Microscope and software for cleaning and restoring coins. Mechanical cleaning of coins Pocket microscope for coins and numismatists
Collecting coins is not just collecting, but also often a long process of researching the purchased copy and cleaning it. It is for these purposes that there are tools that should be present in almost any numismatist. In this article, we will look at how to choose the right magnifier, microscope and coin cleaners. This will help novice collectors to deal with a future acquisition, and experienced collectors to replenish their knowledge.
The simplest and most popular numismatist tool is magnifier. Even with 100% vision, we cannot see the smallest cracks and other small elements of the medallion being bought, this is where a 10x magnifying glass comes to the rescue, it is also a magnifying glass that allows you to examine the coin with greater accuracy.
How to choose a magnifier?
To begin with, you should decide what place collecting takes in your life. If this activity is in the nature of a hobby, then it’s not worth spending much, but if it’s part of your life, then on the contrary, saving fades into the background and it’s worth buying a more expensive magnifying glass. But even despite the above, the future 10x magnifier will be more productive with small dimensions. You can never tell in advance exactly where you will be asked to look at the coin and keep a compact magnifier with you to consider the purchase - very comfortably.
The backlight is quite an important element, because in poor lighting conditions, the backlight built into the device will help you to see the coin without any problems. If finances allow and you're serious, add a larger 10x loupe to your compact magnifying glass. Such a magnifying glass is taken only for responsible purchases, where you need to carefully approach the issue of examining a coin.
coin magnifier price
The minimum cost of such a magnifying device is very low, at the level of 155 rubles, for a copy without illumination with a 2x magnification. A high-quality magnifying glass with bright LED illumination and 3.5x magnification will cost 1500 rubles, such a magnifier lies more comfortably in the hand and performs its functions better.
coin microscope
Cleaning coins by hand - an occupation for real pros now, many collectors with endurance and an iron grip prefer to clean purchased, expensive copies of coins on their own. This is quite natural, because not everyone is ready to risk a copy of the collection, worth several tens of thousands of rubles, and give it to an unverified master for cleaning. It is for these purposes that numismatists buy microscopes and learn how to clean themselves.
Microscopes allow you to view the workpieces with greater accuracy, plus the software contributes to facilitating the cleaning process and, if necessary, determining the authenticity of the coin.
Choice of microscope
Again, when choosing a microscope, we first of all turn to the goals that we pursue. If the budget is low and the microscope is needed for cleaning training or simple work, you can choose one of the cheap stereoscopic instruments. Such a microscope will cost about 1000 rubles, but along with cheapness, you also get many disadvantages, such as: no connection to a PC (you constantly need to look through the microscope when working), poor-quality backlighting, low gradation and magnification, poor image quality.
On the other hand, we have a niche of high-quality microscopes, costing about 7 thousand rubles. Such microscopes give the user more freedom. Can connect to external monitors or PC, image High Quality has a high degree of optical approximation, as well as interpolation without loss of image quality, bright illumination, which allows you to increase the image that the microscope takes up to 200 times.
Interesting
The software supplied with the microscopes allows you to save high-quality images of the coin by region and create a complete picture high definition, for subsequent listing for sale or other purposes.
Also, separate software allows you to download an image of a particular coin and compare it to a hundredth of a millimeter with your copy, thus determining the authenticity of the coin.
Full-fledged cleaning of coins with the help of chemicals is very often either impossible or leads to damage to an expensive copy. The best masters, perform mechanical cleaning, this procedure is comparable to jewelry work, and for a successful outcome, high-precision tools called scrapers are used. Scrapers - tools for mechanical cleaning of coins from dirt.
The cost of such a tool is quite high, for an average quality set you will have to pay 2000 rubles. For this money, you get a complete set that can be used for both professional cleaning and educational metal processing. The kit includes:
· Carbide scrapers
· File scrapers
· polishing rod
· Sharpening device
At the first stage of cleaning, hard alloy scrapers come into operation, providing a rough surface cleaning, such devices are quite hard, do not dull quickly and prepare the coin for the next stage. The second part is processing with scrapers from needle files, they are very sharp, but also very soft, with such tools they refine the thin elements of the coin. You can keep all scrapers in working condition with the help of a special sharpener. You can clean the surface of metal residues using the brush that comes with the kit, if there is none, then you can purchase a set of small brushes of different hardness in advance. Such brushes will allow not only to remove excess from the working surface, but also having sufficient rigidity to help bring the smallest areas.
The method of mechanical cleaning of coins described in the article is an illustration of the author's experience, which has been accumulated for a long time. Using the technique, you need to understand that it does not guarantee a positive result, and you are at your own peril and risk putting your material to the test.
Many people think: how to clean (preserve) the finds, give them a divine look, you can’t put a dirty coin or artifact in a collection. There are many cleaning options, ranging from chemistry to electrolysis, dozens of recipes for all occasions, everyone chooses for themselves! Personally, I chose mechanical cleaning for myself 10 years ago, although I tried all the methods.
What is required for mechanical cleaning of objects: microscope, scraper, bristle brushes, wooden, boxwood needles, can be made of bone, brass, aluminum, silver. Cotton swabs, cosmetic pads and the desire to do this tedious business I can describe everything in detail in the topic if someone has a desire to learn more about mechanical cleaning, or even study the whole process, I will not hide anything (I share secrets).
Workplace
The main thing is a microscope!
From domestic, the best options are: MBS-9, MBS-10, from Olbantsky with USB connectors - those that are more expensive
The main working tool is a scraper.
A steel trihedral micro blade is made from dental burs that have served their time and mocked us enough.
As well as bristle brushes, brushes, of various hairiness, here what anyone likes, I chose a domestic bristle for myself, cotton buds are also needed to wipe the object during cleaning.
And the most important thing(I forgot the old one became completely). Synthetic resin - PARALOID B72, for fixing unstable areas of the cleared object and initial fixation of the material.
And, perhaps most importantly, if you plan to mechanically clean an item, start thinking about saving it as soon as possible! The best way save the item - place it in a humid environment, for example, in a vacuum food container filled with napkins moistened with distilled water or parallon with cut-out compartments for finds. Putting a find in your pocket along with other items means causing a lot of damage, the finds should lie separately and not touch each other, and moisture will prevent drying and thus the item will successfully get to your desktop and you will have less work to preserve it and subsequent cleanup!
coin cleaning
While the find is wet, you need to inspect its condition, remove dirt with a soft brush if it allows you to save the item, make sure that there are no foci of “bronze disease”, place it soaked in distillate for about 24 hours, regularly turning the sides (especially for coins). You need this to desalt the item, so you dissolve the salts that were deposited on the item while it was in the ground and laid the foundation for the formation of patina (at best) and pollution.
After you have desalted the item, you need to dry it. I recommend for this our favorite Russian drink - ALCOHOL .... who does not like it - can use acetone.
If everything is fine with the object (there is no “bronze disease” and it has been desalted and dried), it needs to be soaked. For impregnation, an outlandish material is required - Paraloid B72, a synthetic acrylic resin. 5 gr. paraloid x 100 ml. acetone i.e. 5% solution. We place an object (coin) there for complete impregnation, the solution fills all invisible voids and cracks, stabilizes loose deposits present on the surface and inside. The time the object is in the solution is while the bubbles are rising.
Now the coin (object) is completely covered and impregnated with resin, plasticized, then it's up to the scraper and microscope.
A good example of clearing.
The coin was found in a tract with the name "Salt Plant", which spoke not only about the salt works of the 16th century, but also that the finds would most likely be terrible. And so it turned out that 90% of the raised material went to scrap metal, the soil is literally saturated with salt, and consists of almost nothing but ash, huge cast-iron boilers were used to boil the salt from the brine and stoked them day and night, cutting down the forests in the area.
A salt crystal has grown right on the coin, the entire surface is covered with salt deposits mixed with lime compounds.
Intermediate cleanup. The entire process described above (washing, desalination, drying, fixing) was guaranteed to be carried out.
The end result of working with the coin.
When working, only a scraper with a trihedral sharpening was used, no chemistry, all deposits were cut off to the original field of the coin, the native red-brown patina was not affected, with the exception of one area, where cuprite grew into a dendrite and there was a repeated replacement of oxides into copper - the result of "local" chemistry soil. In this place, we had to cut off the growths, aligning them with the general level of the coinage. Repeated impregnation with paraloid was carried out several times - unstable areas were fixed.
The places where the metal shows through were cut off in the process of removing growths, in the future they themselves will be covered with a patina and the color will even out. I think chemistry will not give such results, no matter what the supporters of lemon and sulfuric ointment say.
P.S. hello electrolysis
And where in the world can you find these microscopes and scrapers?
About scrapers and microscopes! in Yekaterinburg there are so many shops with goods for jewelers that I don’t even know what to advise, well, for example, the store of the Ruta company on Posadskaya, if I’m not mistaken, everything is there .... like in Greece. It is better to take a thin (needle) scraper and preferably not one, you often have to refuel on a finishing stone. It is also better to buy a stone in Ruth, I recommend it - Arkansas (stone grade).
I regularly saw microscopes in the same store, choose with a normal focal length, from 9 cm (MBS-9) and so on.
Pollution is different depending on the soil, is the approach to cleaning objects from different soils the same, or are there some nuances?
There are always nuances, it all depends on the condition of the object, each soil gives its deposits or nothing happens at all, I think you found coins in a deluxe condition? Cleaning all the same begins with inspection of pollution under a microscope.
Tell me the main signs of bronze disease and its consequences for the object.
Wild patina or "bronze disease" affects the coins and "kills" them in a fairly short time. Many have seen bright green copper chlorides on coins; when touched, such areas begin to crumble, usually under the green crater that goes deep into the coin. If the process is not stopped, the coin will collapse in a few months. You can identify the disease in a humid chamber, as soon as greenery appears - sound the alarm, bronze disease is very contagious, even a pocket in an album will continue to infect other coins. You can fight by keeping the object in a solution of BenzoTriAzol (BTA) 3% solution in alcohol. The most interesting thing is that at a humidity of less than 46%, the disease does not manifest itself, it activates immediately after 46% and begins to progress.
Desalting is a mandatory part of the cleaning process or it can be omitted if the item is raised in non-salty soil. Can tap water be used for desalination?
It is advisable to apply to all finds from the ground, tap water in no case, only distillate! Tap water contains chlorine, the main causative agent of bronze disease, it is because of it that our finds then turn green and crumble!
Do I understand correctly that the object is impregnated along with contamination, and as a result of impregnation, contamination is better removed by mechanical cleaning?
Absolutely right, at the very beginning, carefully remove everything that is freely removed with a brush, and fix the rest. The scraper cuts off all deposits. The main thing is constant control over cutting, not to get carried away with the process.
And where to buy PARALOID B72?? Looked around on the internet but couldn't find it
The network of stores "Chernaya Rechka" in Moscow and St. Petersburg is on sale in the form of granules and solutions (15%) take orders in advance.
"Bronze Disease"
Here is a clear example of the manifestation of bronze disease, a coin was found by Sansan a month ago, during a hot period.
Due to the abnormal heat, the process of the disease "went" into sleep mode, but the focus of the disease is present. He treated with a solution of BTA 5% in alcohol. After fixing, drying, cleaning.
Coin before cleaning.
After cleaning, the center of the disease is visible, the surface has already been disturbed, caverns have been opened, the disease itself has been stopped, now retouching and re-cleaning of the retouched area is required, this will allow the coin to return to its appearance.
The foci of the disease are highlighted in red, they will be retouched in the future, after retouching I will definitely show in the same topic.
Using the example of a “sick” patch, we will analyze the cleaning and solving the problem with bronze disease.
The first thing to do for finds in this condition is to remove excess soil and not damage the find. The soil contains particles of sand, which is an abrasive and can damage the patina, so you can immediately place the object in a container with distillate and gently, right in the water, start washing with a soft brush, then we inspect the coin for dirt remaining in the recesses and try to remove all residues, using wooden or plastic needles.
Upon examination, it becomes clear that Wenzel is seriously "sick", the absence of signs of illness on the part of Orel pleases.
Fragment of a site affected by bronze disease.
Traces of the disease are immediately visible, swollen dendrites and bright green, the basis of which is copper chloride, which is precisely the worst enemy of collectors and restorers, it is with it that they most often have to fight. To start the fight against "bronzukha" it is required to desalt the coin, place it in a distillate to dissolve the salts located in the active centers, as well as in the patina, with the help of the distillate all soluble salts are washed out and the areas with the remaining hard deposits that could not be cleaned with wooden needles. The time spent by the coin in the distillate is about a day, during the soaking process it is required to turn the coin, this is necessary so that the salts come out evenly on both sides.
We select a container that is suitable in size, preferably transparent, in this case, plastic PET packaging and look for a slightly smaller plastic lid with a flare, from which we make a lattice on which the coin will be located.
Now the coin is in a suspended state in the middle of the container, this is necessary so that the salts coming out of the coin settle immediately to the bottom of the container without interacting with the coin.
Pour all this with distilled water and leave for a day, occasionally turning the coin. Water must be poured to the very top of the vessel and closed tightly with a lid or polyethylene, it is done so that active oxygen from the air does not enter the water and does not oxidize the coin once again. You must always remember that distilled water can dissolve not only salts, but also harm the coin, so you should not overexpose objects, otherwise the structure of the patina will be broken or cavities may open.
After a day, you can remove the coin and, after soaking it with a gauze cloth, place it in a 5% solution of benzotriazole in alcohol the next day.
BTA-benzotriazole, this is the strongest poison, work extremely carefully !!!
At the moment, the coin is at the stage of BTA solution, I think in a couple of days I will be able to show the result of fixing and clearing.
I put it back into the BTA solution for a 100% guarantee, in order to finally block the disease process.
Quite a different alignment in places with foci of manifestation of bronze disease, under each growth there is loose cuprite, often you have to additionally do local impregnation with paraloid, fix individual areas. Unfortunately, the disease managed to work thoroughly on this coin, after a complete clearing, it will be necessary to retouch the areas.
Here are the latest shots, everything is cleaned, the disease is blocked, the coin does not turn green in a humid chamber. I will select a pigment for retouching in order to close the caverns from the side of the monogram.
Hmm .. cuprites ... dendrites))).. but you can find out more ... well, there are terms. Why do they form these cuprites ... dermites, etc., etc., as I understand it - from the composition of the soil (saturated mineralization?)
Formed as a result of "local" soil chemistry. I think everyone found coins ideally and immediately completely amazed with greenery, it all depends on the place of discovery and the composition of the soil, if it is a pasture, then the coins are “tryndets”, they are provided with nitrogen compounds, there are a lot of bacteria on chernozems that contribute to the formation of a “fat” patina, clays carry a lot of chlorine, limestone, etc. all of which affect things. Cuprite is the best protection for copper coins, the film is strong enough, but not too resistant to aggressive environments, an acidic environment corrodes cuprite and gives way for the formation of ulcers, this is where the process of formation of bronze disease begins, cuprite swells and forms a loose mass over time, sometimes part of this formation is restored to metal and secondary copper is obtained, which forms a dendrite, (growth). Perhaps this is the effect of electrochemistry or a lightning strike, but the running process cannot be stopped, the coin continues to rot and forms a complex cake of malachites, azurites, sulfites and other compounds. You can read in more detail and with a scientific approach ===> http://art-con.ru/node/511#2
Both professionals and simply enthusiastic people are engaged in numismatic and coin collecting. They spend a lot of time looking for valuable specimens, but it takes no less time to bring the discovered coins into a decent condition, since most often they are not stored in the best conditions: the coins may have patina and other surface layers.
Cleaning and restoration of coins can take place using the following tools: a scraper, a set of various brushes and tweezers, reagents, etc. But one of the main tools, without which the work would not be as high quality, is a magnifying device, using which you can easily distinguish the smallest details subject.
When cleaning coins mechanically, you can use a magnifying glass, but a microscope is much more often used for this: it allows you to better examine coins and other valuable objects, and also provides the opportunity for research to verify their authenticity. In addition, microscopes equipped with a digital camera (or camera) and special software are used to digitize an image of an object of interest for its subsequent analysis, processing and storage.
For cleaning and restoration of coins, Altami offers digital stereoscopic microscopes(for example, Altami CM0745) and software Altami Studio. This stereomicroscope has the required magnification and a large working distance, which is convenient when working with it using various tools (the same brushes and tweezers). In addition, the device has a modular design - you can purchase an object table with a suitable illuminator for it. The Russified application Altami Studio used in this case is software for analyzing and processing images in real time. With it, you can display the image of the coins observed in the microscope on the monitor screen and edit it for the best result in real time: this is facilitated by a large arsenal of image processing tools (changing brightness, contrast, thresholding, and much more). In addition, Altami Studio is used to carry out numerous measurements (determining the length, perimeter, area).
For professionals who need to establish the authenticity of coins, suitable digital comparison microscope with software Altami Studio Crim. With the help of this equipment, and mainly the program, it is convenient to compare objects by superimposing their images on each other, and thus finding their similarities and differences. Thus, the analysis and research of coins can be carried out quickly and comfortably.
Interesting research topic old coins, the history of minting, paper banknotes in magnifying optics has already been raised several times in our articles. And the high popularity among fans of materials science, collecting, factors of the historical development of monetary culture is closely intertwined with the desire to engage in microbiology, which is why this topical fresh review has been written. If you understand the principle of microscopy, you can guess that even a basic biological model in the hands of a skilled user can turn into microscope for numismatics. Of course, this will not be the intended use, the deft application of microscopy techniques will make such a device universal.
Those. For a novice researcher, a child or a student, it is advisable to have a multifunctional technique that solves an extended range of tasks: from viewing living tissues and microorganisms to the nuances of the surface of metal products.
Microscopes for numismatics are divided into three categories: stereoscopic, with two-dimensional visualization, with digital image output to a computer screen. The first type is more expensive and professional, designed to observe opaque volumetric structures. It features a binocular attachment that forms a stereo pair. It is characterized by a large working distance (from the table to the objective lens), which makes it comfortable to manipulate objects - move, correct, turn in different directions.
The second type refers to educational microscopes, in which, in addition to the main goal (viewing the microcosm), an auxiliary upper illumination is implemented, which determines an additional research method “in a bright field, in reflected light” (this method is just necessary for numismatists). If there is no built-in illuminator, it is recommended to use an autonomous source (lantern, lamp, lamp).
The essence of building a visual picture lies in the ability of an incident light wave to be reflected from a coin and transmit its exact image to the optical system with detailed detailing of coinage patterns, cracks, scratches, scuffs, roughness, ingrained particles of dirt, rust. This will ensure efficiency, have a positive effect on determining the age of a thing, allow you to consider the long-term (or centuries-old) history of the coin, find out what happened to it, how it was used, how it was stored.
The third modification of microscopes for numismatics is a compact USB magnifying glass connected to a laptop, because there are no eyepiece tubes and eyepieces in the design. The result of the increase is broadcast in real time on the monitor. This makes it possible to take photos, quickly edit them, saturate and change the color tone, improve graphics. And one more thing - to measure the diameters and lines of the most significant areas - the set of tools is diverse. The device comes with a disk with drivers, software, instructions for installing them (the process is not complicated, it is similar to connecting a webcam, which everyone who works on a PC is familiar with).
Recommendation: in all 3 cases described above, during operation, it is necessary to take into account the maximum height of the observed object in order not to damage the lens when focusing. In the beginning, you need to focus on low fold (it provides a wide view, allowing for centering). When adjusting the focus, touch the handles and the tripod gently so that there is no jitter - this helps to quickly achieve image clarity and contrast.
A set of tools for mechanical cleaning and restoration of coins and finds.
File scrapers. These scrapers have the sharpest sharpening and are used in finishing, to achieve maximum surface evenness, but they become dull faster.
Carbide scrapers are designed for rough cleaning of hard oxides and layers, removal of hard oxides. Very strong and hold sharpening for a long time.
Smoother for polishing the field of the coin, you can hush up the striker, scratch, level the stripes from the scraper on the patina, to replace the balls.
Video cleaning coins with a scraper:
Instructions for the use of scrapers.
An example scenario for the use of scrapers.
For rough cleaning, we use scrapers made of carbide metal (carbide metal, will win). With these scrapers we carry out a complete cleaning of the pattern, because. they are stronger and do not lose sharpening. But, with such scrapers it is impossible to make a perfectly flat field and work out the small details of the coin pattern.
After rough clearing, we clean all the irregularities well with scrapers made of steel burs, with such scrapers you can even out the shape of the relief of the pattern, they have a very sharp sharpening, which allows you to carefully cut off even weak oxides.
And it’s good to finish the surface of the object being cleaned with scrapers from needle files, such scrapers are as sharp as possible, which allows you to very finely level the surface.
If necessary, smooth the surface of the object with a cone (trowel). After smoothing, glossy stripes remain, which are well rubbed with a fiberglass brush. Also with a fiberglass brush, you can do a soft clearing and wipe the strips from the scraper.
Equipment:
- Working table - oak bar, with a leather surface.
- File scrapers.
- Carbide scrapers.
- Rod for polishing the field of the coin.
- Coin stand for patination.
- Device for sharpening scrapers.
- Double-sided collet for fastening scrapers.
DELIVERY in MOSCOW
Delivery of orders in Moscow is carried out daily, seven days a week, at a convenient time for you. With an order value of more than 10.000 rubles, delivery Free,
350
rub.
DELIVERY TIME in MOSCOW
PAYMENT OF ORDERS:
1. Cash courier. In Moscow, you can pay for your order in cash to the courier upon receipt.
2. Pickup in our Store: Metro Komsomolskaya, Kazansky railway station, Komsomolskaya square d2, Kazansky shopping center pavilion 24
Opening hours: Mon-Sun from 09.00 to 21.00 (Daily, seven days a week)
3. Prepayment to a Sberbank card
4. On credit: purchase in credit conditions
