Tarnishing a quarter

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
wolf creek knives

wolf creek knives

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,292
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
I'm looking at tarnishing some Montana State quarters. I've seen everything from vinegar, salt water with heat and even a hard boiled egg. Has anyone ever done this or have a quick and easy recipe that they won't mind sharing? I want to do this on the cheap and easy side without spending my bank account on equipment. Any help is greatly appreciated and valued.
Thanks for looking and hopefully sharing.
Tom
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
wolf creek knives said:
Thanks for the info JT. Problem is I'm not tarnishing Silver, these are made from whatever they make quarters out of these days. Probably nickle but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
Well you really are not tarnishing either. You will discolor them and depending on the materials they could change all kinds of colors. Something that is acidic should work. Good luck.
 
All quarters, except silver proofs, are what they call Clad quarters. Made with zinc, copper and nickel. Tarnish/toning is usually done over time and clad quarters take a long time unless exposed to chemicals of the sort. For quick color, I'm presuming you're wanting for a project, then JT is right, heat would be the only way. You could probably coat them with some oil and put them in the oven. Using a torch works also but you have to be careful. Too hot and the zinc will bubble and make the coin kind of ugly. If using torch also, I would set the coin on a piece of thick metal and torch around edges first and see if you can get the edges to start turning color and let it flow by itself inwards. Just a thought. Lol Just trial and error with heat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom