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Tumble or not...
- Thread starter pacer
- Start date
Champ Ferguson
New member
I tumble the ones destined for the machine at the credit union. Thumbler's Tumbler Model B. Handles 15# of material.
I don't tumble anything collectible.
However, tumbling is a great/fast way to clean clad to spend it. I wait until I've got a 'load'.
Be careful to tumble dime, nickels and quarters together...and tumble the pennies by themselves. This is important!
If you tumble pennies/clad together, the electro chemical reaction will transfer copper to the nickel metals, and all your clad and nickels will be a pinkish red.
The shinny part of clad is 25% nickel and 75% copper. If you were to be really picky, you should probably do the pure nickels separately as well...but I'm far too impatient/lazy for that.
There's several media you can use, but probably the most common, and lowest effort, is to use aquarium gravel, a little dish soap, and perhaps a dash of vinegar (especially for the pennies.)
I'm sure there are dozens of posts with recommendations, and other 'secret sauce' formulas.
(BTW I bought the cheapest tumbler Harbor Freight had on sale...seems to work fine.)
mike
However, tumbling is a great/fast way to clean clad to spend it. I wait until I've got a 'load'.
Be careful to tumble dime, nickels and quarters together...and tumble the pennies by themselves. This is important!
If you tumble pennies/clad together, the electro chemical reaction will transfer copper to the nickel metals, and all your clad and nickels will be a pinkish red.
The shinny part of clad is 25% nickel and 75% copper. If you were to be really picky, you should probably do the pure nickels separately as well...but I'm far too impatient/lazy for that.
There's several media you can use, but probably the most common, and lowest effort, is to use aquarium gravel, a little dish soap, and perhaps a dash of vinegar (especially for the pennies.)
I'm sure there are dozens of posts with recommendations, and other 'secret sauce' formulas.
(BTW I bought the cheapest tumbler Harbor Freight had on sale...seems to work fine.)
mike
Champ Ferguson
New member
Youre welcome. Its all about how much you want to tumble at a time and for how long. I've been tumbling rocks for decades and tend to do probably $60-70 in coins at a time. Add in the water and the total weight means I need a pretty good tumbler. I've seen some homemade tumblers that work fine. Obviously it isn't rocket science.
fwiw, I use water + a dash of soap. My coins don't have to pass the eye test, just the machine test so color doesn't matter(tho I do tumble pennies separately). If they are REALLY grungy or have calcareous concretions (beach coins), then i'll use an abrasive appropriate to the load. Theres no reason to add abrasives to circulating coins except to cut down on tumbling time. If you use silica sand (beach sand) then keep an eye on them cause it'll wear them down Quick.
fwiw, I use water + a dash of soap. My coins don't have to pass the eye test, just the machine test so color doesn't matter(tho I do tumble pennies separately). If they are REALLY grungy or have calcareous concretions (beach coins), then i'll use an abrasive appropriate to the load. Theres no reason to add abrasives to circulating coins except to cut down on tumbling time. If you use silica sand (beach sand) then keep an eye on them cause it'll wear them down Quick.