Tarn X Xperiment.

Tarn X is a silver/gold cleaning "dip".

Since people "dip" their coins, but in specialized coin dips, I wanted to give Tarn X a try.

I went to my local store and bought a bottle of it.

The 1st were two 10% silver pesos. They did not turn out the greatest. Since the silver content is so low, the tarnish would not entirely lift. Would dipping these longer help??

Before:


After:






The second was a silver quarter. It had that "haze" toning to it, covering the mint luster. Also several black spots were present on the reverse.

Before:



After: Mint luster is fully present. Black spots disappeared.





Conclusion:

Tarn-X can be purchased at most stores. Mine was $5 for a 12oz bottle. Unless there is a coin store, actual coin dip is hard to find.

On the 90% silver coin, luster was revealed, and "pepper toning" disappeared.

Further testing will need to be done for low silver content coins. Either:

A. The purity is so low that the dip reacts with the base metals.
B. The tarnish was so severe it corroded the coin.
C. The tarnish is not all gone, and it needs to be dipped further.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Hi Detecto !
Interesting ... Mmm the product is not available in France i suppose
You have taken a big risk with the peso: the silver of this one is mainly on the thin layer covering the coin, so everything could have been peeled away by the chemical agents ..
Do you have any idea of the components of this magic fluid ?
Thanks in advance !
Philippe

 

Pesos look a bit odd, but the quarter is definitely an improvement.

You are asking about dipping longer, how long were they dipped the first time?

 

About two minutes. I was thinking "over dip" but they looked like that after 30 seconds.

 

Tarn-x also speeds up the oxidization process, thereby requiring you to buy more tarn-x. Been there, tried it. only the coins I kept in oxygen-free environments retained the shine (which was very obvious as cleaned and is about as abrasive and reactive as a cleaner can be). Everything else 2x2's or danscos tarnished worse than it ever was originally, and did so within a few months. I ruined a 1909 vdb this way when I was 10 years old

 

I think this is why people use specialized coin dips. I also disagree on the quarter - the pictures make it look washed out and lifeless in my opinion. Plus it shows all the hairlines on it - the original pictures made it look like a nice worn coin. You can get this same look using the special solutions by using to strong a solution or letting it soak to long. Just my opinion.

 

Thanks S&V no remorse then not to have this stuff in my nearby drugstore

 

Thiourea, a detergent, and sulfamic acid.

 

Thanks Detecto ! I will avoid that for my cocktails

 

It might of been your air enivroment. Your supposed to rinse the metal off in water a good 15 seconds when your done. That will remove the cleaner. Leaving it on would probably not be a good thing .

 

Was this straight Tarn-X? Did you water it down?

 

No. It says on the back "use at full strength only, do not water down".

 

Water does not remove it all. Why use it to clean when you hve to clean it off in return? http://www.answers.com/topic/sulfamic-acid I'll be interested to see what they look like 6 months from now...

 

Take a look at the 1964 quarter before-and-after photographs.

Look at the scratch that starts between the 'W' and 'E' of 'WE' on the obverse and extends down to the neck of George.

See how that scratch appears worse after using the solvent?

Now look at the same coin again. Follow the leg of the 'R' in 'TRUST' down to the right. Another scratch that appears deeper and more damaging in the 'after' picture.

This is just two of many details that could be pointed out where coins are made worse (to a trained eye) after using cleaners, solvents, etc.

Even when a coin retains luster after a bath like this, the luster can be impaired in small areas not visible to the untrained eye.


-thecointrader

 

I photographed the quarter's "After" shot on a different angle to show luster. There is more light shining on the coin, making the scratches appear deeper.

 

I was convinced long ago that this is just part of the marketing. I believe it's formulated this way. It's fine for your silverplate flatware and the like; things that need repeated cleaning/polishing. When you want to do it once and never again, less volitile cleaning agents like isopropyl alcohol or acetone (for non-copper coins) is a far better way to go. JMHO. Like I said, I tried it, but in the long term it had adverse effects.

 

I agree with Mark, the coin appearance is washed out. Shinny, yeah, but lustrous, no. The luster disappeared from that Washington long ago and there is no way to bring it back. Luster on a coin is due to the flow lines created when the coin is struck and the metal is moved toward the collar. Once a coin enters into circulation, and begins to experience wear, those flow lines begin to disappear. There is no way to restore them.

p.s.: My Father ruined a very nice Oregon Trail commemorative half dollar using Tarnex.

 

A tarn-x dip should NEVER be longer than 5 seconds......

 

Not sure which Tarn-x material you used, but only their "Tarnish remover" contains that.


Their "Jewelry cleaner" uses only Gluconic acid and other surfactants


and their "Silver polish" is Gluconic acid based and has Kaolin as a polishing agent ( abrasive)


The "Tarnish Remover" is comparable to EZest, but I have not seen it in Super Walmart, only the other 2, which I would not use at all.

You can find the MSDS PDF files for these by googling "MSDS Tarn-x"

Jim

 

I've dipped coins using tarn-x at full strength. It goes in for a second, gets rinsed, and if not sufficient, goes in again for another second, and then rinsed again. If it's still not good enough, I'll dip it one last time for two seconds, rinse, then soak in acetone for an extended period of time.

Even with these precautions, some of the coins I've dipped (Nothing rare or valuable, just junk silver and some ugly ikes) have shown some splotching after a few days that gets worse as time goes on.