Tumbler

[all iron]

Bought a tumbler today to clean all that old clad
any suggestions on what house hold items are good to use for cleaning material

sand
cat litter
detergent
???

 

[John(Tx)]

I use aquarium gravel with a few drops of dishwashing liquid and about two teaspoons of baking soda, works good for me, I let them tumble for about 2 hours and check them, repeat if necessary. HH

 

[Monte]

Those are the better 'tumblers' to clean coins. The vibratory tumblers, much different, can be used to polish up some already cleaned coins using a dry media, but for wet tumbling with some cleaning agent, you need a rock tumbler type of unit.

If you have a rock tumbler you could follow the steps I have listed in out Tips & Techniques section at our www.ahrps.org site. When I use all the steps I list I only run them in the tumbler for 30-60 minutes.

Monte

 

[pulltab]

never mix pennies in with clad!!

 

[joe dirt_1]

Tumblers do a good job of cleaning clad coins to put back into circulation, but I hate the messy black crap that you have left in the tumbler after cleaning a batch of coins. I'm thinking of trying something different than water and dish soap to clean clad coins. A friend just bought 5 pounds of stainless steel
media to use cleaning brass cases before reloading them. The stainless steel media is expensive, 5 pounds cost 50.00, but it will last forever and could be used dry to polish clad coins. The media resembles lead from a lead pencil and it wouldn't take much for a small tumbler, maybe a quarter pound or so
to do the job, so for about 2.50 or so you could have cleaning media that would never wear out or make the mess like soap and water makes. The media is sold in 5 pound lots or larger, so you would have to find someone willing to sell smaller amounts but it seems like it would be a great media to clean those clad coins with. Any ideas about using stainless steel media to clean coins with?

Roger

 

[david1962hd]

I purchased some Stainless Steel media off of Ebay it was sold in 1lb bags still kinda expensive but it works well.
I will use aquarium gravel along with a small amount of Soft Scrub to clean the coins then to polish them use the stainless steel shot along with dish washing liquid. Water of course is used in both mixtures.

 

[TerraDigger]

Just don't mix pennies/copper with the clad. The copper may discolor the clad, especially if a solution is being used. A non-wet tumble, I don't know if copper will discolor. Can someone answer that?

 

[all iron]

Bought some aquarium gravel tonight
a little dawn soap and water and the quarters are coming clean
2 hours in the spin cycle so far.... another hour and they should be good enough

 

[Monte]

'all iron', it's good to hear you're working on the coin cleaning. As pulltab mentioned, make sure you separate the coins by their different class of metal make-up. Three groups to clean separately: Pennies (and the Sacajawea and Presidential dollar coins); Nickels; Clad coins (dimes, quarters, halves, Ike and Susan B. dollars).

I purchased some Stainless Steel media off of Ebay it was sold in 1lb bags still kinda expensive but it works well.
I will use aquarium gravel along with a small amount of Soft Scrub to clean the coins then to polish them use the stainless steel shot along with dish washing liquid. Water of course is used in both mixtures.

I only use the aquarium gravel as it costs very little. I bought two bags of it about 1998 and still haven't opened one of the bags! I heard about the stainless steel media but didn't like the cost since I'm out to find money, not spend a lot to clean it up.

I only tumble my coins for about 30 minutes and probably 95% of them come out looking great, and the remainder come out good enough to use or take to the bank. In my earlier coin cleaning years it took several hours of tumbling and many still didn't look that great. A lot depends upon their condition due to the soil minerals, acids, fertilizer, etc., etc., but following my cleaning steps that I listed in my post, they usually clean up quickly. It's the treatment phase they go through prior to the final tumbling.

Tumblers do a good job of cleaning clad coins to put back into circulation, but I hate the messy black crap that you have left in the tumbler after cleaning a batch of coins.

Roger, are you using an off-brand of tumbler barrel? If not, then it must be some bad water or bad chemical you're using. I have used my dual barrel Lortone tumbler to clean my coins, several times a year as they accumulate, and I never get any "black crap" left over.

As I mention in my cleaning process, after separating the three groups of coins they all get washed to remove any surface dirt and grime and then rinsed. Next, I process each type through my 'treatment' process for a few minutes to get rid of a lot of the 'stain' or discoloration, then rinse them very well. Finally, I tumble them for about 30 minutes, but no more than 1 hour, if I get side-tracked.

I do know of one fellow who got a lot of black gunk and it was due to two things. One was the chemicals he used deteriorated the rubber tumblers, as well as very, very long tumbling sessions that wore them out and left a lot of dark crud.

I'm thinking of trying something different than water and dish soap to clean clad coins. A friend just bought 5 pounds of stainless steel
media to use cleaning brass cases before reloading them. The stainless steel media is expensive, 5 pounds cost 50.00, but it will last forever and could be used dry to polish clad coins. The media resembles lead from a lead pencil and it wouldn't take much for a small tumbler, maybe a quarter pound or so
to do the job, so for about 2.50 or so you could have cleaning media that would never wear out or make the mess like soap and water makes.

I don't think the black crud you are dealing with is due to normal cleaning, or at least not the way I clean coins. it's wear on the rubber, bad chemicals, or excessive tumbling.

Also, the stainless steel media does cost a bit just to clean coins. Also, think about wear-and-tear. If the stainless steel media doesn't wear out, then in this world of "something's got to give" you're going to have wear-and-tear on something. That means the zinc, copper or clad coins will get worn, or the rubber tumbler barrels will get worn.

I'm saving up a lot of the commonly found coins this year and I hope to get a video made of Coin Cleaning. It will show all the steps, starting with the ugly, dirty, found money, and then the finished product. I'll also try to remember to include a clock to time the entire process.

The media is sold in 5 pound lots or larger, so you would have to find someone willing to sell smaller amounts but it seems like it would be a great media to clean those clad coins with. Any ideas about using stainless steel media to clean coins with?

I haven't got a clue, but I'll listen to any reports people offer. I know that a hard media, such as stainless steel, isn't what my brother would want used to clean his brass prior to reloading, and the main reason is the wear and tear on the cases.

I clean them quickly, and after my treatment process and then a good 30-minute tumble and rinse they come out quite nice. They also don't get dinged up or worn. The same applies to using the tumblers to clean some of the costume rings, pendants, and other items I find and want to make look good.

Monte

 

[joe dirt_1]

Monte, I'm using a single barrel Lortone tumbler to clean my coins. I've had the tumbler for 20 years or so and it has cleaned alot of coins with aquarium gravel and dish soap. Maybe the barrel is getting worn from use, but when I clean a batch of clad it is all black and nasty
inside.
I do run the coins longer than 30 minutes though, usually maybe 6 hours to get the coins clean enough to put back into circulation. I do have a new barrel as a spare so maybe I need to try it and see if it is still a black mess inside after tumbling coins.
Actually, the stainless steel media is great for polishing brass prior to reloading. It cleans and polishes the brass much faster than corn cob or walnut shell media but costs much more initially. Thanks for the reply Monte, I'd like to see how you clean your coins if you get a chance to post it.

Roger

 

[rapidroy7]

Hello 1 and all, do you people clean the zinc pennies with the pre-1982 coppers?I bought some brown aquarium rock, the multi-colored rock was cheaper at waly-world , I see Monte use the white i don't think they had white?rr7

 

[Monte]

to mixing the Zinc cents and Copper cents. I also add the Sacajawea and new Presidential dollar coins, and I also tumble all the brass type game tokens.

 

[Monte]

Monte, I'm using a single barrel Lortone tumbler to clean my coins. I've had the tumbler for 20 years or so and it has cleaned alot of coins with aquarium gravel and dish soap. Maybe the barrel is getting worn from use, but when I clean a batch of clad it is all black and nasty inside.

It could just be age and a lot of wear and tear. I had some early cleaning sessions where things got black if I tumbled them too long, but I have them closer to clean by the time they get in a tumbler.

I do run the coins longer than 30 minutes though, usually maybe 6 hours to get the coins clean enough to put back into circulation.

Running a barrel of soapy water with metal objects going round and round and round for 6 hours is a good cause for ear in a barrel. It's sort of a reverse action compared with rubber tires.

With tires we do get some wear, to a degree, on the inside, but it is mainly just air in their and all the wear and tear is on the outside of the tire where it is constantly working with abrasive asphalt, rocks, dirt, moisture, ice, objects on the roadway, etc., etc. With our Lortone tumblers, the barrels are rolled around uniformly on a smooth and uniform roller so there is no wear. But inside? That's where all the abrasion and moisture and chemical action is taking place.

Therefore, I limit the amount of time I have to tumble coins, and I accomplish this by a 'treatment' session to help make them worthy to spend or take to the bank.

I do have a new barrel as a spare so maybe I need to try it and see if it is still a black mess inside after tumbling coins.

It would certainly be worth a try, especially after about 20 years with ample internal abuse'.

Actually, the stainless steel media is great for polishing brass prior to reloading. It cleans and polishes the brass much faster than corn cob or walnut shell media but costs much more initially.

It's mostly the expense that just doesn't work for me, I guess.

Thanks for the reply Monte, I'd like to see how you clean your coins if you get a chance to post it.

As I stated, the instructions are what I have posted on several forums through the years, or you can download them from the Tips & Techniques section at the society's website at www.ahrps.org and it is simply on Coin Cleaning. I do hope to get a video done in the next couple of months and it will be put on there under the Video section.

Monte

 

[rapidroy7]

Thanks Monte never thought about cleaning my brass tokens, how would you people tumble i think aluminium tokens?I bought tumbler at harbor freight 3 lb. capacity, I would guess that you can't under fill it just over fill? Cleaned my copper pennies and zinc they turned out great, cleaned a few over 500 dimes and a couple of dirty copper cents was in there, stained some of them whoops?Going to start my quarters today i think i can keep the pennies out of them! I used creme of tarter what is it for does it make the dirt flaky like sugar cookies?LoL have fun all! rr7

 

[Monte]

Thanks Monte never thought about cleaning my brass tokens, how would you people tumble i think aluminium tokens?

When I tumble my pennies and non-Susan B. dollar coins I can also add the brass-type game tokens, car wash tokens, foreign coins of similar brass/copper type make-up, and additional things like copper rings, etc.

I have cleaned some of the older and favorable condition brass or copper trade tokens and they have come out well, and I often put the aluminum tokens in with the nickels or maybe the dimes & quarters. I also add the jewelry and things that 'fit' those categories. I can clean and tumble the solid aluminum type tokens, but I use caution on the wafer-type aluminum designs. The ones that are partially eaten (salt, fertilizer chemicals or other types) and you can see the less noble inner core that can decay.

I don't run the wafer type in the tumbler, and I also don't tumble any older trade token that has a good collector's value. Only common transit tokens and such.

I bought tumbler at harbor freight 3 lb. capacity, I would guess that you can't under fill it just over fill?

You can over-fill a tumbler, especially if there's too much dish soap, other chemicals, and the internal pressure builds up. I've had that happen. I just measure the 'portions' of coins I add, with aquarium gravel, then just cover that with water, not fill it but cover it, and add a small squirt of dish soap and, when I have it, Cream of Tarter.

Cleaned my copper pennies and zinc they turned out great, cleaned a few over 500 dimes and a couple of dirty copper cents was in there, stained some of them whoops? Going to start my quarters today i think i can keep the pennies out of them! I used creme of tarter what is it for does it make the dirt flaky like sugar cookies?

I'm up to about 1800-2000 coins to clean now and ought to make it a project soon. I am also out of Cream of Tarter. It's hard to find and my wife doesn't like the cost of it (when I put it on her shopping list ).

Yes, it's always good to check and then double-check those dimes and pennies to make sure none are in the mix. I always sort them as I go during the month, then when I wash them, by sorted group, I try to double-check for any dime/penny mis-matches. I guess I ought to get out hunting to finish off the month as I have seminars Saturday and Sunday so I only have this afternoon and tomorrow to go. Then, it's coin cleaning time. Maybe I'll shop the spice department myself today for Cream of Tarter. It's not necessary, and I usually do fine without it, but I also did well with it so why not shop for it?

Good luck on taking care of the tainted coins, and especially when out hunting to find many more!

Monte