Cleaning coins

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by cbtengr, Apr 14, 2020.

  1. cbtengr

    cbtengr New Member

    I don't personally clean my coins but, I have seen some that I thought with just a little bit of water might look better. I've heard and seen most of the things people use out there to clean them. i.e. vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, olive oil. My opinion is those thing will do chemical damage to the coins. Years ago I was metal detecting in a very old school playground and found a 1922 penny. It was so dirty I couldn't tell what or if there was a mint mark on it. But knowing the possible value I thought I would try and clean it with some extra virgin olive oil. I got home and there was no oil so, I put the penny on my dresser and thought I'll pick some oil on my way home from work the next day. So I get home from work with the oil and went to get the penny I found and it was not where I put it. I asked my wife if she had moved it and she said well "I tried to clean it for you using my jewelry cleaner and now there is hardly anything left of it." She showed me the coin and sure enough it was unrecognizable. Moral of the story "don't leave your coins out where people can (help) you out.

    I have found something I think might clean those "a little bit dirty coins" It is called the Magic Eraser" and it is sold in most grocery stores. It's made by Mr. Clean and this thing actually takes scratches out of a kitchen counter. I did an experiment with a silver '64 quarter and a '73 cent. I have posted photos of the before and after of each. Let me know what you think.
     

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  3. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Short answer:

    NO.

    Long answer:
    Neat! But not for coins. Or cars, or anything else where you want to preserve a surface rather than abrading it.
     
    Paul M. and green18 like this.
  4. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

  5. frankjg

    frankjg Well-Known Member

    I was being silly a long time ago and drew a permanent marker tattoo on my arm and then proceeded to remove it with a magic eraser. Once I woke up (alcohol may have been involved) I immediately regretted the magic eraser. It tore my arm up really good and the pain lasted a few days.

    Good for countertops, bad for coins and flesh.
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2020
  6. Robidoux Pass

    Robidoux Pass Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the story. Experience is a great teacher, but often brutal.
     
  7. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    Soap and water without scrubbing is not cleaning.
    My wife and daughter know better thanto clean one of my coins. I share information with them, and they listen.
     
  8. CoinCorgi

    CoinCorgi Tell your dog I said hi!

    ...and replaces them with thousands of smaller scratches.
     
    -jeffB likes this.
  9. Beardigger

    Beardigger Well-Known Member

    I may get skewered for this......but when I have a coin that is just dirty from use, I use a little hand sanitizer on it and rub it between my fingers, then rinse with water and pat it dry with a soft cloth




    image.jpg image.jpg
     
  10. CoinCorgi

    CoinCorgi Tell your dog I said hi!

    Hand sanitizer? Did Jefferson test positive for Covid?
     
    green18 likes this.
  11. Michael K

    Michael K Well-Known Member

    Face value coins you can clean. When I am able to go metal detecting again,
    the non rare coins (almost 100% of them) I always clean them before I spend them.
    Purists I don't believe would even advocate soap and water with no rubbing. I guess you could keep rinsing with distilled water to get any residual ingredients from the soap off.
    I have used acetone with mixed results. There are many threads here about that. Just put acetone or cleaning coins in the search box.
     
  12. Beardigger

    Beardigger Well-Known Member

    LOL. No, i use hand sanitizer because it is thick enough to stay on the coin giving the alcohol enough time to disolve the skin oils which is what trapped all the dirt and pollutants in the first place, Rinse with hot water afterwards to get whatever was used to thicken the alcohol (usually aloe).off the coin. It will alter or harm the original Patina of the coin.
     
  13. Kevin Mader

    Kevin Mader Fellow Coin Enthusiast Supporter

    Sometimes it's just necessary to remove grunge from a coin to see what it is. I found a nasty coin during a CRH event; an LWC. The reverse was very nice, but the obverse caked in grunge. I did the distilled water soak. No luck. I let it soak in acetone. No luck. I finally soaked it in VerdiCare for a week. No luck again. So I soaked it overnight and decided I'd take the time to use a softened toothpick to work on the grunge:

    1909 VDB obv.jpg 1909 VDB rev.jpg

    During that entire time, I didn't even notice the VDB. Sorry I didn't take a before picture, but this is how it turned out.
     
  14. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

  15. S3R3NDIPITY

    S3R3NDIPITY New Member

    I clean my bullion coins when they develop red spots and silver tarnish but don’t clean my numismatic coins. It sounds like double standards but the bullion will always sell for spot.
     
  16. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Most bullion collectors like shinny objects.....much like ravens and crows do. devil.gif
     
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