Cleaning Large Cents

[Th3Offspring]

I've used this method with decent results. like you said in your post, each coin is different.

 

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[NHBandit]

With all due respects, I have used peroxide a few times but I get better results putting them in a tumbler with white aquarium gravel, water, and 1 once of vinegar for a couple of hours.
I used peroxide on these and got very little improvement .
These pics are before and after the tumbler.

You ruined them. You might as well take them out to the garage & polish them up on the bench grinder/wire wheel now. ANY collector value is gone.

 

[keystone82]

hi don
could you use this on indian heads and flying eagles also?

 

[Vladio]

Hi guys, me and my 8yr old son found our biggest find ever today, a 1845 large cent. We will never sell this coin - it's more valuable to me than the $10-$15 we'd get for it. It's pretty dirty with a greenish crust. I've cleaned it with mild soap and water and an old toothbrush. I've read a lot about not cleaning coins but I think I'd like this to be at least clean enough so someone can make out what it is. I guess my question is should I clean it. First, I don't want to do something to it that will leave it worse off but, as we'll prob never sell it, would like for it to be in a condition that it can be recognized.

I'd love to hear your opinion or what u did.

Thank you,
joe

 

[Higgy]

Any extra cleaning should be left to the collector or professional service.

So what would a professional service do that we can't do ourselves? Ultrasonic? What technologies do they covet to which we do not have access?

 

[Vilon]

Good advise. Thanks!!

 

[Rawhide]

I posted this last year on the forum, not sure if Jeff saved it or not, but anyway here is my procedure again. I must stress, I have been doing it for several years now and started on a lot of buttons first, but what convinced me it was good when my son did it on his super rare 1785 Vermont Immune Columbia coin which we thought was toast and it came out more recognizable once cleaned with the Peroxide.

Some Coppers just cannot be cleaned and not lose detail for the simple fact the corrosion has already damaged the coin beyond hope and for those who say the cleaning lost the detail are correct, except it was the deterioration of the coin from corrosion that did it, the cleaning just took away that corrorsion.

OK, nuf said on that, here are the procedures:

Directions for the Cleaning of Artifacts/Coins using Hydrogen PeroxideRequired items:

1 - Disposable plastic bowl – I use an empty margarine container
ADDED: - I now use a harder plastic container that can go into the microwave

1 - Bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide which is 3% H2O2


1 - Heat Source – I have a gooseneck lamp with a halogen bulb in it.


1 - Box of Cotton Swabs – Q Tips are the best – others fall apart too easily

Make sure the artifact/coin is free of any oil coating like olive oil if you previously had soaked this object. The oil coating prevents the Hydrogen Peroxide from working on the dirt.
Put object to be cleaned in disposable plastic bowl and then pour Hydrogen Peroxide on top until it is at least a half an inch above the object to be cleaned.

Using the lamp as a heater, I position the lamp to within 2-4 inches of the bowl. This heats up the solution. Be careful not to cause anything to melt from too much heat, use common sense for this part. A Heat Source is NOT necessary, but it does speed up the cleaning significantly...

ADDED: YOU CAN USE A MICROWAVE TO HEAT THE PEROXIDE UP FIRST, BUT BE CAREFULL AND PLEASE USE A SAFE CONTAINER WITH NO METAL IN IT, PUT THE RELIC/COIN IN AFTER THE HEAT UP IN THE MICROWAVE!!!!!
If the solution is hot enough the boiling of the Peroxide should be very evident to you and should remind you of a geyser. Once it is cooking it sprays the bubbles and smokes a little also. This should continue for anywhere from one hour to two or three.

Periodically remove the object if you want to check on the progress. I usually then lay it on a napkin and take a cotton swab and start to gently rub and see how much crud is coming off the object. It might take several hours or more to get real clean. You might even have to repeat the entire process if the object has a lot of stubborn crud on it.

When the bubbling of the Peroxide stops the cleaning also is done. If it needs more cleaning start over again with fresh fluid.

Keep your cotton swabs wet with the Peroxide while gently rubbing, this will prevent scratches.

When done with your cleaning, rinse the object well with water.

The first coin I did with this method did not require any rubbing whatsoever. I believe each artifact/coin is unique in how it is cleaned. Some did not clean up hardly at all. If it is a corroded object, like a pitted, green Indian Head, I don’t think anything you do will help that.

My best advice is to experiment on non-valuable objects first and then move on to your better finds once you build confidence in what you are doing.

The objects may appear dried out after cleaning, if you want you can coat with a coin preservative like Blue Ribbon Coin Conditioner and Preservative or a similar product or even a light coating of Vaseline.

Don in South Jersey

practicing on some old military buttons i found.

 

[Icewing]

I am no coin cleaning expert but I do know that you can avoid darkening your coins by using mineral oil instead of olive oil. It's colorless and cheap at any local pharmacy unfortunately it takes just as long as the olive oil. Mineral oil is also awesome for keeping your cast iron BBQ grates from rusting away, as well as keeping a wood cutting board looking new.

 

[vince76]

Great advice

 

[BeenFishin]

Hey Guys,

Im new to this site but have been dirt fishin for a while now. I found a 1826 large cent a while back and tried a whole bunch of things to clean it...resulting in the destruction of the date, leaving me with a rather pitted coin. Like most other detectorists i dont really have any interest in selling my coins. I would like to clean them up and have them shine like they used to so at least the coins look somewhat impressive in the coin book. I have tried the hydrogen peroxide thing, the vinegar and salt thing, and the dreaded electrolysis. I have found that the electrolysis gives a very similar result as the peroxide. The salt and vinegar takes a long time to clean off any dirt and seems to do almost nothing for caked on corrosion. I find the vinegar is most successful with coins that are only slightly tarnished. With those coins it works very quick and really makes the coins shine. But we usually dont find coins in that good of condition. What i recently tried was bronze wool and Brasso metal polish. It took a good hour of light scrubbing with the bronze wool and Brasso but i was able to get the coin to this point below. I like this method because during the cleaning i was actually able to witness a change in the coins color. Which pushed me to continue the cleaning process. I definitely think i could keep polishing and get more of the dark color off but im pretty satisfied with the result and though it was a good point to share. Its also good to note that i had only washed the coin with water and dawn prior to the before photos. Hope this helps someone!

EDIT: I tried it on some indian pennies and accidentally let the Brasso sit on them for about 10 minutes. Pitted the hell out of them rather then getting the gunk off. Stick to the elbow greased bronze wool lubed with the Brasso. Wipe clean with a clean dry cloth after polishing.