OK, So I just bought a bag of Wheat Pennies, and as you would expect many of the coins are gunked up with dirt and other misc. grime. What is the best way to remove this crap from the pennies without ruining the toning or making them look like they have been cleaned. I found several Key and Semi Key dates that are in reasonable condition if not for being generally gunked up. I'm open for ideas
You might want to experiment with acetone but I cannot guarantee what the outcome might be. Acetone is known to do nasty stuffs from time to time to copper coins so use some non-key date coins beforehand if the gunk removal is essential. I personally would not recommand it though.
A lot of Coin Dealers soak their dirty and gunked-up copper coins (from Half Cents to Large Cents to Lincoln Cents) in Olive Oil for short or long periods (a week to a month) depending upon the extent of the dirt and gunk! Any stubborn dirt and gunk can sometimes be removed using a green Rose thorn without damaging the coin or leaving any scratch or gouge marks on them in any way. The Olive Oil also stabilizes and protects the coin from any futher deterioration due to corrosion or PVC. Some Coin Dealers will lightly wipe some of the Olive Oil off of the coins before 2x2'ing but some will soak the coins in warm water with a little dishwashing liquid to remove some or all of the Olive Oil then pat them dry between the folds of a towel. I have tried the above and it works well with an exception! The soaking in warm water with a little dishwashing liquid will remove some toning or coloring and will make it apparent that the coins have been cleaned. It is much better to remove some of the Olive Oil by placing the coins between the fold of a folded towel and pat them somewhat dry, flip the towel over and repeat. Only pat the coins dry and do not rub the coins between the folds of the towel whatsoever. I leave my coins out on a clean towel for weeks at a time, allowing nature to dry some of the Olive Oil residue from the coins before I 2x2 them. I have not read much on this method but was told by several Coin Dealers that this is an excepted method to remove dirt and gunk from coins and to stabilize them. I am not recommending that you use this method and if you decide to try it, do so on some of the common date coins first so you will know what to expect! Frank Frank
