olive oil

It has been said here many times about using olive oil to clean copper coins and because it is all organic.And has no chemical additives I thought I would give it a try, the three copper coins where 2 1959-d cents and a 1942 wheat cent. The coins had a lot of gunk and were very sticky so the three coins went into the olive oil bath. Last night after four weeks in there bath I removed them and supersize supersize it works all coins had no gunk and they looked very nice for circulated cents not sure if it works on silver

 

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Be careful of using olive oil on copper because it will remove the matina and make them look unnaturally pinkish.

 

patine not matina right?

 

Doug,
I set them aside and plan on keeping and eye on'em I used a soft q-tip and what every residue is left I will monitor that also to see what the effects the left over olive oil has on the coins.I could wash them with water and pat them dry, but I will wait on that to see what the olive oil does but they did clean up nice.

 

In my experience you have to soak a coin a hell of a lot longer than that to effect the patina but then again the coins I use olive oil on have a few thousand years worth of patina.

 

Your opinion on what to use ?

 

how about using something like ivory or a baby shampoo?

it's mild but good enough to remove oil i think.

 

I would think a dip in mild dishwashing soap and water with light scrub with a soft cloth would do wonders.

 

There is something I must warn you. I had experiences of olive oil TONING copper coins - yes it does!

 

Scouring pads work a treat with a bit of Brasso :whistle:

De Orc

 

Ok guys, I am not advocating cleaning coins this is something I do not do , this was only an experiment. On some copper coins to see the effect of the olive oil because so many people use it to remove gunk , long term effect I will just have to wait and see.

 

I think that you will find that most of us use it to soak heavely encrusted ancient's in rather than as a cleaning agent :smile It works wonders loosening centurary old soil, much better than :hammer:

De Orc :kewl:

 

Try using a Water Pik. It's sort of like power washing and will probably remove the olive oil. As long as we're talking about circulated coins, it shouldn't lower the grade. You could also just carry them around in your pocket with a few other coins for a couple of months. Make sure you don't spend them. Coins are designed for this sort of treatment, and a couple of months shouldn't lower the grade while the contact with other coins will naturally "clean" the surface in the same manner that all circulated coins obtain their condition in the first place.

 

After using olive oil for many weeks/months, then wiping the excess off, I soak my ancients in H2O2 (hydrogen-peroxide). And after 24-48 hours they come out with no apparent trace of the oil.

Ben

 

Ben I no nothing about ancient coins is the copper content of the ancients about the same as the Lincoln cents I was talking about ?

 

Not sure about that. I've heard they can vary greatly.

Ben

 

I soaked a few Lincoln cents in olive oil about 6 months ago that were full of gunk and black carbon.
Did not leave them in four days though. Rinsed off with dish detergent.
Placed them in 2X2 holders so the air could not get them.
They still look fine today