I was recently given a Copper Chop Cup with a blemish on the finish. Apparently the previous owner decided to clean the cup with something that removed the lacquer finish about the size of a quarter. The rest of the cup looks beautiful, except the quarter size area with no lacquer. The blemished area has tarnshed and is very apparent. How do I fix this? Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

Not sure but it sounds like the clear coat was partially removed. It might be that you will have to remove the rest of it and let it tarnish or polish it.

Maybe someone who knows a little more may chime in...

I'm sure Bill Palmer has some great insight into this situation, but my suggestion is that you refinish the entire cup. It would be very hard, if not impossible to buff out the tarnish, then paint on some lacquer in the same place and make it look like a continuous, smooth finish.

You would have to strip the rest of the lacquer off with something that's safe for the copper, then polish the whole thing. I can notice a difference in tone from a freshly polished cup and the same cup, 1 day later (without even handling it). So, only once you've polished it smooth and even again, would I want to spray it with lacquer.

Once again, I think Bill, and certainly others around here should be able to chime in with the proper technique for spraying the lacquer and removing the old stuff.

The other option would simply be to remove the lacquer and keep it polished regularly. I guess it's more maintenance in the long run, but it'll certainly be easier than trying to get a good smooth coat of lacquer on it.