Transforming The Ugly To Beautiful

The coin you see above left is a coin I zapped a couple days ago. After Zapping the coin I wished I had photographed the coin before Zapping. The coin was covered with an ugly black residue and was unlike anything I had encountered. It was ugly!

It would be great it you could contrast what was an abysmally ugly coin with the lovely coin you now see. I bought the coin at a very good price because of the condition. The coin now has a beautiful luster and I plan to continue to patinate until the coin is a bit darker.

I hope you enjoy and if you want to take a shot at Zapping simply join CoinZappers and we will get you started. The URL is as follows and when you join simply state that Jerry invited you: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coinzappers Thanks and God Bless.. Jerry..

Wonderful Free Ancient Coin Backup Program

I stumbled across an incredibly simple to use storage box that I just love. It is so simple even this right-brained Old Man can use. The program is dropbox.com and provides members with 2GB of free storage that works with Windows, Mac and Linux. I think it is great backup for all of us who are interested in coins.

I think it took me about five minutes total to install Dropbox and have it operational. I can almost guarantee you will love the simple but somewhat powerful little program. In fact, I look forward to some of you computer gurus downloading Dropbox and letting me know what you think.

I repeat that this great little program is a service that allows us to store up to 2GB of information for free. The Dropbox folder syncs to your computer, smartphone and other web browsing devices. There is nothing to configure and it is very fast.

Dropbox can be accessed from anywhere so one can even access coin files from a distant coin show. I can easily think of many uses for DB. One can list recipes, shopping lists, diet information, and passwords on DB. We are only limited by our imagination. I have had DB installed for 20 minutes or less and I already have coins pics installed.

I give this baby a 10 out of 10. I hope you like it as much as I do and please share your opinions.. God Bless.. Jerry..

Often It Is Not The Glitz

The flash of a flushed blue bird, the textured grain of weathered wood, the lines in an old man's creased face, a broken egg shell. Often it is not gold nor is it silver. Sometimes it is the face of a long forgotten and well worn coin. Beauty is where we find it.

The coin attached to this post oozes character and beauty and it is not gold. I looked beyond the city and I looked beyond the facades and I found beauty at my feet. Take your time and learn to see. We may look and not see.. God Bless.. Jerry..

Detergent: Ancient Coin Easy Clean

Are you looking for a kind and gentle way to clean stubborn dirty ancients? If so, I have a solution I consider very kind and gentle. You may know by now that I discourage all from using what I call "hard tools." A hard tool is a dental pick or anything harder than wood.

There is no doubt one will end up with a scarred and scratched coin if hard tools are used. I am an advocate of archival Zapping but that is another story. This is my solution to those of you who are timid about using my Zapping approach.

This is step one so let's get busy cleaning your coin or coins. Purchase or pilfer a bit of dishwashing detergent from mom or from your spouse. Be CERTAIN you use a detergent with grease remover. In fact, I suggest you use a detergent with an extra heavy degreaser. My theory is the degreaser makes for better penetration through the crust.

Begin with a simple scrubbing. I still believe in the good old toothbrush with the shortened bristles. The clipped toothbrush tool will provide one with more leverage. The good old stiff bristled brushes are difficult to find so I suggest the following. Remove, with scissors, about 3-4mm of the bristle length.

OK, I want you to do the following to clean the coin. Place the coin on a bath cloth or towel to help hold the coin in place. One can use the eraser end of a lead pencil to help hold the coin in place. Place a small amount of detergent on the coin and dip your toothbrush in water and scrub away. Please hold your brush parallel to the coin so as not to dig the plastic into the coin's surface. You WILL remove some dirt. Repeat as often as necessary to clean the coin or repeat until you realize your efforts or fruitless. In other words we want a clean coin or we want to move to step two.

Hello! This is step two. I see you failed to clean the coin satisfactorily in step one. Don't despair. Please follow directions and select a small plastic tub about 3" to 4" in diameter. It should be about 2" to 4' tall. Choose a container with a lid. Place about 1 tablespoon of the same detergent liquid in the container and fill the remainder of the container to within 3/4' or so of the top with water.

Place a reasonable number of coins in the container and set aside. Perhaps 1-7 coins. We want the coins to soak for a few days. Place the container and coins in a place where you will see them several times a day. Don't forget the lid! Lift the container and swish about for several seconds. Please swish and don't bang the coins about. Swish has a nice and gentle sound and that is the movement we want.

As you watch TV there is no reason not to swish the coins. I think any agitating action must help. What do you think? Don't expect the coins to be cleaned overnight. Please be patient. The encrustation is being softened and lifted. All depends on how hard the crust is.

When the water is dirty you may want to change water and detergent. I am not sure this helps but I think it is encouraging to see dregs and dirty solution poured off the coins. Patience is what we need using this method of cleaning.

I have one more application for you. If you look at my blog, and I will share the URL: http://www.ancientpeddler.blogspot.com you will find an article I published about making Jerry's Bamboo Tools. The Bamboo tool(s) are invaluable to me. I use the 1/8"diameter Bamboo skewers.

Just as shown in the blog article, cut the skewers in half length wise and create several different kinds of points to aid in probing and prodding the coins surface. We are attempting to loosen as much crust as possible. As the coins are soaking remove the coins periodically and prod, push and loosen whatever dirt or crust will fall away. This really expedites your cleaning and makes for greater success. You may want to "Bamboo" the coins once a day or once a week. I hope this method helps you clean your coins and I would love to hear from you and I would enjoy learning about the degree of success you have. Please bookmark my blog and join if you like.

This method will clean the coins. It is simply a matter of how long and could become a generational thing! God Bless.. Jerry..