Back about 3 years ago there was this big deal about using Peroxide to clean ancient coins. I tried it several times with little if any success.
Some say that the stronger solutions work better but they're very expensive and dangerous.
I use either lye (Red Devil brand drain cleaner), water or oil soak (WD-40 for copper/bronze only). You can use olive oil soak for both silver and copper. Just don't mix the two metals.
If all else fails, there's electrolysis.
Rock tumblers are awesome coin cleaning tools for nasty dug coppers. Soak the copper first, dry them, and then tumble using cartridge polishing media sold at sports supply centers (like Jays). Leave some patina on old pre-20th century coins. If you want them shiny, use the shell media with a high-speed rotating tumbler (copper coins only). The corn base media also is very good. Never tumble coins with gravel, etc.
Never attempt to clean a high value rare coin.
Be careful with lye! See photo of a spot on my hand. The stuff got behind my rubber glove.
zeb said it pefectly!
and yeah, i've tried using peroxide, too, but doesn't really work too well.
it's really a waste of time and peroxide! if not in a rush on the coin, do the
olive oil, hat works for me, it just takes a looonnnggggg time!
BTW for the pople who do choose lye rinse the spot with vinigar not water. white vinigar will deactivate the lye water will make it burn more.
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another thing about the lye. if you decide to use it wear goggles not safety glasses. one drop of lye in your eyes will cause permanent damage. it really is very caustic stuff and its probably better to leave it alone.
I say stay away! My hunting partner left a 1794 large cent in it for a little too long---and the date was gone. Fortunately, he had photographed it beforehand--at least he has a memory. Olive oil and patience are what I use. Best, Dan
I have tried peroxide to clean coins also, and it didn't seem to help.
The hot water in a coffee cup, with a piece of tin foil on bottom add and disolved a Table spoon of salt. It cleaned copper coins for me. I tried a clad dime in the same solution and
one it cleaned very well and another it turned it a slight reddish tint, Possibly the copper
in it may have been the cause......... I would never clean a valuable coin with this method........
As far as Red Devil lye I have never tried it on coins, so I can't say myself if it is safe or not.
But my parents use to make Lye soap, using Red Devil lye and lard, heated in a large iron pot.
I don't remember if they would add anything else to it, but don't believe they did.
We used the lye soap to clean tobacco tar off our hands when farming tobacco, and even
used it for washing clothes.
I don't know the reason it didn't burn our hands but it never did.
Probably the grease (lard) that was used in making the soap neutralized the acid and
was weakened by the ratio of high concentration of the lard.
I would never clean a valuable coin with lye either. It's best not to clean valuable coins.
HH
SS
Life is too short to be grumpy always look at the silver lining, and stay focused.
I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work.
I have tried peroxide to clean coins also, and it didn't seem to help.
The hot water in a coffee cup, with a piece of tin foil on bottom add and disolved a Table spoon of salt. It cleaned copper coins for me. I tried a clad dime in the same solution and
one it cleaned very well and another it turned it a slight reddish tint, Possibly the copper
in it may have been the cause......... I would never clean a valuable coin with this method........
As far as Red Devil lye I have never tried it on coins, so I can't say myself if it is safe or not.
But my parents use to make Lye soap, using Red Devil lye and lard, heated in a large iron pot.
I don't remember if they would add anything else to it, but don't believe they did.
We used the lye soap to clean tobacco tar off our hands when farming tobacco, and even
used it for washing clothes.
I don't know the reason it didn't burn our hands but it never did.
Probably the grease (lard) that was used in making the soap neutralized the acid and
was weakened by the ratio of high concentration of the lard.
I would never clean a valuable coin with lye either. It's best not to clean valuable coins.
HH
SS
Just to mention that Salt + Vinegar = Acid. This quickly disolves copper.
OK guys, it has been awhile since I have read posts on this forum and your replies to peroxide tell me one thing, you are not doing it right or you are trying to clean coins that are totally wiped out already.
I have one of the larger collections of colonial and federal era coppers on this forum and use peroxide on 90% of all my copper finds and peroxide does not destroy a coin that already was not already destroyed by the corrosion. When you have a copper that you say you see more details before cleaning and the cleaning wiped out those details, that is because the details you saw were the corroded area above the actual metal and cleaning removed the corrosion like it should thus removing those details you saw. If you have a coin like that, just don't clean it, I would anyway, but very carefully.
I used olive oil for almost 20 years and am so sorry I have done so, so many disadvantages to olive oil, with time and yuckingness being one of the them and I don't even want to discuss how it continues to leech out of any coin that is even remotely porous from being in the ground. Just look at any Mylar folder off any coin cleaned by olive oil, you will see what I mean, especially after a year or so.........
Peroxide does not change the color of the coin, like Olive oil, and the not so smart suggestions of vinegar and salt, lye, ketchup! Please, not on old coppers.
I am not trying to get anyone mad, just stating facts on results I and others have had for cleaning the old coppers.
I have more than enough coins photographed of before and after shots and trust me, done properly, Peroxide cleaning works on coppers, when done properly.....
Don in SJ
"The mantra has always been don't clean a (copper) coin or it will lose value.
For undug coins this is true. For dug coins this is untrue.
The value will increase with judicious cleaning."
I experimented on some copper pennies from the 60's & 70's. Sure, the patina came off, but it looked like a lot of the surface detail did too, as the surfaces came out rough. Admittedly, I used a concentrated mixture (20 ml peroxide & about 1/4 tsp salt), and it only took about 3 days. The liquid also turned green (probably from the dissolved copper.) Won't do that again....
After I treated the penny in olive oil for a few days I decided to use the heated peroxcide method. I did this was back in July. The peroxide has to be heated to its boiling point in order for it to work.
I was told to heat peroxide in a microwave safe glass and to watch the glass. And then just when it started to boil to stop the microwave and remove the glass. Then to drop the penny in.
When I did the penny fizzeed. After the penny stop fizzing I repeated this process 4 times with fresh peroxide. I used just enough peroxide to cover the penny about ½”. The peroxide becomes spent quickly. I had to repeat this process 4 times to get these results.
All these pictures are of the same coin.
The first picture shows how the penny came out of the ground.
The second and third picture are a before and after.
In both the second and third picture the left shot is the peroxide treated coin and the right shot is the olive oil treted shot. I dont like the way it came out. But I can see the date and that's what I wanted.
Don's advice is GOOD advice. I have used it on large copper and even those "unidentifiable" wheaties. It works great!
Those coins look very pitted too me. If they had any value when you started, they don't now.
HH
When you clean a coin that has been in the ground for 100 years, it exposes what was beneath. I WOuld rather have a "pitted" 1909 cent with detail showing than a dateless muddy penny sized slug. Just my opinion.
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Originally Posted by StickShift
