Finds & Question

[hunter8226]

I found a lot in a small town where 4 homes had been torn down. The sod was cut off by the sidewalk. I found my first silver of the year, a Quarter, 1/2 doz. wheaties, 1890 nice green indian head and a 1845 large 1 cent piece. My question is: I clean my coins with soap, water and a soft hand brush. I saw an add for an ultrasonic cleaner for jewelry. Has anyone used one on coins? Does it clean any more than the brush and soap or harm the coin?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

ultrasonic cleaners, IMHO, do nothing for coins. They are meant for jewelry, to get dirt out of the recesses of crowns, tongs, etc... They are VERY tame, so will do next to nothing for dug coins. At least this was my experience, that they are a waste of time. Perhaps if you left an object in there for a month, you might see some results? I tried them for days-on-end, took the items out, and saw no difference whatsover.

Your best bet is solutions like a product called "Ezest". For copper coins, you can try amonia soaks, but practice on common dirty worthless wheaties first, as it can be too harsh, if let to soak for too long. Amonia can leave a "brassy" appearance, if you soak to long, or rub too aggressively following the soak, so practice on wheaties and first, to get the idea of how long to soak. Remove from solution, thumb/finger rub, and repeat as necessary.

 

[Jason illinois]

Someone posted about soaking nickels in ketchup overnight in a baggy. I tried it and it works!

 

[christopher-ohio]

it really does great on the crusty nickles with no damage. The copper I just use room temperature regular strength hydrogen peroxide from the drug/discount stores...works great along with a very soft toothbrush for little kids. If you have rust on silver, white vinegar gets it off without damage. Lastly, I have found the only way to get true corrosion off of silver coins is electrolysis...just my two cents

 

[dewcon4414]

I use Barteners helper ... it looks like commet when it comes out ... but when added to a cloth with water it desolves completely. Works on about anything. The problem with cleaning copper with about anything is it turns the coin an unnatural purple. Ive tried it all.... lol. Personally, the best thing for copper is a tumbler. There arent that many VALUABLE wheats out there and the ones coming out of the ground.... well a true collector might want them to complete a set thats about it. They would never grade. IHs are just impossible, if you mess with them they will flake. The good ones are the greenies.... i use soap water and a micro cloth to just get the dirt off... nothing more or they are gone. Coin World sells an excellent coin cleaner called coin care. It gets the dirt off and leaves a protective coating and is the best stuff ive found for IH cleaning. I use a lot of the Bartenders on old buttons and copper cleaning or silver for our antiques..... cant beat it on silver. Doesnt scrach if used with a micro fiber cloth. Even most of the silver coming out of the ground you might sell to collectors.... but you wont get an investor or dealer to buy them for anything close to their worth because they wont grade. Too many scrachs and anything cleaned well they just arent worthy. I collect my coins and dont give a crap about what others think. I clean them to MY liking and put them away for MY pleasure. IMO the grading system was invented to make the deep pocket investors more money when they buy and put the pocket change collectors at a disadvantage.

Dew

 

[hunter8226]

Wow! My first post.Thanks for all the tips. I think too, you clean them for your enjoyment. I appreciate all the feedback. Great hunting to you all.

 

[Knipper]

I have to disagree about the effectiveness of ultrasonic cleaners. I think they work very well. I bought a commercial grade unit some years ago. They aren't cheap! The small, plastic ones aren't that effective, in fact, some are no more than vibrators and don't produce the true 'cavitation' that a commercial one does. Cavitation is where the transducer produces microscopic bubbles starting between the surface of the coin and the dirt. As the bubbles expand, the dirt literally pops off leaving the the coin dirt free without any rubbing which can scratch the coin. The process is effective in safely removing dirt from all coins, but is especially effective on silver. It will even get the dirt out of the grooves along the edge of the coin.

What an ultrasonic cleaner does NOT do, and is not intended to do, is remove tarnish (unless some chemical is added to the water...) or polish a coin. It will not remove the red from nickels or the green on cents. If the green patina on say, an Indian Head, is loose, it may pop that off, leaving the pitted surface below, so only submerge the coil just long enough for the dirt to pop off. How you treat the coin after that is up to you, but I normally don't polish or clean coins past getting surface dirt off.

The ultrasonic cleaner is more than just a jewelry cleaner. It doesn't care what you put in the tank, it will clean the dirt off equally well. There are some solutions available for it with mild detergent added, which can help with certain kinds of soils better than just plain water, but distilled water, and even tap water works just fine for removing dirt.

Again, no polishing action here, or chemical changes to the metal removing tarnish, just effective dirt removal without scratching the coin.

Knipper

 

[TokenDigger]

I usually use a vibration tumbler on my wheat and Indian Head cents (Tumbler Vibe by Raytech - they are in Connecticut) with stainless steel shot with a few drops of liquid dish soap and a weak solution of burnishing compound. I run it for about 1/2 - 1 hour. The longer you run, the cleaner the coins become. Some detail can be lost if you run too long. The burnishing compound puts a bit of sheen on the coin. I do this for nickels too but I vibration tumble them separately. I do the copper coins after I check the dates first. I have found a 1914 D and 1911 S and better Indian Head cents and those I do differently. I will lightly clean with a mild liquid soap and water and possibly a very soft toothbrush (depending on the coin's condition). You can also use a toothpick to get some of the crud out. This takes time and patience. After the coin is thoroughly air dried for a day or two, I apply a thin coating of Coin Care (dewcon4414 mentions this liquid). It will tend to darken the coin slightly but protects it. You can probably find this at a coin dealer or coin collector supply house or on-line. I don't tumble my Large Cents but handle them like I do the better date wheat and Indian Head cents since I find only a few of them a year. I also don't tumble my nice green wheats and Indian Heads since I like that type of toning. I just clean off the dirt and apply a little Coin Care. I don't clean my silver coins except for a soaking in soap and water and a light cleaning off with a rag. The only silver I chemically clean or tumble are the common date very dark dimes and quarters since they don't have any premium over their bullion value. In fact, I like the silver coins when they are nicely toned - it brings out the details and adds character.

 

[Gilly in Illinois]

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