wet the coin and dip it in the baking soda and use a toothbrush. no damage will be done. your thoughts?
Shower yourself first, dip yourself in baking soda and make sure you dry yourself with sandpaper. Volia! You have smooth skin! NOT
That is absoutely rediculous unless you stipulate the grain size of the sand. To course of a sand would leave dents in the coins. For instance a grain of sand 1/4" in diameter would really dent the coins. The sand should be a fine almost dust size in nature. Do not use a pressure of more than 60 PSI. After that rinse off any sand residue with a combination of bleach and ammonia mixted together. :goofer: :smile Now as I've said so many times in the past PLEASE DO NOT CLEAN THE COINS. Regardless of whether you keep those coins or not, some day someone else may want one.
Under most circumstances, never clean your coins. Cleaning should only be done to preserve the coin from further damage such as verdegris and PVC contamination.
bga - Over the years, and I mean centuries not just a few years, collectors have tried every single thing there is in existence to clean a coin with - 99.999999999999999999% of them are bad and will damage the coins. Don't ever forget that.