I got a set of 60's hats where the top looked just like that. It was actually just caked on dirt. I know that patina is, well... dirt, but this was something far from what I had ever seen before. I almost needed a shower whenever I mounted them to the stand! Anyway, the patina (dirt) came off on my fingers, my sticks and was making a mess of everything, so I did the old soap and water thing and it now looks just like any uncleaned 60's cymbal should. Looks like the one you're looking at will be the same... caked on but loose enough to come off with some soapy water to reveal the 'actual' patina if you will. Does that make any sense? Dirt on top of patina?

The cymbal is old enough to have been left out during several volcano eruptions. Just sayin'...

Very familiar pattern. The top of my Paiste 602 Sound Edge top hat looks just like that (on the left)

[img]http://black.net.nz/cym2011/14SEhats.jpg[/img]

but the matching bottom doesn't. The underside of the top hat is similarly bright, and so is an area on the top of the top hat where the felts are. I also have a similarly top patina'd 602 ride which is bright underneath which lived and played with with the hats for many years. They date to late 1960s.

I've always assumed that this dense dark top only patina is due to hanging out in smokey bars (or drum rooms) for years and years. They have now moved to a smoke free environment. :2Cents:

it looks like it's been in a fire. Was there a house band playing in "the towering inferno"?

That cymbal coating is by no means naturally occurring. It was applied by some schmuck who is not being truthful. It was not caused by a fire as the bottom and bell bear that out. Avoid and move on. The guy is a liar and not worth doing buisiness with.

That looks like it was srayed with krylon flat black textured coating type stuff He did not even take the time to remove it from the cymbal stand so the stand felts and wing nut is covered in the stuff. I think he was trying to re-create the paiste black alphas or something like that and what he got was OH MY GOD what have i done i just ruined this cymbal now it's time to sell it.

I would like to get this cymbal just to do a before and after.

I have seen Zildjian cymbals like this at the Chicago drum show and tried them and they sounded great. I honestly don't know if they were altered though. That one does look like it has some caked on dirt.

Just when you think you've seen everything. I have never seen a cymbal like that. Hard to tell by the pic, it looks black but I see green and yellow in some if it. Could just be the pic. If it's truly black in color I'd think maybe some sort of coating or paint. What about the cymbals that were buried in the ground? What kind of finish do those get on them? Earth Tone line or something like that I think they were? Made by Zlidjian.

I just picked up a couple of cymbals that are dirty way beyond patina. Patina is the natural oxidizing metal does. These are green and black. I'm going to do some horse trading with them and I'm going to use one of those Mr. Clean magic erasers and just get the grime off of them.