FOUND A NEW WAY TO CLEANING COPPER COINS.....

[Glen in Maine]

I found the method on... metaldetectingmaine.com ---- www.metaldetectingmaine.com/index.php/topic,6199.0.html
You use 50 % olive oil and 50% apple cider vinegar.
Has anyone tried this method... if you can get to the site you will see the good difference it made on a 1902 indian head.
Any other methods that you use would be appreciated. I have tried peroxide and that work fairly well also.

 

[Sunny Jim]

never tried that.
I use something called Copper Polish by World Kitchen.

It has a fine abrasive, but I do not shake the bottle and just use the clear fluid. Great for electrical contact cleaning.
16 Oz was $2.99 at a Corning Ware factory store. It can be used diluted and warm water helps.
Let me know how the olive oil and vinegar works. The vinegar has a mild acid in it that is used as a 'fixer' in film processing. I think it is Acetic Acid.
Sounds like a good base for salad dressing, if it doesn't work. HH

SJ

 

[jim tn]

I've used olive oil and or vinegar, but not combined. Will have to give the combo a try. Thanks. HH jim tn

 

[markg]

I take a glass cup with a concave bottom, put about 1/4" of peroxide in cup and heat up in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds. Drop the penny in and watch the work begin. Let it work for about 2 minutes and take penny out of cup and re-heat peroxide again. Drop the penny in for the second time, maybe for just 1 or 2 minutes. Take out and using a baby tooth brush, just lightly brush and watch the dirt and junk fall off. I take very special care to not rub hard until I see if it is a rare date. Finally, rinse in cold water and dab (don't rub) dry. When coin is completely dry drop into a small container of virgin olive oil for a few days then take out and dab (not rub) dry and store.

 

[Bill Ladd]

get some in the bottom of a coffee cup, heat it up in a microwave a couple min., & drop the coin, button or whatever in & watch the bubbles just go crazy loosening up that dirt. I just did that token I found last week & it came out with a perfect patina.
Olive oil does well at loosening up stubborn crust, but it also darkens copper if left too long. Sometimes I just wipe olive oil over say a copper coin to bring out the highlights. Soak a large cent in olive oil too long you'll get a black hockey puck patina.....
HH,
Bill

 

[markg]

I've been soaking mine to long.

 

[Bill Ladd]

But have since decided I don't like a black patina.....I like more of a brown color & so do most coin collectors. It's just personal preference really what you like better.....
Really it's best to try to not over clean coins/relics at all.....I have ruined many a coin by trying to clean it better. Sometimes I just use my fingernail or a wooden toothpick & leave some dirt on it for that "dug" look......
This rare error large cent here I used only a wooden toothpick to get a crust layer off....it now has a nice brown, natural patina & has value to a coin collector. I think if I turned it black I would have cut the value in half......
HH,
Bill

 

[markg]

n/t

 

[Glen in Maine]

n/t

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Sunny Jim]

Interesting notes on the Peroxide, I use it to clean quartz and other rocks with rust stains. I will have to try it for coins. The stuff lasts for a month diluted in open air and I just do one item at a time for a few days or even weeks.

Bill, that is a fine coin and I can understand why freshening it up too much can affect it's value. I guess the oil is just for a little corrosion protection, or does it give a patina?

I have some copper sulfate (garden supply) and wonder how a crusty zink penny responds. Some of the ones I have found are eaten through and very nasty to redeem.

Oh, yea, I used some balsamic vinegar on some severely tarnished silverware. It took over a week but removed the burnt oxides real good without a scratch. I have also heard of cleaning metal items with a solution of TSP and a Stainless Anode (or was it cathode?), this process was used to 'electroclean' metals prior to plating.

SJ

 

[saginawian]

This large cent I just found came out of the ground looking great- with a green patina. Then - immediately it began drying out and the green was falling off revealing a rough reddish finish underneath and details were disappearing. I can't even read the date now. So I quickly dropped it in some olive oil and that kept it from getting worse. If I put it in peroxide will it basically take away what little detail is left or is there something below that reddish oxidation? This was found under some huge pine trees so I think that ate up the finish.

Ian

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Olive oil and vinegar huh? Now I'm getting hungry, pass the cro

 

[saginawian]

I'd really love to get some detail out of em.

Ian

 

[Bill Ladd]

They are great finds. But unfortunately 150 years in our soil have not been kind to them. You've already got the crust off & basically there's no more you can do. The copper has pitted over the years, & it just the reality of our soils & acid rain, etc. Most of my largies look just like those, & often we are just happy to read a date on 'em. The ones we dig in fertilized farm fields get even worse You see the edges just rotting away, sadly. Occationally we get lucky & find a dandy if it's say under a rock, or in sandy soil. That error coin I posted was dug inside a cellar hole, so it was protected well from the elements. What I have often thought about is what if we dig say a mega-rare chain cent or something. Sadly it will probably look all pitted from our soils and not be very valuable at all.
On yours Ian, see how you have one side, the back, looks alot better than the heads. This is common too. Like maybe the head side was facing up and was getting the worst of the acid rains, etc....
Coppers are still great fun to find, but out of the hundreds I have dug only a few look like that error one. This is why we go for silver here Especially Mass. Tree Silver........
HH,
Bill

 

[Bill Ladd]

I was skeptical until I saw some fellow hobbiests doing the microwaved peroxide thing. I tried it on some uncleaned indian heads & liked what I saw....
HH,
Bill

 

[Bill Ladd]

& then got pressed onto my coin, creating a backwards image on what was supposed to be the head side in 1817. They call this very rare die error a "brockage"......
HH,
Bill

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[wymanwvp1]

I just tried this the other day and it worked pretty good on a two cent piece i found.
I put peroxide in a cup, then added a denture cleaning tablet, threw the 2 center in and left it in there probally about 24 hours. When I checked it all the dirt was gone and the 2 center was in pretty good shape. It didn't seem to do any damage to the coin and did a pretty good job.