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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;trogdor, post: 753184, member: 21943&quot;]At the risk of unleashing the wrath of all collectors everywhere, I will share my experiences:</p><p><br /></p><p>First, I have only cleaned very low grade, cull, or heavily circulated copper coins. I have no experience with anything else. I love to purchase cull coppers at extremely low premiums and have been through well over 100k wheats (circulated, cull, and otherwise)&nbsp; Even so, I am FAR from an expert so please regard me as a crazy novice who has no clue what he&#039;s talking about <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve found that a bath in warm water will take off a fair amount of dirt by itself. I do this by dumping a few hundred beat up coins in a pot of warm water, letting it sit for a while (a few hours), stirring, rinsing, and repeating as long as the water gets discolored. This has made unreadable coins readable more times than I can remember. Be sure to let air dry afterwards.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the coins that still are too dirty for my tastes, I&#039;ll include baking soda in the pot of water to help loosen dirt, stir, rinse, repeat as above. After the baking soda process I always rinse in clean water, then in alcohol, then let air dry on a soft cloth. This takes time, but IMO is worth it.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the coins that I still feel need help, I will take a soft toothbrush and rub in a circular pattern to remove dirt. I hate doing this, and will usually only do so until I can make out a date and/or legends. A q-tip also works. Its a long process, especially if you ave a lot of coins to clean. Afterwards I rinse and let air dry. FYI I don&#039;t do this on any coin I really care about. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now for methods I&#039;ve tried and don&#039;t recommend:</p><p><br /></p><p>An ultrasonic jewelry cleaner - I&#039;ve used this with plain warm water and baking soda &amp; water. I used a cheapo version but saw no difference between this and just soaking in water and stirring. </p><p><br /></p><p>Toothpick/dried thorn/other sharp tool - these don&#039;t really work to remove the crud thats on my coins unless I&#039;m willing to scratch them :/</p><p><br /></p><p>Vinegar/lemon juice/other acids - even diluted 20:1 acids always produce a horrible color for me</p><p><br /></p><p>Soaking in olive oil - while this method HAS worked on some coins, however the process is way too slow for my tastes (months) and has to be combined with the toothbrush method above. </p><p><br /></p><p>Abrasive rubbing - this method sure gets dirt off quickly but at a definite cost to the surfaces of the coin. Not worth it IMO.</p><p><br /></p><p>As far as removing verdigris/corrosion nothing I have tried will work without ruining the coin or revealing an extremely unattractive surface. My goal in cleaning coins is only to remove dirt, grime, grease not corrosion or verdigris.</p><p><br /></p><p>In my process of cleaning coins I have ruined a fair number. I think my worst casuality was a 1909 vdb that might have been a decent filler in someones collection had I not totally removed the natural color. I&#039;ve ruined a good number of 20 - 30 cents wheaties as well. A few IHCs that I couldn&#039;t make out a date on might have made some young numismatist happy before I got to them. I say this because I understand that in my process of cleaning coins I have ruined many as well. I&#039;d like to think that the ones I have cleaned are better off for it though.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hope this helps, and sorry for any that I offend!</p><p><br /></p><p>Ben[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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