Cleaning your finds??

[Jersey58]

I am relatively new to metal detecting and really enjoy coming home and cleaning my finds up. Currently I clean my finds with a vinegar and salt solution. The coins usually come up decent but sometimes it doesn't help much. I have some penny finds that I would love to clean up better. On this site, I heard mention of soaking coins in olive oil. What exactly does this do? Any advise would be appreciated.

thanks!

[robzombie852]

olive oil is safe and doesnt hurt the coins, usually does take a long time. and i havnt had good results with it. i like to use electrolisis ,check your pm's i sent you a link that shows how to make one, you have everything needed in your home.

[sue,uk]

i also like to use electrolisis like robzombie, but i think its ok to use on coins that are not worth too much. i find that it strips away the patina on copper coins but its ok if you want to keep them. the coin here at the top was so crusty i could not make out what it was, you can see some of the crust still on the coin, but after electrolisis under the crust is a nice coin!

[RingDancer]

Just wondering which olive oil you all are using? I use the extra virgin olive oil...the green olive oil. Been told only the green olive oil will do the trick. Never tried the other.
I soaked a coin in for about 3 months and it completely removed the crud to where I could see the date! I have a few others soaking now.

Pat

[Metalman]

Cleaning method is dictated quite alot on the coin, rare dates would of necessity need to be handled differently than a handful of modern,or even for that matter common date wheat cents,,

for common coins I use a vib tumbler and walnut or pecan shells, and vibrate them for several hours or a couple of days depending on the starting condition.

silver coins for the most part would not require this harsh of cleaning as they tend to be in better shape to start with.

Rare date coins the gentler the better, olive oil is a trusted method,it take time but it wont further damage the coin.

there are also coin conservation services that specialise in this type of thing, if the coin would have significant value this type of conservation would be worth looking into, as they are market acceptable, anything done by you will devalue the coin and many times degrade it further.

Rick