Cleaning Coins

[spark456]

Can someone give me some input on the best way to clean cad coins and silver please? Thanks Spark

 

[Jeff63]

Seriously, Don't waste your time. I call clad junk money. Just put it into the change machine at the store and let them have their cut and take the paper money. scratch a new penny and you'll see no copper what soever= junk money

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

If you need to clean your clad to turn it in or run it through a machine, get a coin tumbler.

 

[morelic55]

Yea, just soak and knock the dirt off the clad, the Coin Star will eat it just fine!!!!

 

[Jeff in Pa]

A cheap rock tumbler from Harbor freight works for the clad but never use it on anything other than clad. As for the Silver, soap and water and if your cleaning old copper or Indian heads use peroxide. A small amount in a small container and bring it to a boil in the microwave, soak the coin for a short while and before the Peroxide gets cool take out the coin, use a stiff toothbrush dipped in the peroxide. Never let copper soak very long, I have seen my coins look worse if they soak too long.

 

[jakecooper]

I got a rock tumbler from Harbor Freight and it works well. My credit union has a coin machine and there's no charge but they have to be clean. Vending machines will take most dirty clad as well

 

[Prep1957]

I have old milk bottle half full WD40 let soak wipe put in Bait machine go fishing.

 

[terrywl]

most of my coins come off a salt water beach and need a good tumble, which works just fine.

 

[grinnel]

I have worked several days to register and get online to stop people from destroying value through bad cleaning efforts. For clad coins go ahead do anything you want. For silver, improper cleaning will destroy intrinsic and extrinsic values. National Geographic from the late 1970s(even that is debatable-I have tried to pinpoint the issue for years) had an article about a treasure hunter who recovered a mass of corrosion that had been a pile of silver coins. The x-ray showed 6-7 whole coins inside the mass of silver compounds after centuries of submersion. After a stint in an electrolytic corrosion thang(scientifically correct term!), dozens of coins turned from corrosion into whole metallic silver coins again!! The atoms had left the coin and turned into a crust and then back into coins again! I have read a few small items about aircraft recovery efforts that use this same process on engines sitting in seawater and freshwater for decades and when processed by electrolysis return to like-new condition. The actual processes have evaded lengthy searches until a day or so ago when I found a good lead. Google: Donny L Hamilton of Texas A&M University. I have downloaded his manual in a PDF and cannot cut & paste so you'll have to exercise your search engine. I have unsuccessfully sought the proper term for searching this for several years "electrolytic cleaning" has had the best results. I have a bit of metallurgy under my pate and believe the careful use of this can restore auto parts made of pot metal,, and restore firearms and coins if used judiciously. The easiest and cheapest way to restore silverware is to place some salt and baking soda in an aluminum pan(not one you want to look nice afterward!) or in an inert vessel(glass or enamel) and the silver item must touch the aluminum. The electrochemical series set up will alter the black silver sulfides, and other compounds back into metallic silver and the aluminum being more active will become corroded. I know that zinc is more active, but few common metals are more active than aluminum. The series runs from zinc to gold, and the farther from zinc the element is will make it recover when in an electrolyte(salt-acid- base solution).

 

[Ringo853]

soaked in olive oil is what I find useful on better copper/brass. Silver maybe electrolysis

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Silver, I use Baking Soda. Wet the silver use fingers lightly, cleans up like new and I can't detect any scratching at all with a magnifying glass. Make sure coin and hands are wet then sprinkle some baking soda on it and lightly rub between your fingers. When you rinse fingers off they feel slippery after.

Clad, soap and water and maybe a old toothbrush then coin machine.

Copper, I use olive oil soaking and a toothpick or lightly tooth brushed with a soft tooth brush.

 

[pescadore]

I use a Harbor Freight tumbler for clad and I don't clean my silver or any coin that I think could be valuable. When you tumble clad you tumble pennys separately or they will discolor your other coins.