| Search our quarter-million Q&As |
Home of the finishing HOTLINE since 1989
-----How to darken pennies over the whole spectrum from bright to black for art project?
Quickstart:
As the original poster notes, there are many different ways to darken copper, but the issue at hand is how to repeatedly & predictably darken it to exact controllable tones.
We believe that the most promising approach is chemical darkening in a solution of a water-soluble darkening chemical, thus allowing a solution easily adjusted from highly concentrated to extremely dilute.
Read on, join in ..
Q. There are countless web pages that talk about how to clean and brighten pennies, but I want to find a controlled and reliable way to darken them to a specific shade, all the way to black. I've been scouring the web (and this site) and have come up with some distinct possibilities, but would like some experienced input as to the easiest, safest, most reliable, and/or most thorough way to do this. Here are some possibilities I've come across:
* Submersion in some type of solution -- perhaps zinc oxide
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
?
* Chemical rub -- such as liver of sulfur
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
* Speeding up oxidation -- of which I don't know how.
* Electroplating or galvanization
My primary goal is to produce a spectrum of pennies of varying darknesses between its original shiny copper color all the way to a reasonably dark black, and any shade in between.
My secondary goal is to use zinc-plated pennies to produce a spectrum of pennies of varying darknesses between their shiny silver color all the way to a reasonably dark black, and any shade in between.
This is for an art project.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ⇦ Answer?
Artist - Thousand Oaks, California, USA
January 9, 2012
? Did you find a good method to darken pennies? ⇦ Answer?
VJ WoodHobbyist - Wittmann, AZ
April 4, 2026
A. Hi.
Because liver of sulfur can be easily diluted to any strength, including very weak, I think immersion in it for a specific time like 30 seconds can generate a consistent and repeatable degree of darkening. Of course it is very important that the pennies be consistently cleaned. So I would suggest starting with shiny nre pennies and scrubbing with a solution of powdered pumice
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link] and a little dish detergent, and a tampico scrub brush ⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
Hopefully Dean or someone who has actually obtained a full spectrum of darkening will chime in.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
Sorry! Finishing.com is temporarily Read-Only.
Ted Mooney is retiring but I have several offers to take it over.
We're working hard to make sure we find it the best new home.