Tarnish on Queen's Beast 2oz. Black Bull

[g33x0r]

Hey guys,

I got some of the Queen's Beast 2oz coins for my birthday and the bull I got had some considerable tarnish on it.  It seemed odd as it's only about a year old.  I attached a picture of it next to the two Yale coins I got for comparison.  Is this considered normal?  I have to ask, I know its a cardinal sin to clean old coins, but given this is a newer coin, is there a way to clean this tarnish off that wouldn't ruin it or take away any value?  

Thanks!

[JackKlugman]

It's clearly been stored in an environment open to the air maybe in a smoker's house. Look at videos on YouTube about baking soda, alu foil and hot water. That will remove the silver tarnish. 

It's worth having a go. The coin looks very unsightly. 

[Norskgeld]

You can always rely on Quincy to have the answer. 😎

[JackKlugman]

3 hours ago, Norskgeld said:

You can always rely on Quincy to have the answer. 😎

Waiting for a train at six am. I literally have nothing I would rather be doing than spreading my particular wisdom around this forum. 

[dom555]

If it were my coin, I would give the coin an antique finish and look for a better QB coin.

 

[kimchi]

8 hours ago, JackKlugman said:

It's clearly been stored in an environment open to the air maybe in a smoker's house.

What were they smoking do you think, dried cow dung?

[flim]

don't let that bull out of your sight, he has been playing in mud 

[g33x0r]

11 hours ago, JackKlugman said:

It's clearly been stored in an environment open to the air maybe in a smoker's house. Look at videos on YouTube about baking soda, alu foil and hot water. That will remove the silver tarnish. 

It's worth having a go. The coin looks very unsightly. 

Thank you!  I'll search around for that and we'll see how it goes.  

[kimchi]

19 minutes ago, g33x0r said:

Thank you!  I'll search around for that and we'll see how it goes.  

I think it's possibly beyond help without an ultrasonic bath, that looks like very serious muck to me, however never say never, worth a try!

I think the idea of possibly cleaning as you can (agree with Quincy but use distilled water if you can) to see how it goes is a start, then if still in doubt (clear abrasions under a loupe etc) 'give up' and do something cool with it like attempting antiquing or whatnot

Personally I think a bull that looks covered in mud is quite fitting, and it's still silver underneath at the end of the day!

[Pete]

Never seen a newish coin in such poor condition.
It is bullion so my suggestion is to give it a 10 seconds dip in e-Zest which you are fortunate enough to be able to purchase very cheaply in the USA.

The dip should restore the coin to mint condition BUT ensure you are ready to plunge the coin into water immediately after removing it from the dip.
You might have to repeat if very badly stained.
Be extremely careful using this stuff and avoid breathing any of the fumes.
Use plastic tweezers.

[JackKlugman]

53 minutes ago, kimchi said:

I think it's possibly beyond help without an ultrasonic bath, that looks like very serious muck to me, however never say never, worth a try!

I think the idea of possibly cleaning as you can (agree with Quincy but use distilled water if you can) to see how it goes is a start, then if still in doubt (clear abrasions under a loupe etc) 'give up' and do something cool with it like attempting antiquing or whatnot

Personally I think a bull that looks covered in mud is quite fitting, and it's still silver underneath at the end of the day!

Looking at the coin on my bigger PC monitor it does look like it has already been lightly cleaned already. There is no “toning” on the high spots and there are some light abrasion lines. OP have a go at cleaning but these coins are not rare and fairly cheap and it will never be perfect. Unfortunately I think that this will never be worth more than spot but please provide updates and pictures. 

Ultimately you probably will have to buy another. Those Yale’s look great though. 

[Serendipity]

One of my suspicions is that the Bull was deliberately toned and abrasively cleaned on the high points to create an antique finish. I can’t believe a modern silver coin can be that badly tarnished. 

[g33x0r]

Traded in one of my Yale's and a silver AE for a dragon and some cash today.  I thought the Yale's I had looked good, but even those had a slight tint to them compared to the Dragon I received today, this one looks perfect.  I have some capsules on order, so once I get those and clean the Yale and Bull I have, they're all goin' in to capsules.  I have the Lions (1st and White Lion) and Griffin coins coming too, hopefully by the time I have them all in capsules they'll all look nice and clean.  I'll post an update after I clean the bull and Yale I have, compared to the rest.  

[Martlet]

On 16/09/2019 at 23:17, Serendipity said:

One of my suspicions is that the Bull was deliberately toned and abrasively cleaned on the high points to create an antique finish. I can’t believe a modern silver coin can be that badly tarnished. 

Yes, there are a lot of straight markings indicating "cleaning" action. It looks more dirty than aged. 

[g33x0r]

On 16/09/2019 at 09:54, Pete said:

Never seen a newish coin in such poor condition.
It is bullion so my suggestion is to give it a 10 seconds dip in e-Zest which you are fortunate enough to be able to purchase very cheaply in the USA.

The dip should restore the coin to mint condition BUT ensure you are ready to plunge the coin into water immediately after removing it from the dip.
You might have to repeat if very badly stained.
Be extremely careful using this stuff and avoid breathing any of the fumes.
Use plastic tweezers.

Thank you for the tip!  I just got finished using the e-zest and was amazed at the results.  Here's the before and after images from today.