Hi everyone, I have a bunch of metal detecting coin finds that are a mix of mine and those of a good friend. I don't have any silver in this batch. I'd like to try and clean them up if possible but without ruining what little value (if any) they may have. I tried a method I saw online of freezing them in distilled water and then thawing. The idea was to keep repeating this and eventually the dirt will separate from the coins as the ice melts. I did it like four times and saw little, if any improvement. So do you think there is anything I can do to clean these up? Or is it pointless because they're pretty much worthless anyways? As always, appreciate the help!
Hi there, I see that you mentioned you have trouble freezing your coins in water...... this takes lots of time and effort. I usually freeze mine and let the ice melt once a day for a month. It works after time, and it is slighty effective. I also like to use coin care, this is a coin preservative that I find works on taking dirt of off coins. you need to use a cotton swab and light circular strokes on the coin for the dirt to lift off. Now keep in mind, this is a preservative, not a cleaner, the coin should not tone after use. One bottle tends to cost around $8-10 on ebay..... check it out https://www.ebay.com/itm/Coin-Care-...r-Nickel-Copper-Bronze/282152761554?hash=item
Nice, I really appreciate it Noah. I guess I need to have a little more patience with the freezing method. I'm going to order a bottle of that coin care now. Thanks!
Most copper coins dug from the ground will never be as nice as those that have spent life 'above ground' - you might try soaking them in a capped glass jar of extra virgin olive oil for a while (weeks or months), then gently poking at any crusty deposits with a toothpick - if you have something truly numismatic and valuable, other methods are preferable, but the overall condition is what it is when dug
Once coins have long term Environmental Damage there is nothing you can really do to make them look new. Just get the old dirt off and leave it as is. They are permanently damaged.
Haha can one possibly find the many Indian head cents and two cents. And one dimes this old and buffalo nickels? Were did you go? That's amazing.
These are from many different hunts. Most were found around old house sites on farmland in Virginia with the owner's permission of course. Some were river finds.
I live in Virginia and I find nothing despite having access to much land. I guess metal detecting just isn't good to me and I refuse to pay ridiculous prices for higher priced machines. I guess that's that. Cudos to ya.
Nice, yeah I'm in southeastern VA but I know where that's at, had some family that lived not too far from there.
Thanks, yeah I get lucky because my friend's a metal detecting fanatic and does all the research and secures the permissions. There is definitely a lot of history in VA in the right spots, colonial, civil war, all sorts of stuff.
Yeah that's what I keep hearing and I know it's obviously true but I can never find anything 'historical' unless you count people's buried trash. I'm great at finding that.