Patination of coins. How to make a patina on a copper surface Sulfuric ointment for patination of silver coins

The protective film on metal is called patina. The patination of the coins gives them the look of antiquity. We can say that this is artificial aging. Often, patination is applied after cleaning the coins, since the native protective film can be damaged or completely destroyed. How to apply a patina to a copper coin at home, and what is needed for this?

Patination methods

In order to give an aesthetic appearance to coins, to increase the sale price, several methods of applying patina are used.

Coin before and after patina

Patination of copper coins can be done at home using:

• ammonia;
• sulfuric ointment;
• manganese and copper sulfate;
• sodium hyposulfite;
• gas stove;
• ammonia.

1) If you want to give a copper coin a nice brown color, ammonia can be used for patination. To do this, place the coin in a closed container with a vapor of alcohol, while the coin should not touch the liquid. To do this, hang the coin or place it so that all its sides can be covered with an even film. A closed container must not be heated, as condensation may form, resulting in uneven patination. Leave the coin for a couple of minutes only, do not overdo it.

2) In order to give the coins a dark brown color, apply sulfuric ointment to them, rubbing them in thoroughly. But do it underwater. When the coin begins to darken a little, take it out of the water. Dry well with a napkin, because if you do not remove all the sulfuric ointment, then the coin may turn black. After all the procedures, leave it alone for two days, then polish it with vaseline oil.

3) Patinating copper coins with manganese or copper sulfate is a good way to get a light or dark brown. To do this, make a solution of half a liter of water, three grams of manganese, 30 grams of vitriol. Heat it up to 90 degrees, put the coins in the solution for five minutes, but every minute turn them over to the other side. Take it out, look at the color, if it is pale, put more. After you have achieved the desired shade, rub the coin thoroughly with your fingers.

4) Use sodium hyposulfite for a bronze color. Dip a coin into it for a few seconds and wipe well with a napkin.

5) A copper coin can be heated on gas. Hold the coin with the clip and heat it up until golden, then brush it with baby cream with your fingers. The coin will be covered with a light brown film.

6) Another way to get a light brown patina is more complicated. To do this, you need a rust neutralizer and pieces of copper. We wait until the color of copper turns bluish-green, after which we take it out of the neutralizer and put coins in it. Rinse the coin with water and apply sulfuric ointment.

7) You can patinate the coin with ammonia. To do this, take a container, pour ammonia on the bottom. Put a glass or a glass, put a cotton pad on top, a coin on it. The coin must not touch the ammonia, it is patinated in pairs. Be sure to close the container. Fifteen minutes later, flip the coin to the other side.

It takes a lot of skill to apply patina correctly. After several attempts, you will already know how to achieve the desired effect. Patinated coins are cheaper than items with a "native" protective film, so only patinate coins after the film has been destroyed or damaged.

How to recognize a patinated coin?

Artificial patina can be recognized if:

• the color lay unevenly;
• the film is applied over scratches and damage;
• the shades turned out unnatural;
• the patina did not color the product in the recesses;
• surface coloring.

With the help of patination, copper coins will again take on the look of old coins in various shades.

Patination of copper, as well as other methods of its decorative processing (including at home) make it possible to make products made of this metal more attractive, to give them a touch of noble antiquity. It is possible to subject such processing to objects made not only from copper, but also from its alloys such as.

Patination and oxidation

The surface of many metals (and copper is one of them), when interacting with the surrounding air and various chemicals, begins to become covered with a thin layer of oxides and oxides. This process, which also results in a change in the color of the metal surface, is called oxidation. For the most part, the process of metal oxidation occurs naturally, but people have learned to cause it artificially, in production or at home, which is done to give the product an aged look.

Oxidation should not be confused with patination, a process whose essence lies in the fact that a thin layer of sulfur or chloride compounds is formed on the metal surface when interacting with various chemical elements. Patination, which, like oxidation, is accompanied by a change, can also be performed artificially using special formulations for this.

Copper aging occurs naturally over time or immediately when the surface is treated with any preparations.

If under natural conditions the process of oxidation and patina coating of copper or bronze can take years, then when using special solutions, patination occurs in a very short period of time. The surface of the product, placed in such a solution, literally changes its color before our eyes, acquiring a touch of noble antiquity. Using various chemical compositions, it is possible to perform such procedures as blackening of copper, patination of objects made of copper and bronze, blackening of brass in industrial and even at home conditions.

Preparation for processing

Having decided to perform patination or oxidation, you must not only carefully study the question of how to age brass, bronze or blacken copper, but also provide for the necessary safety measures. The overwhelming majority of chemical compounds that are used to carry out such procedures are very toxic and emit vapors that pose a significant hazard to human health. Therefore, for the storage of such substances both in production and at home, vessels with well-ground stoppers should be used, which will prevent the ingress of toxic vapors into the surrounding air.

The procedure itself, carried out to change the color of the surface of the product under the influence of chemicals on it, should be performed in a special cabinet, to which exhaust ventilation is connected. It should be borne in mind that the doors of such a cabinet should be slightly ajar during the oxidation or patination process, which will ensure effective extraction of harmful vapors from its inside.

Products made of copper, brass and bronze should be thoroughly cleaned, degreased and washed in warm water before patination. After the patination or oxidation procedure itself, the treated objects are also washed and placed in sawdust to dry. The use of sawdust is a more gentle method of drying, since doing so with a fabric material can damage the thin film of the formed patina that has not yet been fixed with varnish. In addition, after patination, it is almost impossible to qualitatively remove moisture from the recesses on relief surfaces with the help of a fabric after patination, and sawdust can easily pull it out.

Color changes of copper and its alloys from gray to black

Gray, dark gray or black and its alloys make the appearance of the product more attractive and presentable. To obtain these colors, the degree of saturation of which can be adjusted, the “sulfuric liver” composition, which has been used for more than a dozen years, is needed. It got its name due to the fact that in the process of cooking it must sinter, that is, turn into a caked mass.

To make such a composition for patination at home, you must perform the following steps:

• one part of powdered sulfur is mixed with two parts of potash;
• the resulting mixture is placed in a tin, which then must be put on fire;
• after waiting for the melting of the powder and the beginning of its sintering, it is necessary to maintain this process for 15 minutes.

In the process of sintering the powder, a blue-green flame may flare up on its surface, which can not be knocked down, since it will not worsen the quality characteristics of the sulfuric liver. After the end of sintering and complete cooling, the resulting mass should be crushed to a powder state. This powder, if placed in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, can be stored for a long time.

In order to perform patination of various metal alloys with sulfuric liver, several basic methods are used.

Method #1

This method involves the use of an aqueous solution of sulfuric liver. With it, you can change the color of products made from the following materials:

• copper;
• sterling silver;
• bronze and brass.

The colors that can be used to paint the surfaces of products using this method also differ:

• copper and silver - purple, blue (very difficult to get), gray, brown-gray, black;
• brass and bronze - soft golden.

If you did not know before how to age copper and form a strong patina film on the surface of this metal, which is distinguished by a rich black color, use this method. For its implementation, a copper product is placed in a solution consisting of a liter of water and 1–20 grams of sulfur liver powder.

To color copper light gray, the solution is prepared according to a different recipe: 2-3 grams of sodium chloride and sulfuric liver are dissolved in 1 liter of water. A copper product is placed in the resulting solution, the color change of which should be carefully monitored. After the color of the metal acquires the desired tone, the object to be patinated must be washed with water and dried in sawdust.

Method #2

For patination of copper, you can also use a solution prepared according to the following recipe: ammonia is added to a saturated aqueous solution of copper sulfate and this is done until the liquid becomes clear and bright blue. The cleaned and degreased workpiece is placed in such a solution for several minutes, after which it is removed and subjected to slight heating. After such manipulations, copper should acquire a rich black color.

Method #3

To use this method, which also allows high-quality blackening of copper even at home, the workpiece must be cleaned with fine sandpaper. Do not touch the cleaned surface with your hands so that grease spots do not form on it. After preliminary preparation for patination, the object is treated with a solution of platinum chloride or completely immersed in it. In such a solution, if it does not cause an acid reaction, a small amount of hydrochloric acid can be added.

Method #4

To form a strong oxide film on the surface of a copper product, which is distinguished by a rich black color, allows it to be immersed in a composition prepared from nitric acid and metallic copper. To make the color change of the copper part more intense, such a solution can be additionally heated.

Obtaining a patina of other colors

To form an oxide film of a different color on copper, you can even use one of the following methods at home.

Red-brown

To obtain a red-brown oxide film, a copper product is placed for several minutes in a composition prepared from one part of copper sulfate, one part of zinc chloride and two parts of water.

Gamma from light brown to black

To obtain such a patina, a copper object must be placed in a solution consisting of one liter of water and 20 grams of ammonium sulfide. By changing the heating temperature of the workpiece before patination, it is possible to regulate the intensity of staining.

Light brown

To give the surface of a copper product a light brown color, it is necessary to treat it with a mixture of sodium chromium peak (124 g / liter), nitric (15.5 g / liter) and hydrochloric (4.65 g / liter) acids, 18% ammonium sulfide ( 3–5 g/liter). This solution is applied with a brush and aged for four to five hours.

Patination of coins (artificial aging) is used to give the coin an appearance corresponding to the age of the coin. Patination may be required after cleaning the coin, when the native patina is damaged or completely destroyed, as well as to give the coin a more aesthetic appearance.

Depending on the material of the coin, there are a fairly large number of methods for applying patina to the coin. Below are the most common.

Patination of copper coins with sulfuric ointment

To demonstrate the various methods of applying patina, modern coins will be used - 1 US cent. This coin is minted from copper, like many old coins. And most importantly, on several completely identical coins, you can try different patination methods and compare the result.

Sulfuric ointment is applied to the coin and literally within a few seconds it darkens. After treatment with sulfuric ointment, its residues must be washed off with soapy water. The patina obtained from the sulfuric ointment has a rather rich black color. The resulting patina is not strong enough and if the coin is rubbed with felt, it is erased, this should be used to give a more embossed and contrasting appearance to the coin.

Patination of copper coins with ammonia vapors

In order to apply a patina to a coin with ammonia, you need to place the coin for 10-30 minutes in a closed container with ammonia vapor, but do not allow the coin to come into contact with the liquid. From a technical point of view, everything is simple, but when it comes to implementation, some difficulties can arise.

When preparing materials for this article, 2 coins were hopelessly ruined. To prevent this from happening, you should follow simple recommendations:

• Since ammonia has a strong odor, patination should be done in a closed jar or container.
• The coin must either be hung up, fastened to a edge, or placed on any object inside the container, but not simply, but on a cotton pad, this will allow the coin to be covered with patina evenly on both sides.
• At the bottom of the container, pour a little ammonia (5-10 grams), it is best to do this at the very end after the rest of the preparations and immediately close the lid.
• In no case should you heat a closed container, this will lead to the formation of condensation on the coin and a very uneven patina.

Vapors of ammonia in just a few minutes cover the coin with an even layer of patina of a pleasant brown color. The coin stops shining and looks very attractive. If the coin is left for several hours, then the patina does not become more saturated, but centers of corrosion begin to appear.

Patination of copper coins with potassium permanganate and copper sulfate

Patination of coins in a solution of copper sulphate and potassium permanganate gives a quick result and a pleasant brown patina. A coin or other object must be immersed for 1-2 minutes in a boiling solution.

To prepare the solution, it is best to use distilled water, add 1 gram of potassium permanganate and 1 gram of copper sulphate to one glass of water (200 ml), mix the solution thoroughly and put it on the stove in a bowl that is not a pity - after patinating the coins, washing the container most likely will not work .

The longer the time the coin is in solution, the darker the patina can be obtained - after 10 minutes, the patina becomes almost black. The 1855 penny from the example spent about 1 minute in a boiling solution. The image of the coin before cleaning it with Trilon-B is also shown.

Patination of silver coins with sulfuric ointment

Silver coins do not need as much patina as copper coins, but often after cleaning silver coins are sparkling white and require a patina to give an older appearance.

To apply a patina on a silver coin with sulfuric ointment, almost the same operations are carried out as on a copper coin, but there are some differences. First, the coin should be cleaned in ammonia or citric acid so that the surface is clean and there are no uneven areas. Next, sulfuric ointment is applied to the coin, applied in a uniform thick layer. Since silver is much less chemically active than copper, patina is formed much more slowly. To speed up the application of the patina, the coin must be heated; at home, it is best to put the coin on a cotton pad or soft cotton cloth and heat it with a hair dryer. In 1-2 minutes, the silver coin completely darkens. After the coin should be washed with soap to remove the remnants of the ointment.

After applying the patina, the coin was rubbed with felt so that the patina on the protruding parts of the coin would be slightly erased and the relief could be more clearly visible. For this coin, such an operation gives a more advantageous appearance, but for heavily worn coins it allows you to raise the relief and sometimes distinguish details that were not noticeable before.

Patination of silver coins with egg

This is the easiest way to patina, no reagents are needed at all, in addition, the process is not fast and it is always possible to stop at the desired degree of patina.

For patination with an egg, you need to hard boil one chicken egg, when the egg cools to a temperature slightly above room temperature, it must be cleaned and put in a container (ordinary plastic with a lid), then put a silver coin or several in the container and close the lid. It is better not to use a hot egg, as it is not convenient to clean, and steam comes from the hot one and condensation may form on the coin, which will lead to an uneven patina. It is worth noting that it is advisable to pre-clean the coin with ammonia or citric acid so that the surface is completely clean and the patina lies evenly.

These 5 stamps were egg-patinated for five hours in a closed container, while the coin was turned over several times during the patination. A coin patinated with an egg produces a very specific patina, the so-called rainbow, it is very durable and shimmers in different colors depending on the viewing angle.

Patination of bronze / brass coins by electrolysis

In most cases, bronze or brass coins do not need additional patina, this is due to the fact that they naturally quickly become covered with a strong protective film of oxides and are perfectly preserved in this form.

But sometimes, during the cleaning process or during long-term storage in the ground or inappropriate conditions, the coins become covered with uneven spots with a patina of different colors. In other words, when a brass coin with good relief does not look beautiful, you can try to cover it with a patina using electrolysis.

These five kopecks are a dug coin; oxides of uneven color have formed on it in the ground over decades. Electrolysis was used to give it a uniform patina. A soda solution was used as an electrolyte, the current source was a charger for a car battery (current 2 A), a coin was attached to "-", a sacrificial coin was attached to "+" (about the same nickel, it is important that the metal is the same , as for the processed coin). Patina application time - 2 minutes. After electrolysis, the coin was ground in a soda slurry.

Over time, copper things lose their color and begin to acquire a dark or green tint. This happens naturally during the oxidation process, but modern designers are actively promoting vintage interior elements, it looks beautiful, sophisticated, expensive.

But in order to achieve a beautiful shade of patina, it is not necessary to wait several years, you can age the product artificially. There are many ways to do this. You can choose for yourself any that will be best suited.

Basic tools

The use of various methods of aging involves the use of some tools or improvised means. But there are universal items that are used with any method:

• the product itself, carefully crafted;
• thick rubber gloves;
• goggles for eye safety;
• aging agent (vinegar, ammonia, prepared solutions, acetone, ammonia);
• soap or just water for cleaning;
• magnet for checking the composition;
• hot processing (hair dryer or any other heating agent);
• brush;
• special container (bucket, cans, plastic jars);
• means for polishing and polishing (sponge, cloth).

Use of ammonia

Before starting work, you need to process the copper product with a file (a special file for jewelry work) - this preparation helps to clean the thing from dirt and put it in order. To process with ammonia, you will need: the treatment itself, any container with a tight-fitting lid, a cotton pad and a lid the size of it.

A cotton pad should be put into a small cap, thoroughly soaked with ammonia and put together with a copper product in an airtight container. After 10 minutes, you can see how old the copper thing is. When opening the container, do not forget that you can smell a strong smell of alcohol, so it is better to use a protective bandage.

Application of vinegar

In order to age a copper thing with vinegar, you need to carefully prepare it. The preparation process consists of several stages:

• if the copper product is covered with a layer of varnish, then it must be removed. To do this, you must either hold the product in a container with acetone, or carefully brush it with a brush with the same product;
• further, the copper thing must be poured with hot water and rinsed so that the varnish comes off completely;
• if the copper thing does not have any additional coating, then it will be enough just to wash it with soap;
• the aging process cannot be started if the product is not dry enough. To speed up drying, you can use a hair dryer, but before that, make sure that there are no traces of a protective coating left on the copper, otherwise the copper product may catch fire.

After the preparatory stage is completed, you can begin processing with vinegar. The big advantage of this method is that you do not need to work with harmful substances and vinegar is always at hand in the kitchen.

As in the case of acetone, you can either dip the product in vinegar, or apply it on a brush and carefully process the item. Also, if you need to get a green patina, you can add a spoonful of salt to the vinegar. After the desired result is achieved, the copper thing must be washed in warm water and gently dried with a towel.

Aging with a gray tint with sulfuric liver

First you need to cook sulfuric liver. This can be done like this:

• mix sulfur powder and potash in a ratio of 1: 1 in a tin, put the mixture on fire;
• after the mixture began to melt and darken, the sintering process begins;
• after 15 minutes, the tin can be removed from the heat and the mixture allowed to cool slightly.

Now you can start preparing the solution in order to start patination and age the copper item. Mix 3 g of salt and 3 g of cooled sulfuric liver in 1 liter of water. Mix the solution thoroughly and lower the copper product into it. When copper has acquired the desired gray tint, you can take out the product, then rinse with water and dry.

Application of ready-made solution for aging

This method is the fastest, since the tool itself does not need to be prepared independently, it is sold ready-made. Since the aging solution contains substances harmful to the skin, do not forget to wear gloves and goggles.

Brass Black Metal Finish for copper aging, manufacturer - American company Birchwood Casey

Different solutions may have different information about how much to dilute the liquid, but you should always follow the instructions that are indicated on the label of the purchased product.

When the preparatory processes are completed, you can begin to process the copper product. To do this, you need to lower the copper thing several times into the solution at different angles so that the entire surface of the product is covered with the agent. It is necessary to ensure that there are no bubbles, because then light spots may remain in their place.

Repeat this procedure until you get the desired color. Overexposure or, conversely, lifting the product out of solution too early is not a problem, since during overexposure it can be processed with a scraper, and if the desired color is not achieved, lower it into the product again. At the end of the process, the copper must be dried and varnished if you want to fix the result.

Use of ammonia

Of all the products presented, ammonia is the most corrosive substance, but it can age copper best of all and gives a brown-green patina. The disadvantage of using this tool is that this gas evaporates, which is why they need to be processed more often than with other substances. To use this method, you will need: ammonia itself without impurities, a sealed plastic bucket, small wooden blocks.

Patination or aging of copper coins

The ammonia application method consists of the following steps:

• put the bars at the bottom of the bucket so that you get a small but stable platform;
• pour ammonia into the bucket, without bringing its level to the upper surface of the platform;
• put a copper product on a wooden structure so that it is firmly held on the platform. If it falls from it, then you just need to get it, rinse it with water and place it on the bars again;
• close the bucket tightly and check readiness every hour. The procedure usually takes several hours. When checking the appearance of the desired shade, do not inhale ammonia fumes.

Drying, as in the case of other methods, is an obligatory and final stage of aging. You can also dry it naturally, without using a hair dryer and other hot methods.

It is not worth varnishing the item, as you will have to periodically remove it, because, as mentioned above, ammonia treatment is carried out repeatedly during the use of a copper item.

The use of ammonium sulfide

In order to age copper, you can use the substance of ammonium sulfide, mixing which with other substances can give the product a patina of different shades:

• light brown - in one liter of water, 5 g of a solution of ammonium sulfide 18%, 124 g of sodium dichromate, 15 g of nitrogen acid with a density of 1 g per 1 cm 3, 5 g of hydrochloric acid are mixed. The mixture is applied with a brush to the product, washed off after 5 hours, and after drying, repeat this procedure 2 more times;
• dark brown - 9 g of ammonium persulfate and 50 g of caustic soda are mixed in one liter of water. The solution is heated to 95 degrees. The product is lowered into the solution for 5-25 minutes, depending on the desired color saturation, washed, dried. The procedure is repeated 3 times.

The use of various other substances that help to age the item and give a patina of different shades:

• golden - 1 g of copper sulfide, 180 g of caustic soda and 180 g of milk sugar are mixed in one liter of water. The solution must be heated for 15 minutes to 90 degrees. After that, the product is also lowered into it for 15 minutes, and then dried.
• golden brown with a raspberry sheen - 50 g of copper sulfate and 5 g of potassium permanganate are mixed in one liter of water. The mixture is heated to 80 degrees, and the product is kept in it until the desired result is obtained.

If you are not an expert in chemistry, then you are better off using ready-made copper aging products or the simplest methods (using vinegar, for example). It will be more difficult for the layman to grasp the need for certain proportions and not make a mistake in creating the desired solution.

If you have experience in working with chemicals, you can try to apply the prepared solutions first on certain parts of the copper product, so as not to re-patinate with each unsuccessful result.

Solutions containing any hypochlorite should be avoided, since this substance is very difficult to control at home and its careless use will most dangerously affect health.

When using any method, you need to remember your protection: long gloves and goggles must be worn.

To fix the result, you can use wax or paraffin: they are better than varnish removed later, when you need to repeat the procedure. This will be more appropriate if the ammonia method has been chosen for aging.

If there is any doubt about whether the item is copper or not, you need to take it to an antique shop. The specialist will quickly be able to determine what metal the object is made of. You can also check the composition of the product by bringing a magnet to it. If a thing sticks to a magnet, then most likely it is not copper, but just a copper coating deposited on the metal. In this case, it is also possible to age the product, while eliminating rough processing.

Video: Copper patination at home

Patinating coins is a quick and effective way to give them an antique look. There are many ways to apply a dark coating, you need to choose them depending on the type of metal and the desired shade. Most often, copper surfaces are subjected to the procedure, but sometimes coins made of nickel, bronze and even silver are aged.

The word "patina" refers to the terms of the Italian language. For the first time, they learned about it after a chemical experiment, the reaction of which was the transformation of the surface of the coin. On a silver or copper alloy, a dark coating looks beautiful, but on aluminum it is a cloudy film, which is why such specimens lose value.

An important condition for patina is the complete coverage of the metal, because. individual spots will not add to the charm of the coin. Therefore, the uneven coating is removed and applied artificially. But, if the oxide film has penetrated deep into the alloy, it is not recommended to touch it. After cleaning, such products will turn into thin plates with shapeless ruts instead of a pattern.

Patination of coins is carried out for several reasons:

• the copy was bought or found in poor condition, with traces of corrosion, in need of cleaning. The appearance of dug out money samples largely depends on the area in which it was found and the quality of the soil;
• cost increase. Ancient coins with a noble brown coating are valued much more than specimens with green spots on the surface;
• ignorance of the true value of a coin with natural traces of oxidation and the desire to give it shine leads to the loss of the product of its significance. Most often, the patina is erased or the coin is thrown into acid, after which its color becomes yellow-orange.

Patination is carried out by a chemical reaction, during which a film or plaque is formed. Many years of practice has shown what methods of applying patina exist and how to perform the procedure at home. In the process, you need to observe the proportions of substances, otherwise you can lose a rare coin forever.

Rules and methods of patination

It's no secret that metals oxidize over time under the influence of air and water. But this happens in different alloys in different ways. If steel or iron is destroyed as a result of such exposure, then copper is covered with a dark protective film. It is this layer that gives a special chic to antiques, testifying to their authenticity.

Often, in the desire to remove dirt from a coin, it is subjected to mechanical processing, as a result of which the patina is also removed. It is quite possible to return the noble insignia after this. Often, artificial patination of copper coins is justified from an aesthetic point of view, as it helps to hide the results of their cleaning.

Required Tools

Depending on the chosen method of applying the patina, it is necessary to prepare tools and materials. The minimum set includes:

• glass or plastic container;
• selected chemical reagent;
• beaker;
• stirring sticks;
• synthetic brush;
• degreasing liquid;
• latex gloves;
• respirator;
• soap;
• sponge
• unnecessary clean rags;
• cotton pads.

When all this is collected, you can begin to conduct the experiment.

The patina process

Of course, the presence of a “native” layer of oxides is much more preferable, because it not only speaks about the value of the copy, but also reliably protects the coin from damage. If it is possible to preserve natural plaque, then it is better not to touch it. When artificial aging is indispensable, the patina is applied independently. Patination is usually carried out by one of the following methods:

• dip the coins in the prepared solution;
• place a monetary sample in a vapor-gas environment;
• apply the composition to the surface with a brush.

The quality of the final result directly depends on the method of obtaining the patina and how well the coin was prepared.

First of all, the coins are cleaned of fat and oxides. Do this with a cotton pad soaked in white spirit or gasoline. These liquids are good at removing greasy traces that interfere with the oxidation process and the reaction of the patinating solution with copper. It is also necessary to wear gloves, because. on the left fingerprints, the patina will lie unevenly.

Features and methods of patinating coins at home

Depending on the metal, there are a fairly large number of methods for applying patina to a coin. All of them are feasible and do not require the knowledge of ancient alchemists and a special laboratory. Most types of patina are induced in simple ways, but you should not expect super-effect from it. Coin defects, such as holes, ruts, nicks, smudges, the resulting layer will not hide, but only change their color.

The better the patination is done, the more valuable the coin will become. Experienced collectors know that artificial plaque does not add financial value to items. But the patina, induced according to all the rules, is no different from the natural one. The coin acquires a noble rare appearance in the eyes of potential buyers. There is no universal method of oxidation, and the most suitable of all is selected only experimentally.

Patination of copper coins

Copper coins are patinated with sulfuric acid. The tool is applied to the metal, and literally within a few seconds it darkens. After the procedure, the product must be washed with soap so that oxidative processes do not continue. The patina obtained from sulfuric ointment has a fairly rich black color, but it is unstable. If you rub the surface with a cloth, the plaque will be erased, so this method should be used as a last resort.

Patination of copper coins with ammonia is carried out in a well-ventilated area, because. vapors of the substance are quite caustic. The processed coin is oxidized in a closed jar or container. To do this, it is placed in a container with ammonia so that it comes into contact only with its fumes, and not with the liquid. The container is tightly closed and wait 15-30 seconds. If the coin is left for a long time, then it can be ruined. The patina will not become darker, and pockets of corrosion will appear on the product.

Coping with the task of processing a coin with ammonia is easier in words than in deeds. It is either suspended or placed on a cotton pad inside the jar. This will allow it to patina evenly on both sides. Alcohol is poured at the very end, after preparatory manipulations. Then tightly close the container with a lid.

Vapors of ammonia are able to cover the coin with an even layer of patina of a pleasant brown color in a few minutes. Glitter is eliminated, and the product acquires a beautiful rare look.

Patination of coins with potassium permanganate and copper sulphate gives a quick result and a brown tinge. Dishes for work are taken unnecessary, because. after patination, it is unlikely to be washed off and will have to be thrown away. To prepare the solution, take 200 ml of distilled water and one gram of powders. Everything is thoroughly mixed, brought to a boil on the stove and a coin is lowered into the resulting composition for 1-2 minutes.

The longer the coin is in solution, the darker the patina will be. After 10 minutes, the product will become almost black. This must be taken into account when achieving the desired shade of the oxide film.

Patination of silver coins

It is quite easy to give silver coins a dark color. To do this, you need ammonia or ammonia. The product is placed in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. After that, they take it out, take it with tweezers by one edge and bring it to an open bottle of ammonia. She literally immediately begins to react to vapors of ammonia and becomes covered with a gray coating of patina. I stop the procedure when the silver acquires the desired shade.

There is another way to patinate silver coins - boiled eggs. They are boiled to a steep state, cut in half and placed in a container with a fairly narrow neck. The coin is also sent there. The egg begins to emit hydrogen sulfide, which is why the coin is covered with a gray film. This method is good in that it achieves the most uniform coverage.

The nuances of patinating coins in a natural way

It is possible to apply patina to a coin without using the materials described above. There is a way to patinate bronze naturally. For this, the products are taken out into the sun and left there for quite a long time. For 1-2 years, you need to ensure that the coin is exposed to sunlight all the time. Of course, such a process can hardly be called fast, but its plus is that copper will take on a natural aged look. The "solar" patina will be difficult to distinguish from the natural layer of oxides.

At home, you can try to bring a dark plaque with a tree. Some types of wood release tannins that contribute to the "cabinet" patina.

If there is no experience in patination of coins and even a clear idea of ​​​​how this process takes place, it is better to abandon the idea or leave it to a specialist.