Realcent.org

Lately it seems that I am pulling a lot of verdigris covered pennies out of my good pile...much more than a year ago. Anybody else experiencing the same issue?

Seems like it varies according to the bag. Somtimes I think when someone dumps an old bag that has been in the closet for a long time, there is alot of it.
Doesn't seem like too much in recently circulated coins because it gets worn off.
I had a box of pennies that I had in the closet for a few years and when I decided to open it up recently, it was terrrible with the verdigris.
That is what leads me to say what I did above. I think the longer they sit around undisturbed, the more the verdigris can grow and then it is more noticable.

Sounds like a Punk rock band from the 80s....

So Angela Merkel is explaining, again, to the German Parliament why yet another bailout will be required for Greece. One elder spokesman, schooled as an Austrian economist, rises slowly to his feet to question the preposterousness of her assertion. Gathering his strength to voice his disgust the opponent, who can still remember the Third Reich at the height of its power from the days of his youth, clears his throat... glares defiantly at the assembled mass, pounds his cane violently upon the floor... and utters with thick Teutonic accent...

"Verdigris?" "Ver di Gris?!"

beauanderos wrote:So Angela Merkel is explaining, again, to the German Parliament why yet another bailout will be required for Greece. One elder spokesman, schooled as an Austrian economist, rises slowly to his feet to question the preposterousness of her assertion. Gathering his strength to voice his disgust the opponent, who can still remember the Third Reich at the height of its power from the days of his youth, clears his throat... glares defiantly at the assembled mass, pounds his cane violently upon the floor... and utters with thick Teutonic accent...

"Verdigris?" "Ver di Gris?!"

It's down at the greasy spoon on the corner. Wow, this thread spun out of control in record time.

shinnosuke wrote:Lately it seems that I am pulling a lot of verdigris covered pennies out of my good pile...much more than a year ago. Anybody else experiencing the same issue?

Is there a lot of humidity where you're storing your good pennies? Not keeping any infected ones with the good ones, are you? Green gunk WILL spread.

beauanderos wrote:

shinnosuke wrote:Lately it seems that I am pulling a lot of verdigris covered pennies out of my good pile...much more than a year ago. Anybody else experiencing the same issue?

Is there a lot of humidity where you're storing your good pennies? Not keeping any infected ones with the good ones, are you? Green gunk WILL spread.

San Antonio is drier than Houston, but more humid that Phoenix. My wife hates the cold so we open windows and leave the air conditioner off for lengthy periods of time. I separate the green ones when sorting. That's why I noticed the recent increase.

Being just a few miles north of San Antonio, I too have noticed that lately the pennies are nastier overall. I attribute it to fewer coppers being in the mix and the weaker zincs corroding a lot more. Not sure why, but my green pile has grown significantly lately. I have been trying to keep the greenies seperate in the ugly pile. A lot more uglies than that of a year ago. Percentages have slipped too. The end grows nearer! Pile them high, just make a good stack and an ugly one.

sparechange wrote:Being just a few miles north of San Antonio, I too have noticed that lately the pennies are nastier overall. I attribute it to fewer coppers being in the mix and the weaker zincs corroding a lot more. Not sure why, but my green pile has grown significantly lately. I have been trying to keep the greenies seperate in the ugly pile. A lot more uglies than that of a year ago. Percentages have slipped too. The end grows nearer! Pile them high, just make a good stack and an ugly one.

I agree with your analysis, sparechange. I will just keep on stacking, whatever color those coppers are.

How fast and under what conditions does verdigris usually spread? I've had my buckets of pennies stored away for about two or three years, and routine inventories show negligible or no increase in verdigris. Just north of you fellows, in Austin, I do keep my pennies in an upstairs, air-conditioned closet away from moisture, but I worry that eventually the verdigris will spread.

I also think the subject would be (would have been - I guess because the genre is passe now) a great name for a Seattle grunge rock band.

I've curtailed cent sorting since start of the year but at that time I had noticed an increase in nastiness of the coin here.

I did not know that this could be a problem. I am just starting out, but I plan to store them for years. I was wondering if rolling the pennies would prevent this, especially if they are stored in a non humidy controlled area. I appreciate the information that I am getting here.

Its because I dump all the crappy pennies I find in your part of town.

chris6084 wrote:Its because I dump all the crappy pennies I find in your part of town.

I knew it. A pox on you. Or you can redeem yourself by trading me your clean silver for my verdigris-laden coins.

shinnosuke wrote:

chris6084 wrote:Its because I dump all the crappy pennies I find in your part of town.

I knew it. A pox on you. Or you can redeem yourself by trading me your clean silver for my verdigris-laden coins.

Hey...I gave you that pox as a birthday present!

Engineer wrote:

shinnosuke wrote:

chris6084 wrote:Its because I dump all the crappy pennies I find in your part of town.

I knew it. A pox on you. Or you can redeem yourself by trading me your clean silver for my verdigris-laden coins.

Hey...I gave you that pox as a birthday present!

Keeping unwanted birthday presents is so 20th century. Regifting, dude, it's the wave of the future.

Hmmm? Verdigris Rising? Would the name work for a rap artist?

One day I have to finish my parody "Funky Green Patina".

Diggin4copper wrote:Sounds like a Punk rock band from the 80s....

Yes it does!

shinnosuke wrote:

chris6084 wrote:Its because I dump all the crappy pennies I find in your part of town.

I knew it. A pox on you. Or you can redeem yourself by trading me your clean silver for my verdigris-laden coins.

At the rate silver is going, I might trade you one silver dime per verdigris-laden penny.

i grow copper verdigris and brass dezincification crystals. There is an amazing array of colored crystals growing; mostly white, some are green, and some are red....pretty cool.

"Verdigris Rising"? That's what happens every spring in my state.

Here is the Verdigris River watershed:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... vermap.png

How are you storing your brass cents? Do you put them in PVC plastic buckets? If you are storing them in metal containers, don't forget about galvanic reactions.

If moisture is the issue, how about placing silicon moisture absorbing packs on top of the coppers before you close the lid? (That is a real good thing to do for your ammo, too.)

I sorted some cents yesterday....went to pour the Cu into the intermediate holding container....WTF....Lots of coin with lots of green growing right before my eyes...wasn't there last week. Put my hands in there to see if they got wet somehow....WET....smelled them....I cant write the words that came from my mouth....I am glad my fam was not home at the time...all the cat including the cat is now out of the house. I have an orange bucket with about $175 of cat pissed on (apparently a weeks worth) Cu cents. The green stuff goes down a couple of inches. Ohh that was nasty. Now looking for a way to clean them up, cant even dump'em, too wet for the machine. CRUD.

fasteddy wrote:I sorted some cents yesterday....went to pour the Cu into the intermediate holding container....WTF....Lots of coin with lots of green growing right before my eyes...wasn't there last week. Put my hands in there to see if they got wet somehow....WET....smelled them....I cant write the words that came from my mouth....I am glad my fam was not home at the time...all the cat including the cat is now out of the house. I have an orange bucket with about $175 of cat pissed on (apparently a weeks worth) Cu cents. The green stuff goes down a couple of inches. Ohh that was nasty. Now looking for a way to clean them up, cant even dump'em, too wet for the machine. CRUD.

Best cleaning method:
Step 1: Kill that dang cat.
Step 2: ...

Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay wrote:"Verdigris Rising"? That's what happens every spring in my state.

Here is the Verdigris River watershed:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... vermap.png

How are you storing your brass cents? Do you put them in PVC plastic buckets? If you are storing them in metal containers, don't forget about galvanic reactions.

If moisture is the issue, how about placing silicon moisture absorbing packs on top of the coppers before you close the lid? (That is a real good thing to do for your ammo, too.)

I was speaking of cents coming right out of bank rolls. More greenies than ever before.

shinnosuke wrote:

Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay wrote:"Verdigris Rising"? That's what happens every spring in my state.

Here is the Verdigris River watershed:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... vermap.png

How are you storing your brass cents? Do you put them in PVC plastic buckets? If you are storing them in metal containers, don't forget about galvanic reactions.

If moisture is the issue, how about placing silicon moisture absorbing packs on top of the coppers before you close the lid? (That is a real good thing to do for your ammo, too.)

I was speaking of cents coming right out of bank rolls. More greenies than ever before.

Yeah, I realized that after I re-read what I posted. I didn't correct it 'cause I had to get back to work.

I guess the real issue is what to do with them so they don't contaminate your hoard? IF so, just stick them in a container of their own. Copper is copper, right? Sell'em cheap! Like 2 x face! Old P.T. Barnum would tell suckers they had to pay extra for the "special aged copper patina"!