My son had to turn in a science project due today along with all 5th and 6th grade. He worked hard on his and I thought he did an okay job. after he got to school and got it all set up I went and checked out all the science projects. to my horror I found this one!!!
Was the experiment pertaining to coin collecting? I dont know why anybody would need or want to clean pennies in general.
Possibly nothing wrong with cleaning a few common zincolns. Now, to think that it should be done for all coins, well....... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Wasn't related to collecting...just cleaning cents...the inner coin collector just screamed NOOOOOOOO!
This is really about scientific method, more than anything specifically about coins. But it does show that, to get the idea, he looked at some pennies and noticed the wide variation in surface qualities.
The cents are an inexpensive material to perform tests on..... The cost of the cleaning materials is probably more than the value of the items cleaned....
Ah, but the kid didn't distinguish between the three (surface) compositions of recent Lincolns, which could affect results significantly: 1959-1962 = mixture of copper, tin, and zinc; 1962-1982 = mixture of copper and zinc; 1982-now = pure copper plating over zinc core.
Give me a break! You're complaining about someone cleaning coins who is not familiar with numismatics. Why aren't you complaining about incorrect spelling, grammar, punctuation and composition? When I was in elementary school in the 50's these aspects all contributed to the grade, and the teachers let us know it. Chris
I suppose from a collector's viewpoint it might seem mildly disconcerting. But from a scientific one it's fascinating. A lot of the common everyday things we eat are often far more abrasive and effective cleaners than the stuff Dow and DuPont are making. I doubt a single one of us here has never experimented with coinage before as kids.
Well it's not like the kid WON. He received a ribbon for participation. Another thing not done in the dark ages of the 50s?
Indeed, G-- forbid anyone should WIN anything and make the others feel bad! We're lucky the Seahawks didn't get a big trophy for "First Runner-Up"!