Coal

We have a piece of coal in our collection, which was mounted on a
pack to commemorate the opening of a mine.  The coal is now
suffering from what we think is pyrite disease; yellow spots have
appeared on the surface, the coal is splitting and braking apart and
some of the coal has deteriorated into a grey powder.  Acid free
paper next to the worst affected parts of the object has also become
yellow and brittle.

Is there anything I can do to stabilize this object or prevent to
similar items going the same way.

Sebastian Foxley
National Coal Mining Museum for England


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:73
                   Distributed: Tuesday, June 8, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-73-007
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