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Message:: [QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 3299929, member: 27832"]From that linked page: This is terrible advice. If there's dirt and grime on a coin's surface, the last thing you want to do is rub it across the surface! Dirt is often abrasive, and nearly always harder than the coin's surface, so this will leave scratches on the coin. I don't think lemon juice is a good idea for copper, either. It is acidic, and while its weak acid may not directly attack the copper, it will attack the oxide layer that gives the coin its color. You'll end up with an unnaturally pink coin. And if there's any salt on the coin or in the lemon juice, it'll add chloride ions, and acid plus chloride plus oxygen (including from air) can attack copper metal. Oh, and don't forget that even copper cents contain zinc in their alloy, and acids love to attack zinc. This can result in color changes, too. Cleaning coins is easy to do wrong, and there's plenty of bad advice online and in print. Proceed with extreme caution.[/QUOTE]