Inventariação, tratamento e acondicionamento da coleção de numismática do Museu da Misericórdia do Porto (MMIPO)

Ana Catarina Caeiro Joaquim Lopes Cordeiro

Research output: Types of ThesisMaster's Thesis

Abstract

This work is part of the master's dissertation in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage and was carried out a merit scholarship awarded by Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto. It focuses on the numismatics collection of the Museu da Misericórdia do Porto (MMIPO) and the main goals were the inventorying, conservative treatment of and packaging this collection, as well as the development of inventory and cleaning methodologies suitable for numismatics collections in the conservation and restoration. The methodology adopted for in his project consisted in the creation of specialized standards for numismatics, the inventory of the 1309 collection coins and in the survey of their condition. Subsequently, the packaging method to be applied was defined and the group of currencies to be treated was chosen. We opted for a group of 35 bronze alloy coins that needed intervention. The cleaning methodology undertaken in this group aimed to preserve the oxidation patina. For the diagnosis towards the conservation work, the first analysis of Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersion (SEM-EDS) was performed to confirm the constitution of the alloy. Then, cleaning tests were carried out, including mechanical, chemical, ultrasound and supercritical CO2 cleaning, in order to determine which is the most efficient and least harmful for the conservation of coins. An analysis of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was performed to confirm the results of cleaning with supercritical CO2. Mechanical cleaning was the one that presented best results along with the traditional chemical cleaning with acetic acid and ethylene diamino tetraacetic acid (EDTA), in contrast with the cleaning with supercritical CO2, which provided the worst results. Ultrasonic baths appears to be promising, however we need further studies. A study was also carried out to compare whether the use of benzotriazole corrosion inhibitor (BTA) has an influence on the cleaning and the final appearance of the coins. It was decided to apply microcrystalline wax (Cosmolloid 80H) as a protective layer. Finally, the coins were packed individually in low density polypropylene bags.
Original languagePortuguese
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Vieira, Eduarda, Supervisor
  • Camarneiro, Nuno, Co-supervisor
Award date13 Jan 2021
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jan 2021

Keywords

  • MMIPO
  • Numismatics
  • Inventory
  • Packaging
  • Bronze cleaning
  • SEM-EDS
  • BTA

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