List for Cleaning coins?

[Guest]

Can someone help on a list for cleaning coins all of the major coins eg pennys,florins ,threpence,sixpence,sheling ,50 c ,1 ,2, and I've got several gold sovereigns half and full

 

[davsgold]

You will only devalue them by doing it yourself, especially the sovereigns, just rinse of the dirt with water and don't rub them or they will scratch.

cheers dave

 

[ctxkid]

photo's will help with which process to use , but what Dave said is the answer if you are selling them :Y:

but photo's will help us tell for sure

 

[liliane]

Hello, Dave and Ctx are right, don't use any detergent , just use distilled water and very mild dish soap, and gently wash it off, make sure it is distilled water as the chemicals in other waters can affect the coin chemistry, then use only cotton cloth to wipe it dry, don't use other material. if it is too dirty soak it in olive oil for a couple of day and then do the cleaning process above.
if it is too valuable and you want it cleaned by a prof, search for them in your city, otherwise leave them as they are,
if they have green slime on them by being infected while sitting in slimy waters etc, soak them in a glass bowl with acetone for a minute or two then wash them with distilled water and be careful not to rub or anything of the like just pick them up with tweezers from the dish and put them in a distilled soapy bowl, dry with cotton cloth, that is it, the buyer will have to do the rest if he wants to after buying them but then it is out of your hands , hope this helps , cheers flatlander, anyways, here is the website where I got all this info, you can read it if you want, I use it all the time , and I use this method to clean my coins too
https://www.buysilver.org/how-to-clean-coins/

 

[Greglz86]

So Ive always wondered, why does cleaning them de value them. Is it just to do with damage done by cleaning?
Also , if your only cleaning coins with no value like 1cent and 2 cents I guess the worst outcome is a prettier coin.

 

[liliane]

Hello Greg, because they are so old and after sitting in the dirt for so long they would be fragile or have eroded a bit and scrubbing them hard can break or fracture their composition, they may have been under wet soil for years or maybe some bacteria formed inside of them and all that can make them fragile, so care should be taken to preserve them, whether they are of value or not , regardless of all that, if you want to keep your coins intact, take good care of them, value is not everything, it is a good memory for you, you might have dug hard and deep to get it , it was not easy to get and your detector is not cheap either,cheers

 

[Smoky bandit]

Sometimes you just have to clean them.They dont always come out of the ground just dirty.

For crusty sea silvers it's a process...To break down the crust soak in vinegar with a sprinkle of salt .Soak till crust falls off.Wash in tap water..then soak in lemon juice changing daily ...Then give coin soft rub between fingers with bicarb and water wash and repeat soak and rub every 24hrs until clean..Some coins have a brown pateina that will only come off with electrolysis. But that is not recommended unless the coin is for your own enjoyment.
This is that brown pateina that will not come off unless its electrocuted. But I personally would leave a coin like this valuable or worthless. :Y:This is the brown pateina that you sometimes get on sea silvers. No need to touch it when it's like this.

Good luck with you cleaning

 

[WatsonWatt]

I'm interested in cleaning these modern coins that have corroded down the beach. They are not with any more than the stated value so I don't mind if they are degraded a little. Any suggestions?

 

[Smoky bandit]

Get or make a tumbler mate..( Most fun option)
Or just soak in vinegar for a few days depending on how crusty they are.
Or in a bucket of dishwashing liquid and water leave to soak.
Options are endless.Good luck

 

[Guest]

I ended up taking my sovereigns to my jewler an put the rest a sand tumbler that old bloke has

 

[Sandta]

Did you get the jeweller to clean them?
Or did you sell them to him/her ?

 

[Guest]

I got cleaned buy them ,they have special fluid for silver and one for gold i had some acid from caretaker from a station where i was in WA, but i reluctant to use it on coins, i sell all of my gold from Tibbooburra to him, he love's it, he setting one of the sovereigns for me on a chain I'll post picture in next couple of week when i get back home.

 

[Mojito]

I'm interested in cleaning these modern coins that have corroded down the beach. They are not with any more than the stated value so I don't mind if they are degraded a little. Any suggestions?

Hi Watson,

I use Steelo soap pads on my $1 and $2 coins and they come up bright and shiny.
Good if you want to spend them.

Thanks,
Moj

 

[WatsonWatt]

[For spendables that have cooroded down the beach, any advice on easiest
way to make them usable?I'll try
steel wool as suggested otherwise.

I also have some Wenol that I've had for years after restoring a lamp. Has anyone used on antiques or spendables? Good or bad idea? Good or bad results?

 

[Pro-oz]

For beach finds I used to drop them into a mixture of half cleaning vinegar and coke-acola, but no need for gold coins, I had another process, most hardly need a clean.
just drop them in, take out a week later wash and buff with small wire/brass brush. These days using a small tumbler, just waiting for some stainless steel polishing media to arrive that should be better.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

One of sovereigns i got cleaned up

 

[Guest]

FLATLANDER

 

[Friar]

When cleaning modern coins I first soak in fresh water then wash in soap and water. Then rinse in fresh tap water and dry.

I take them down to the bank and put then through the change machine and they end up in my account. :money:

Any that don't make it are then relegated to the change nook in the car and are handed to the young person at the drive through or used in vending machines. :coffee:

Those that are still rejected are put in to the "tin for the kids" at Maccas O

 

[EVIE/BEE]

Anyone tried the ultrasonic cleaners at Tandys?? :Y: :N:

 

[Goldpick]

Anyone tried the ultrasonic cleaners at Tandys?? :Y: :N:

I have an ultrasonic cleaner, and it is really only useful for removing coatings of soil from coins/relics - doesn't really shift things like oxidation or corrosion. Also good if you need to clean out internals of delicate items like fob watches with minimal damage.