Electrolisis- is awesome for cleaning "

[kaolinwasher]

after 8 years of detecting i finally bought a electrolysis unit , off ebay and so far have experimented with a very crusty nickel and got all the corrosion off, and a Cut nail that was really rusty , that also cleaned up nice I was amazed at how this electrolysis can turn the hard corrosion to a soft removable entity. the hard black Iron was falling off the nail , I was informed that you need very little baking soda to do the elecrolosis Cuz water , lets say pure water will not conduct electricity, it need what is called an electrolyte that make the water conduct electric current , Old news to many of you . i used a pinch in the container shown about 1/4th teaspoon its a bad idea to use salt because salt breaks down to form clorine gas , remember WW1 and the gas, used . and this way it goes along real mellow not harsh like salt and vinegar would do . I used no vinegar and no salt Just a pinch of baking soda and i used a tooth brush and a small brass brush took several tries but got it clean without dissolving the hole thing away you can see it bubble , but at 1st i could see no bubbling and wondered if it was working but when i took it out the tarnish was softened and i could brush it away

 

[Mega]

I would have said that it would be all right on modern coins/artifact but over in the UK most folks who have used these types of kits end up given up using them,the reason being is that folks have found out that you can totally destroy say a potentially valuable coin by using this method especially silver coins etc.Another reason is although you think that cleaning them makes them look better and more desirable by dealer or collectors infact they tend to make coins no value what so ever,as dealer much prefer to have original patination on a coin.

Of course it upto the individual what they do with the finds that they have dug up,but as a general rule if in doubt leave it well alone and dont attempt to clean it,if i find say a decent roman coin i will just run it under the tap with a very soft tooth brush rather than end up with just a blob after cooking it far to long with one of these kits.

Just my personal opinion of course.

 

[ironsight]

I'll second Mega B comments, don't scrub or otherwise squeaky clean a potentially valuable coin or any other valuable artifact.
When i suspect a target might be valuable, all i do is rinse it in a fast sream of water, maybe lightly brush under the water stream with a soft bristled tooth brush and let it air dry then research it.

If you want to clean a lesser value coin here is an electrolysis method i use which requires no electrical source.

Place a strip of aluminum foil at the bottom of a container
Lay the coin on top of the foil
Place a table spoon of A&H Washing soda over the coin
Pour boiling water over the whole thing

It'll start fizzing and after its done fizzing pull the coin out and rinse.
You'll need to experiment with the recipe and procedure with junk coins.

Washing soda is sometimes hard to find, not all grocery stores carry it. If they stock it, it'll be in the laundry detergent area.
I got mine at a large hardware store that carries just about everything.

 

[kaolinwasher]

ya roman coin is a hole different thing , the vikings may have made it hear but not the romans , I will try to find some of that washing soda thanks for the led

 

[MarkCZ]

Well, I setup a homemade version tonight trying to see if I can clean up a coin that has NO markings left that I can find, I've had it soaking in olive oil for like six months, which didn't do anything except make it oily. I'm pretty sure by it thinness that whatever it was is pretty much gone! by its overall size I suspect it to be a 2 cent piece, and I would like nothing better that to find enough of a single mark to prove that. So, this is my last ditch effort to try and find a identifying mark.

But the pictures does show the process in action, this is the second time around. And its not been in the process very long either.

Mark

 

[Illinoismic]

Electrolysis excites molecules effectively scrubbing the coin clean. If it's an old coin and you do this you can't even get it graded. It will come back as "cleaned" destroying it's value other then silver or gold scrap

 

[MarkCZ]

Electrolysis excites molecules effectively scrubbing the coin clean. If it's an old coin and you do this you can't even get it graded. It will come back as "cleaned" destroying it's value other then silver or gold scrap

In my case the coin is worthless if it can't be identified, if I can clean it and can identify it then it at lest becomes a real known coin, now it could just as well be a carwash token.

Also, cleaning a thousand year coin is different than cleaning a 100 year old coin. The coin collecting books (official ones) gives the collector a guide to grading a coin, being cleaned, isn't in the books, there isn't anything about a polished 1921 penny that makes it worth less than a corroded 1921 penny if the certain markings about them are the same visible detail . If I find an excellent condition 1900 Silver dollar but its all green and I use Baking Soda, hot water and a tooth brush to polish it up sparkling clean and you have one that's badly worn, missing 80 percent of its detail and we send them both off to be graded they're not going to put some great value on your worn out green dollar and send me mine back with a note saying "Sorry, but your coin has No value because its been cleaned" that's not how this works.

VERY OLD coins (thousand or thousands of years old) that are not Gold or Silver can just fall apart if you even attempt to clean them, so in a case like this you better handle it with upmost care.

Mark

 

[ironsight]

The majority of silver coins i dug up would show at least its mint/date mark with a good soaking in soapy water and then put under a stream of clear water. I have had a few which required some gentle tooth brushing but always do that under a stream of water to carry away the brushed-off dirt so it doesn't have a chance of further scratching the coin. Soil especially dry soil is abrasive and can cause micro scratches.
Of course the type of mineralized soil the coin was dropped in has a lot to do with it.

Old copper coins are another matter.
Offhand i'd say if its that bad to begin with, its numistic value would probably be minimal at best unless its a real real rare coin.

A gentle method i found on the internet for cleaning dirty mineral/soil encrusted coins used be some archaeologists is to first soak them in water then put in the freezer. The water should initially penetrate the dirt layer. Then when the water freezes it expands the dirt causing it to split apart leaving the coin's metal untouched.
I've used this method and it does work but might take numerous cycles of this for really dirty coins.
But keep in mind this process will not scratch or degrade the coin's metal, the only thing affected is anything on the coin which can absorb water.

Another similar method is to place the coin on wax paper then cover it with a thin layer of elmers white glue. When the glue has thoroughly dried peel it off the coin. The dirt should come off with the dried glue.

 

[MarkCZ]

In recent times I ran across several rolls of US Mint Rolled half dollars, and several consecutive years, with both mint marks. That made ALL the coins Uncirculated! The date range for these were,2001 - 2008 both P & D mints marks.
I put on some soft gloves,
Laid down a terry cloth towel,
and opened and sorted a good many of them.
All the coins had scratches on them from being handled by the machines at the mint that sort and roll them, the one at the ends of the rolls were the worst so I discarded those to go back into circulation first. I put together four or five sets, sold three or four sets on Fleabay and kept two sets that I still have. The point to that is scratched coin is something that is common for them and the only possible way to not get a scratched one is to buy a "Proofed" one or set.
Many banks have machines that count, sort, and roll coins all day long! these machines are just brutal on coins.
Then you have those large fancy casinos that loads ALL their coins into huge coin washers/cleaners so that when its handed out it shiny and pretty.
Circulated coins are abused! they are abused at the mint before you can even see them, so in the end its collateral, collected destruction.
So, any wear, any scratches, nicks, marks, holes, grinder marks, rings, is all a normal life for coins.

Here is where I see the problem for at lest modern coins (100 years old or so) is if you find one and the date or other important details about the coin is near gone then ruff or hash cleaning may be enough to finish it off and not even be able to tell what its date is, at this point the coin would fall off the list of even a poor grade.
So a modern coin that comes out of the ground corroded, pitted, whacked by a lawnmower, isn't worth much anyway, now the grading condition for coins that are say 150 older or older can be more rough, more worn, even pitted as long as you can make it out then it probably better for the average person not to do anything as far as trying to clean it up themselves.

But I don't treat EVERY coin I find the same, what is? what's it made of? how old is it? is it rare?

Mark

 

[mudpuppy]

Same here MarkCZ...I first check to see if its a key date or its value regarding numismatics before I hit it with the juice...key dates tokens or any found item with a collector or numismatic value higher than melt get a soft fresh water careful dirt knock off...all the rest get either electrolysis or a polish with a jewelers cloth to bring out the 'shine'...I made my own electrolysis rig out of an old cell phone charger and some alligator clips per Chicago Rons youtube vid..

"Dr Tones" up on the CTX3030 site just had a dug key date barber Q go for over 6k on an internet auction site, and he filmed the whole deal and posted the vid!...thats what we want!
Mud

 

[Larry (IL)]

You have your polarity reversed Mark, your spoon is bubbling not the coin. The coin should be on the negative clip.

 

[MarkCZ]

Well the color of the leads I'm using isn't positive and negative like one would think, the reason for that is at first I couldn't remember which item went positive and which one went negative, so I just clipped them on with no regard to color and watched the action and then I flipped them until I had light bubbling at the coin and a collection stream of debris to the spoon. So, here is my connection of the leads at the battery. So, on my next project I'll make the color to polarity match. I have two coins that have no identifying marks and are more black than any other color, so, I keep changing the water out and cleaning the collected stuff off the spoon. If you look at the center picture above you can see a cloudy stream flowing from the coin to the spoon, so this foamy crap comes off the penny and collects onto and around the spoon. The 9 volt battery doesn't really bubble the water but you can see tiny suds like at the surface of the coin.
Anyway at the battery the leads are switched.

Mark

 

[MarkCZ]

Same here MarkCZ...I first check to see if its a key date or its value regarding numismatics before I hit it with the juice...key dates tokens or any found item with a collector or numismatic value higher than melt get a soft fresh water careful dirt knock off...all the rest get either electrolysis or a polish with a jewelers cloth to bring out the 'shine'...I made my own electrolysis rig out of an old cell phone charger and some alligator clips per Chicago Rons youtube vid..

"Dr Tones" up on the CTX3030 site just had a dug key date barber Q go for over 6k on an internet auction site, and he filmed the whole deal and posted the vid!...thats what we want!
Mud

For now I just used a rechargeable 9 volt battery which I found will Go all night doing a cleaning process with no problems. But, big brother has a birthday coming up in April so I may make a couple of electrolysis cleaners out of some AC power adapters that I'm sure I have laying around the house for both of us.

Here is what I'm talking about when I say a worthless coin! Its just to far gone to be able to date it.

Mark

 

[JimmyCT]

Good deal Gunnar. You cleaned that tag right up!

I have a charger to where I can change the polarity and adjust the voltage. Sometimes I need extra juice to buzz off the crud I certainly do not recommend this type of cleaning (at all) for potentially valuable coins. This method of cleaning can make one happy and sad all in the same sentence.

 

[JimmyCT]

and no that isn't poop on my charger That is crude from a previous juicing.

 

[kaolinwasher]

I tried my 1st silver coin, to clean , It had a heavy crust on it I could not get off with any scrubbing, i used 2cups melted snow water and 1 tsp baking soda, i started with a stainless steel anode, ( thats the part that is positive) and it did not take long for the anode to look like something was wrong water turned a murky brown and the stainless steel was actually corroding , so I read up on it and some other guy said that its the crome coming off and its toxic so after i heard that i pulled the stainless spoon , and was in a twit , as to what to use , some said carbon graphite, but i have none , or titanium coated with platinum ,, Welp i just grabbed a steel clip used for lawn mower deck. and used that for the anode, and behold the water was much cleaner and the Iron did not even degrade hardly at all but i got that silver coin clean it took several time in and out and lots of scrubbing with a tooth brush and i had to rub off some of the stuck on crust with a pencil ,( the lead part ) and by gully . i got it really clean with out any degrading away of the coin , what you have to do is as soon as you get it out you wet your thumb and stick your thumb in baking soda and rub the coin and the tarnish comes off then rinse keep repeating this until it is clean and use a tooth brush I was told you could not use Iron for an anode when cleaning silver this is not tru -- you do not need salt and vinegar this will destroy the coin its way to harsh. you need 1 gall of distilled water and 1 tblsp baking soda yes just one tablespoon baking soda per gallon do not use a stainless spoon for silver Talk later

 

[MarkCZ]

Okay, here is my mystery coin, both sides.

The coin is a just a tad larger in diameter than a regular US penny, but only a little, and its weight is a little heavier than a penny but then I lot of this penny is corroded away.
Going through my coin books I best guessed it to be a 2 cent piece and that would make a cool find for me seeing how nobody in our family has ever found one, even if I can't date it I would still like to get some detail off from it to be able to confirm what it actually is, so far nothing.

Mark

 

[kaolinwasher]

Thats a hard to read , but looks like some letters lower right.

 

[JimmyCT]

Wow Mark that thing has definitely seen better days lol
Looks Like the letter "R" with a "1" looks like a number fell off lol then maybe a "7" and a "5"?

 

[MarkCZ]

"kaolinwasher" and "earthlypotluck" you guys are amazing! Working we as much magnification as I have and picking out that area you all referenced I got this. So its not a token! it is a coin which is a big deal at this point. I'll try a couple more SUPER close ups of the coin and lets see if anybody can find me something else.
I added two red arrows to other possible letters or numbers in this view.
Thanks you all

Mark