Invention Arts

A visual timeline of how the Statue of Liberty's copper exterior changed from a shiny penny-brown color to its iconic green patina over a span of about 25 to 30 years... When the Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York Harbor on October 28, 1886, it was a shiny reddish-brown, the color of a new penny. Its outer skin is made of copper sheets about the thickness of two pennies, hammered by hand into shape over an iron framework designed by Gustave Eiffel, the engineer behind the Eiffel Tower. Once exposed to rain, air and salty sea spray, the copper began to react. First it darkened to brown, then nearly black, before slowly turning green. That green coating, called a patina, forms as the copper reacts with oxygen, water and pollutants in the air. By the early 1900s, the statue had turned the color we know today. The patina isn’t damage. It actually protects the copper underneath from further corrosion, which is a big reason the statue’s skin has survived for 140 years. The torch you see today isn’t the original. The first torch was altered so many times over the years that it leaked and corroded, and it was replaced during a major restoration in 1986. The new flame is covered in thin sheets of 24-karat gold, and the original torch is now on display in the Statue of Liberty Museum. #drthehistories