Cleaning your coins.

[drewg]

Hello,
I'm going to post my tips on cleaning coins. I use this method whenever I find or purchase coins.

First of all, if you have dirty coins with dirt all over them, soak them in water, change the water regularly, I'd say 3 hour intervals, at night time let them soak, boiling or cold water doesn't matter, do this until most of the dirt is gone, or 5 - 6 soaks.

Now get some dish-washing liquid, pour it in while the water is running, and soak the coins in these at 6 hour intervals, getting a soft or medium hardened toothbrush and scrubbing them wont hurt, do this until all of the dirt is gone. If the dirt hasn't gone by scrubbing them and soaking them in 3 - 4 washes move on to step 3, if it is gone, you can skip step 3, but most likely there will be fine bits of dirt.

Now to soak them in olive oil, the olive oil has something in it that breaks down the dirt, and the oilness of it helps to shine, I'd soak it in 24 hour intervals, or longer until the olive oil looks dirty, I'd do this while scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and focusing on dirty points with cotton ear wad things. Do this until all of the dirt is gone, if it still fails not to worry (next step will help).

This is an optional step, usually I start here with non dirty coins, but if your coins look black or just not normal, I'd do this. Get a bowl, spray some "Easy off bam" in it, get a medium bristle toothbrush and dip the toothbrush in it and scrub. The toothbrush will go blackish, scrub the toothbrush with soap, rinse it, repeat the step until the toothbrush comes off clean after scrubbing the coin.

After doing that towel dry them, moisture is bad for a coin!

This is a required step and will give the coin it's shine. I use Brasso on all coins, whether brass or not, you can use Silvero or Goldo for different types of coins but it doesn't matter to be honest. I get some kitchen towel, I fold it over, and hold the kitchen towel on top of the brasso and tip it over, twice. Then I get the coin and wipe the brasso all over, the spot will go black! Now to wipe the brasso/silvero/goldo off, find a clean spot next to or at the opposite end of the kitchen towel and rub the side you put brasso on, rub rub rub until it goes black and now you have 1 side shiny, now do the next side the same way, using the same kitchen towel, or a new peice, up to you, I use the same bit.

Now you have shiny coins!

I've tested lots of ways to shine coins and I find these ways make the coin most valuable and pleasing to the eye.
If you're worried about the easy off bam bit, you can skip it and just use soapy water, hot water, or more olive oil until the dirty bits come off.

I don't claim I made these steps up, but I came across them in my own way and testing. I haven't tried other types of oil like peanut oil or vegetable oil, but it probably wont hurt to use that, if you're worried use olive oil.

Hope you find these tips helping!

[jbakic]

I might add that doing this to valuable coins will ruin them for a collector and diminish the value.

If you think your coins might be worth something, don't clean them until you verify their value.

[gordiesgirl]

Thanks for sharing, Sounds like alot of work, I just roll em. Most of the keepers come out of the ground pretty enough for me.

[anne]

We wouldn't do that with our Ancient coins, the clad would be fine but a definite No No to Brasso and the like on old and valuable coins.

[bdahunter]

Getting pounded for a century by Mother Ocean in her salt and sand bath can be very hard on silver and copper coins. Cleaning methods are a bit more extreme than coins coming out of the dirt but some of the milder methods would still apply to you.
Coins encrusted with coral sand that blends with the oxidization from the coin have to be removed mechanically and chemically. The heaviest encrustation has to be rubbed and chipped off first but be careful not to slip and damage the coin with aggressive mechanical cleaning. A cheapo dremel type tool can also be handy in mechanical cleaning but you want a low powered cheap version not a real dremel as it's too powerful and can get away from you, damaging your find. After I have removed most of the heavy build up, my preferred chemical treatment is lemon juice and salt. Get a small cup or a shot glass, place the find in the bottom of the glass and put enough lemon juice in it to cover your find then pour a half a teaspoon of salt over top of the find. Your find will start to bubble almost immediately as a chemical reaction occurs between the acidic lemon juice and the base salt, this will break down the rest of the encrustation and activate the metal of the find where it contacts the oxidization. After an hour or so of this treatment (varies with the condition of the find) you should be able to slough off the build up. Polish coin with your cheapo dremel using the buffing wheel and perhaps a bit of jewellers rouge.
For extra cleaning in the nooks and crannies, spray the find with WD-40 and let sit for a few hours, spray again with WD-40 and buff with a soft cloth to remove any remaining dirt. The WD-40 will not only clean the find but it will also protect it against further corrosion so your find will stay shiny and new for a long time.
Really old, copper coins will benefit from a long soak in freshwater changed regularly to remove the salt that has worked its way into the metal. This salt needs to be neutralized or your copper coins can get what is referred to as copper disease. The salt will eat up your find from the inside out unless it is neutralized, cast iron is particularly bad for this as I had an 8 pounder cannonball literally rip itself apart like an onion peeling open, a big disappoinment for me.
Some of this will apply to you some won't, but I hope it is helpful.

Cheers,

BDA

[Metalman]

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg !!

Metalman

[SandSkimmer]

thanks for all the info.....

you can never have to much

jT