Cleaning the Royal Amber

Non-collector's often ask me "haven't they all ruusted away by now" when I described going dumping for cans. Well, many of them have. But you'd be surprised how long cans can last when they are buried, and how much paint can remain under the rust. This month's can is an example. I bought it on eBay because I saw it had never been cleaned and I thought some of the rust would come off. I let it soak for a day in warm oxalic acid. The before and after photos below show the difference. While not as much rust cleaned off as I had hoped, enough of it DID come off to make this a nice addtion to my collection.

 

Before: Side 1	After: Side 1	Before: Front	After: Front	Before: Side 2	After: Side 2

 

This conetop is a nice 1950s Royal Amber from Wiedemann Brewing in Newport, Kentucky ( a suburb of Cincinnati). I covered Royal Amber as my September 2013 COM.

 

Right after I wrote this page I was able to pick up a second cone that needed cleaning. This one is a nice Moosehead from Canada.