Cleaning cons

[BigTony]

I want to say thank you to the person who said to try Lime Away and steel shot for cleaning coins.

That post was a few months ago -

I bought the steel shot and the Lime away and this week when it was raining I cleaned two batches of clad coins and they came out very good.

No green patina from Salt and Vinegar.

Some still have the red clay on them but they are all spendable or could be cashed in at a bank.

First I washed the coins off with hot water them placed some steel shot in barrel - then added coins and more shot.
I ran them for about 45 minutes then washed off the red clay dirty water.
I placed them back in barrel with a little soap and hot water and ran them again for 45 minutes.
Came out better than the salt and vinegar method.
Thanks,
Tony

Next go round will be copper cents but when the weather is bad not now I can still detect here in NJ

 

[Elmy]

mkus said that.....I said salt and vinegar...I have no green patina...Then his method is what you should do for your coins.

HH and good luck !
E L M Y

 

[fastdraw]

I take all of my rare key date coins,... and polish them on a 1 Horsepower Wire Wheel.

 

[Elmy]

I take all of my rare key date coins,... and polish them on a 1 Horsepower Wire Wheel.

wow...key date coins?.....never clean a key date coin !.....unless you want it to be worth nothing....try this.... take one of your polished key date coins to a coin dealer and see what he says.

 

[Ted S]

mkus said that.....I said salt and vinegar...I have no green patina...Then his method is what you should do for your coins.

HH and good luck !
E L M Y

I'm going to try your method Elmy...I must have about 2 or 3 pounds of clad to cash in! I want a new Ruger pistol!

 

[Elmy]

I'm going to try your method Elmy...I must have about 2 or 3 pounds of clad to cash in! I want a new Ruger pistol!

WV62 just got done with a large amount of clad....may want to contact him on how it all came out for him using my method....never tried the lime away thing so I can't respond to how it works.

 

[Ted S]

I already have a gallon of vinegar for the coffee pot so just as well use it!

 

[Elmy]

I already have a gallon of vinegar for the coffee pot so just as well use it!

ok... one tip....rinse the coins from the tumbler in 1/2 cup of water and a teaspoon or 2 of baking soda to neutralize the vinegar....that will keep them shinny !

They should come out looking like this cleaned coin. It was black before the method like all clad comes out os the ground.
Maybe the green patina is the vinegar/salt mixture that you rinse out of the tumbler barrel ???
Yes, I get that...but it is not the coins that comes out green...stick a garden hose into the tumbler barrel and rinse it all out.

 

[BigTony]

mkus said that.....I said salt and vinegar...I have no green patina...Then his method is what you should do for your coins.

HH and good luck !
E L M Y

Thanks Elmy
Now I remember he did!
The steal shots reduce the rocks by plenty - so I was able to clean more coins per tumble.

Whenever I use salt and vinegar the coins come out with a green haze and it looks strange

 

[BigTony]

ok... one tip....rinse the coins from the tumbler in 1/2 cup of water and a teaspoon or 2 of baking soda to neutralize the vinegar....that will keep them shinny !

They should come out looking like this cleaned coin. It was black before the method like all clad comes out os the ground.
Maybe the green patina is the vinegar/salt mixture that you rinse out of the tumbler barrel ???
Yes, I get that...but it is not the coins that comes out green...stick a garden hose into the tumbler barrel and rinse it all out.


View attachment 9113

Oh maybe that is the reason
Most of my coins have red clay on them from the parks and fields where I hunt
Tony

 

[Elmy]

Oh maybe that is the reason
Most of my coins have red clay on them from the parks and fields where I hunt
Tony

It is a rather fast rinse sticking the garden hose into the tumbler...you do this as soon as it gets done tumbling....then rinse with the water/baking soda to neutralize the vinegar...1/2 cup in a jar with a lid and shake it...then towel dry... try this experiment...dip a clad coin into white vinegar and lay in on a jar lid and let it set.... now there is that green patina you are talking about...it needs rinsed and toweled dry to get rid of it . If want it to stay bright and shinny.... a little baking soda and water will do it.

If the Mkus way is ok for you by all means do it that way....I just use what I have in the house for cleaning coins at hardly any cost to me....probably no way perfect....but you see what I end up with in the pic.

 

[WV62]

I'm going to try your method Elmy...I must have about 2 or 3 pounds of clad to cash in! I want a new Ruger pistol!

Elmy is right I just got a new 2 drum tumbler and worked with Elmy through the details and once I got coins turning out pretty good I was off for the better part of 3 days of tumbling to work through about 27 lbs of found coins.
After cleaning I got busy and haven't got all that counted and rolled to cash in. I will see if I can get a picture and post here.

Ron in WV

 

[fastdraw]

wow...key date coins?.....never clean a key date coin !.....unless you want it to be worth nothing....try this.... take one of your polished key date coins to a coin dealer and see what he says.

I was being funny about the wire wheel Emmy.

 

[Elmy]

I was being funny about the wire wheel Emmy.

yes...I got that ...but some people may not have....some people are really into the coin collecting game and we shouldn't suggest doing anything to a valuable coin.
The guy who buys mine who not take it too good.... We are always being watched by some that don't even have a detector.

 

[WV62]

Okay here is what I just cleaned with directions from Elmy.
Lower right is all wheat pennies, then 2 full 10" plates of just regular pennies and then the clad and nickels in the middle.
As you can see the wheat pennies didn't do as well as the other regular pennies, my guess is they had been in the ground 20 or more years and just couldn't bring them back.
I am happy that all turned as Elmy said good enough to roll and cash in.
Good luck with that Ruger pistol, I have had several and all have been pretty good. I still have single six .22 / .22mag and a GP100 .357mag.

Ron in WV

 

[Elmy]

Okay here is what I just cleaned with directions from Elmy.
Lower right is all wheat pennies, then 2 full 10" plates of just regular pennies and then the clad and nickels in the middle.
As you can see the wheat pennies didn't do as well as the other regular pennies, my guess is they had been in the ground 20 or more years and just couldn't bring them back.
I am happy that all turned as Elmy said good enough to roll and cash in.
Good luck with that Ruger pistol, I have had several and all have been pretty good. I still have single six .22 / .22mag and a GP100 .357mag.

Ron in WVView attachment 9114

Now you got to like that pile of clad....Good Job WV62 !

E L M Y

 

[Ted S]

Looks great Ron! I have a few Rugers..My last purchase about a month ago was a Ruger stainless steel Bisley in .41 magnum. It's unfired new in the box. Now you know why I have to cash in some coins! Lol!! Ted

 

[silvercoinboy]

all, I would keep the copper pennies (1982 and before) since they have 2 cents worth of copper in them. They actually sell for a premium on eBay. Can't melt them now, but I would guess that rule will change. (1982 pennies can either be copper or zinc)

The zinc pennies can be usually turned in at the US Mint in Philadelphia, (also damaged clad) The redemption process is currently on hold though.

 

[IDXMonster]

If I was going to clean a “CON”....first, I’d take him out of his cell, have him strip down and hit him with the fire hose. I’m just speculating that this might be an effective way to clean a “CON”.

 

[Mark kus]

I want to say thank you to the person who said to try Lime Away and steel shot for cleaning coins.

That post was a few months ago -

I bought the steel shot and the Lime away and this week when it was raining I cleaned two batches of clad coins and they came out very good.

No green patina from Salt and Vinegar.

Some still have the red clay on them but they are all spendable or could be cashed in at a bank.

First I washed the coins off with hot water them placed some steel shot in barrel - then added coins and more shot.
I ran them for about 45 minutes then washed off the red clay dirty water.
I placed them back in barrel with a little soap and hot water and ran them again for 45 minutes.
Came out better than the salt and vinegar method.
Thanks,
Tony

Next go round will be copper cents but when the weather is bad not now I can still detect here in NJ

Yes CLR or lime away works well I usually run my clad once with a little soap and water then drain and add water and CLR re tumble works great..
Mark