Copper: 1694 William & Mary Halfpenny. Oldest Silver: 1663 1-Reale
    Cob.

    My Album

  7. #7
    Ave!

    Only in my dreams, though you wouldn't know it by looking around my house. ;-)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •