thefoursea
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what is the best way to clean crusted coin?
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cleaning coins
- Thread starter thefoursea
- Start date
I don't know why I haven't tried the CLR on coins. I have used it for years on my ice
machine at the shop. I have a shallow well that is rusty as all get out, put in a filter and
in a week's time it would be dark brown with rust. The problem was the rust was getting
into my ice machine and causing a metal taste and had to put the filter in to stop that.
I can dump the water in the filter, (it is clear glass so you can tell when the actual filter inside
needs cleaning), fill the filter with CLR tonight and go back out there tomorrow and the CLR,
filter, and glass are clear as a bell. Gonna try that on coins as we have soil here that will
turn them a rusty color but strangely, no rust on top soil where you metal detect. Very strange.
machine at the shop. I have a shallow well that is rusty as all get out, put in a filter and
in a week's time it would be dark brown with rust. The problem was the rust was getting
into my ice machine and causing a metal taste and had to put the filter in to stop that.
I can dump the water in the filter, (it is clear glass so you can tell when the actual filter inside
needs cleaning), fill the filter with CLR tonight and go back out there tomorrow and the CLR,
filter, and glass are clear as a bell. Gonna try that on coins as we have soil here that will
turn them a rusty color but strangely, no rust on top soil where you metal detect. Very strange.
Put them in a jar and add vinegar and a little salt. Shake well. Repeat until clean. Make sure you separate the pennies especially the zincs. Quarters dimes and nickels can go in together. This is just for common pocket change. Don't try this on anything you suspect is old and possibly valuable.
I use three cheap sealable containers from the Dollar Tree as well.
One for all clad dimes, quarters, half's.
One for nickels.
One for copper and zinc Lincoln's.
This is only used for coins I plan to put back into circulation.
Each get a good shake and swirl in their containers. BTW, I do one kind at a time.
I then pour the coins and solution into an open container with a strainer in it to catch the coins.
Then pour the solution back into the sealable container to use again later.
Give the coins a good rinse with soap and water, then dry on a fluffy towel.
Sort through and separate deciding on which ones get a second chem bath, and those ready to spend.
I take mine on a second journey through my Harbor Freight dual drum rock tumbler. Tumble the coins from same batch specific separation as done with the toilet bowl cleaner. I put about a cup of coins in with a cup of white aquarium gravel, a dash of Simple Green and water to just about cover everything.
Close up tight and tumble for an hour.
Use the same strainer system to catch the coins and separate the aquarium gravel while rinsing.
Clad comes out super clean and shiny as well as better looking than pocket change. Nickels will be really clean, but have a slight dull finsh to them. II thought about using something less abrasive on nickels but haven't explored my options.
Copper pennies will be clean and shiny. Zincs, will look like Swiss cheese and probably won't spend well. You can however take the zincs to the bank for replacement.
I never use any of these techniques with wheat pennies, Indian heads, silver or other coins I plan to save fior my collection.
One for all clad dimes, quarters, half's.
One for nickels.
One for copper and zinc Lincoln's.
This is only used for coins I plan to put back into circulation.
Each get a good shake and swirl in their containers. BTW, I do one kind at a time.
I then pour the coins and solution into an open container with a strainer in it to catch the coins.
Then pour the solution back into the sealable container to use again later.
Give the coins a good rinse with soap and water, then dry on a fluffy towel.
Sort through and separate deciding on which ones get a second chem bath, and those ready to spend.
I take mine on a second journey through my Harbor Freight dual drum rock tumbler. Tumble the coins from same batch specific separation as done with the toilet bowl cleaner. I put about a cup of coins in with a cup of white aquarium gravel, a dash of Simple Green and water to just about cover everything.
Close up tight and tumble for an hour.
Use the same strainer system to catch the coins and separate the aquarium gravel while rinsing.
Clad comes out super clean and shiny as well as better looking than pocket change. Nickels will be really clean, but have a slight dull finsh to them. II thought about using something less abrasive on nickels but haven't explored my options.
Copper pennies will be clean and shiny. Zincs, will look like Swiss cheese and probably won't spend well. You can however take the zincs to the bank for replacement.
I never use any of these techniques with wheat pennies, Indian heads, silver or other coins I plan to save fior my collection.
I just tumble in soapy water for those coins that I will feed to the credit union coin machine. I don't care what they look like; only that the machine will take them.f they are still crusty, like beach coins, I will give them a quick tumble in silica sand (others use limestone/dolomite sand).
For keepers, I use water and a toothbrush. (I haven't found any keydates or anything that could lose value by microscratching).
For keepers, I use water and a toothbrush. (I haven't found any keydates or anything that could lose value by microscratching).