Many collectors, particularly those who clean their own coins, wax them before storing them. Some sellers wax their coins before
selling them. But this can be dangerous if it is done willy-nilly, without a careful inspection of the coin first.
I bought this coin recently and I thought at once that it
had spots of
bronze disease. There was already some
pitting, and lots of the typical light grteen spots. (This is the photo labelled As Bought). So I gave it the usual treatment, an hour's simmer in sodium sesquicarbonate solution. This is usually completely effective, but on this coin it did not make very much difference, which I thought odd.
Looking at the coin, I suspected that it ghad been waxed, either by the seller or by whoever he obtained it from. I wondered if the wax was protecting the
bronze disease, so I soaked it in white spirit for a day (this is called Stoddard solvent in the USA), washed it off and gave it another simmer in sodium sesquicarbonate. This is the photo at stage 1.
This was better. Clearly, some significant pits of
bronze disease had been cleaned out. But
still there were some lingering signs, so I went through the whole thing again, wondering by now if there would be any
patina left after all this soaking and boiling. The white spirit turned green this time, suggesting that I was starting to remove something containing copper. White spirit will only dissolve oil-based substances, not
patina or raw copper, so now I was starting to think that someone
had applied a stain to the coin as well as wax!
This is stage 2. The two photos of the whole of the
obverse are "as bought" and stage 2. I think I have now completed the task of clearing out the bd, and without making much difference to the overall appearance of the coin.
Now, because there was already some
pitting when I first got this coin, it is quite possible that someone
had treated for bd before applying probably a stain and definitely wax. But if so, the job was not well done.
Bronze disease was rampant beneath the wax coat. This is one major reason why I do not like wax. It made my own treatment much more difficult than it should have been. Those who say "Clean, wax and
flip" should just be saying "Clean, brush and
flip!"
I de-wax quite a few coins when I get them, even if they look
fine, so that I can take a decent photo without the shiny wax surface getting in the way - this is the other reason I don't like wax.
Good quality wax makes a coin shiny and slippery. Bad
quality wax does this and also hangs on to lint, making a coin almost impossible to clean off.
But enough ranting; on to the photos ... click to enlarge.