Well that didnt work on pennies…..

[Ronstar]

Since most of the tips to clean coins was on this forum I bring up my experience here.

Had some rough Buff’s and V’s not of value but they were that rusty reddish brown we so often see. I have that really good 1906 V nickel that still had a little crud on it so thought I would see how cleaned up I could get them. They all turned out clean but with a dull finish. The good V was put in with about 30 minutes left. I was using the vinegar and salt recipe as directed.
That good ‘06 V is now roached. Before you could read LIBERTY on the headband, but not now. The others I was able to now see dates which was 1916 and 1925. Its a weird looking greyish dull finish now.
Put in some IH pennies after the others and now can barely tell they are pennies. The green patina is gone but it looks like the finish is pock marked and there is a whiteish crust on them. Yup, 1903 which again you could read LIBERTY on the head band is pretty much gone.
Not sure what I did wrong but none of them are worth displaying now.

IH penny in after photo is upper left…..

 

[JCR TX]

Bronze disease. I've tried every method I have read about or could dream up and nothing really helps. They usually end up like yours, worse off. The only thing that helps some is dry toothpicking. Anything wet seems to wash away any detail that is showing. I have had good success on encrusted Silver though using Navel Jelly.

 

[miserman]

Ronstar,I never use the vinegar and salt recipe on copper coins as it will always make them worse. When I use it on nickels it is usually on the no date Buffalos and it will usually bring up a readable date. I will use it on V nickels and Jefferson nickels "if" they are crusted to the point that they are unreadable. Many nickels that are red or black,I leave them alone if I can see details and dates. It's always a 50/50 shot on weather any nickel will come out better or worse. The no date buffalos are a no lose situation. Sorry about your V-nickel,I too have made a few coins worse by cleaning them.

 

[miserman]

Bronze disease. I've tried every method I have read about or could dream up and nothing really helps. They usually end up like yours, worse off. The only thing that helps some is dry toothpicking. Anything wet seems to wash away any detail that is showing. I have had good success on encrusted Silver though using Navel Jelly.

I totally agree and it's worth restating that anything wet (even water) is never a good idea. I use the toothpick method along with Andre pencils while the coin is under a standing magnifier glass. This can be a long drawn out process which takes a lot of time and practice but can have positive results.

 

[Listener]

Since most of the tips to clean coins was on this forum I bring up my experience here.

Had some rough Buff’s and V’s not of value but they were that rusty reddish brown we so often see. I have that really good 1906 V nickel that still had a little crud on it so thought I would see how cleaned up I could get them. They all turned out clean but with a dull finish. The good V was put in with about 30 minutes left. I was using the vinegar and salt recipe as directed.
That good ‘06 V is now roached. Before you could read LIBERTY on the headband, but not now. The others I was able to now see dates which was 1916 and 1925. Its a weird looking greyish dull finish now.
Put in some IH pennies after the others and now can barely tell they are pennies. The green patina is gone but it looks like the finish is pock marked and there is a whiteish crust on them. Yup, 1903 which again you could read LIBERTY on the head band is pretty much gone.
Not sure what I did wrong but none of them are worth displaying now.

IH penny in after photo is upper left…..

Yikes! Pretty much what I have found out also after cleaning my last few batches of copper coins this summer. Previously I always used just water with a table spoon of cream of tarter and only one drop of dawn detergent. I would throw in bus tokens That were a viper bronze and everything comes out really nice without the salt damage, although a little slippery after patting dry and stacking up. I think I’m going to go back to the cream of tarter.
I have found 32 of the presidential dollars this summer and use vinegar and salt and one drop of detergent for clad and nickels. Tumble for one hour and about 20 minutes before done throw in the dollars and they come out pretty good but slightly dull. I had a machinist cut a recess in a 1/2” block of fiberglass palm size and put the dollar in and polish lightly using Happich semi chrome polish on a folded paper towel. Works nice.
On keepers Maybe the dry toothpick is the way too go. I had not been aware of that method previously. Sorry for your experience with University of hard knocks. Been there and done that also.

 

[Rick(ND)]

The coins that are not silver or copper are harder to clean as you see. I have been told to never clean a good coin. Now I mainly use one of my tumbler for the copper coins like the pennies before and even after 1982 and they look very good. Now my better wheat pennies and IH pennies I will use hot hydrogen peroxide that I get hot in the microwave in a 1 oz plastic portion cup until it boils or close to it. I then drop the penny into it and it will boil up a bit up a bit and leave it set for a while untill it cools down,, then I have a fine brass bristle bush I used to clean the penny the best I can then I will heat up the peroxide again and do it again until I get as much as I can off then wash the penny with water good and dry it. I got a 1882 IH penny I took a picture I had posted once and if I can find it I will post it again. Sometimes I do it several time before I get it like I like. On the other copper coins and brass I run in my tumbler with aquarium gravel, water and lemon juice (a good shot of it) and tumble for about a hour or so and drain off and rinse with water and leave out to dry .
Some of the older wheat pennies I will run in my vibrating tumbler with the gravel and add water a mild cleaner little untill the coins will roll while it is vibrating .put the cover on and leave it for maybe 5-6 hours, drain and dry the coins and run them in crushed walnut shells back in the vibrating tumbler dry and let it tumble for another 4 or so hours. Then I take them out and run them again in just water for a half hour or so, most will have a nice color to them and they have a slight lighter edge of the penny than the rest of it.
Now new clad that are bad I use my big tumbler with the gravel, lemon juice and water and tumble for 4 hour, then dump and rinse in clean water and pick out the ones that are good and put the others back in with more water and lemon juice for another 4 hour or so and dump and rinse in water and pick out those that are decent and the ones real bad yet I put in my small tumbler and run them in gravel again and put a little muradic acid and run for maybe a hour and rinse them off right away to get any acid off them. the problem is being very careful with the acid and it is not perfect either as some time they come out gray looking and have to go back and tumble in water and lemon juice, then there are some that dont clean up real well, but I have no problem with the bank taking them. One more thing is some maybe bent and I will but them between 2 block of wood and hit the wood and they do straighten out, or if you take them to the bank they will be rejected.
Now the older nickles sometimes are looking but by cleaning them they start flaking off , even with electrolysis they will pit and flaking too. I normally on the buffalo and V nickle I just use water and a tooth brush to get most off then there is some clothe I bought call miracle clothe I rum the nickle with until it gets close to the correct color, then use a dry clothe and take the residue off it. It takes a while so you need a little patience.
The other way a friend does with nickles is put it in ketchup and says he has good results with it.

That just you my way I clean my coins, may not be perfect and do many of my friends clad coin they find, I also separate the pennies from the clad before you tumble.

Rick

 

[jim tn]

Coin cleaning in my perspective is for two reasons. One, for display and two, is to make them presentable enough that a bank will take them. Cleaning and rolling them yourself takes care of the presentable problem. If by chance one gets a key date I H or wheat cent, weigh the costs of having it cleaned professionally against just selling it as is, if that's your intent. And the same pretty much applies to silver. However, I have gotten by (that I know of) lightly cleaning a semi key date silver coin with a combo of soda and water. I completely dissolve the soda in water into a light runny mix and gently rub onto the coin with a q tip. This method removes most slight tarnish that frequently is on some silver coins. Otherwise, cleaning cents that may be desirable for display is a long project of picking. HH jim tn

 

[bootyhoundpa]

If you want to make a V nickle look pretty I have found that Never-Dull cotton wading can bring them back to a brilliant luster if you are willing the work the coin for a half hour.. Of course any chemical used on a coin is gonna have long term consequences.
Shield nickels are the worst..seems there isn’t anything you can do with them that won’t make them look worse..

 

[Ronstar]

Well more things to try…….. yes, the Buff’s did bring up dates not seen earlier. You can still see the dates on the IH (some) but others just disappeared. The V nickel turned out a bit better than I first thought but losing the 1903 IH stung a bit.
U of Hard Knocks and this is a university town to boot.

 

[Rockford]

Have u tried Orange soaking? I tried it on some rough old nickels, it did help some. Also i use it to tumble plain coins. Best results ive seen, and the stuff is cheap. Ill see if i can find vid.

 

[Rockford]

Here it is, using Gojo. Orange is same stuff I think. I have tried both. I would not use on a nice coin, only ones that need help.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Here it is, using Gojo. Orange is same stuff I think. I have tried both. I would not use on a nice coin, only ones that need help.

Impressive…