Cleaning Wheaties

[cosmic]

I was sitting around looking at some older coins and was thinking how they got to look the way they do.. Had a idea and it works great as you can see.. First pic before process,, The rest are results..

 

[mudpuppy]

C'mon Cosmic! Didja stuff 'em in a sock and run 'em through the dishwasher? Didja Put 'em in a pan with a glob of plumbers flux and heat 'em up on the stove?
Those are my only ideas I havn't tried!

 

[Larry (IL)]

Are you going to share your idea?

 

[JOHNMARKHAM]

ok i give up here,my cyrstal ball isnt working now.....

 

[cosmic]

OK, I'll share.. Figured it would grab your attention.. The results would have been better if I had separated them into 3 or 4 color groups..What make a coin look like that, is being in you pocket rolling around in there.. HMMM, pocket lint.. So I saved enough, if you can believe it, DRYER LINT !!! Yep 3/4 of a tumbler worth pulled into smaller pieces (wear a dust mask for that one!) and water !!! THAT'S IT!! Nothing else !!! No acid or soap.. Just check everyday or so and pick out the ones you think are clean enough... No scratching or weird color, just a beautiful sheen like you just pulled out of your pocket..

 

[mudpuppy]

Well stick a candle up my nose and call me Jack-O-Lantern....!
Woulda never thought of that...thanks Cosmic, especially for the answer, or I'd a been up all night trying to figure it out!

 

[Canewrap]

So, let me see if I understand this correctly. You put dryer lint in a tumber with water (how much water) and the pennies (how many pennies) and tumbled (for how long). Your results are real impressive, since it wouldn't be long and you'd be hard pressed to tell that they had ever been cleaned and since obvious cleaning destroys value I'm sure your're onto something here.

 

[cosmic]

Fill tumbler 3/4 full of dryer lint, shred the lint into smaller pieces.. I added about $4 of Wheaties.. Then added water til the water level is 3/4 of the tumbler..
Ran about 3 days but check every day and pick out the ones you like.. After the 3 days some looked new, so 2 days might have been better for them..and some need a 4th... Separating according to shade, say 3 categories might help also.. Lortone QT12 12lb tumbler

 

[Canewrap]

Thanks cosmic, that was an inspired piece of work. Nice job and I'm glad you thought to try something new. I'm going to have to give it a try myself.

 

[Cajuncoinhunter]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, a very interesting concept. I'm gonna give it a try but it'll take me at least a year or two to save up 3/4's of a tumblers worth of dryer lint. LOL. BTW, that's a serious pile of wheaties !! CCH.

 

[gmanlight]

Can you expect the same results with belly button lint and maybe a little ear wax. It might take longer to collect.
Sorry i could not resist. Looks like a good winter project.

 

[cosmic]

What winter project, collecting bellybutton lint to clean the coins and earwax to shine them up !!!

 

[Schultzie]

What if you would take an old pair of blue jeans and cut them up and tumble them? The material is soft enough to clean them and easier to obtain than lint.

 

[greedykind]

what about toe jam?

 

[longbone]

I used pecan shells in my tumbler,with no water .In about 3 hours wheats and some chinese coins were cleaned without removing the patina.Any handy nut shells will work.

 

[greedykind]

All i can say is WOW!!!!!! I cleaned a handful of wheats that i couldnt even make the date out on and the majority of them came out amazing looking.I cant believe it.You all need to try this i will post pics shortly to keep this thread going.

 

[auggie69]

For the love of God, stop cleaning coins with anything but water!! If you only want melt value go ahead and clean them, but any coin collector will pay you more money for a dirty coin than a "clean" one regardless of what you clean them with!!

 

[silverman]

Great idea! Can't wait to clean my old copper now.

 

[Waterdog]

Would a Lortone 33b with two 3 lb barrels work too

 

[robo]

I usually get a pound of the stuff every day! Al kidding aside. looks great. Will give it a try.