Coin cleaning right out of the ground

[historygrad09]

I have a quick question. As soon as you dig up an old coin, be it silver or copper, what is the first thing you should do to try and clean it. I am talking right out of the ground. In the past I would take a toothbrush with me hunting and clean it up a bit, or in lieu of a brush, I would use a small towel I had with me. Is it bad to do that to a coin right out of the ground or no? I have heard that some hunters will take a small vial of olive oil with them and immediately put the coin in that till they get home. Just looking for thoughts and suggestions. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

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[Fugio]

I am not sure what other detectorists are doing to clean their coins right when they come out of the ground, but I will say this as a coin collector, be extremely careful with any type of cleaning if you recover any valuable or rare coins. Dirt on the coins surface when rubbed or scrubbed with a brush, hand, or cloth will leave permanent scratches or "hairlines" across the coins surface, severely impairing the coins value. My suggestion, if you recover any coins with numismatic value, do as little cleaning as humanly possible in the field. When you get home, run said coin under cold water and let air dry. Any contact with the surfaces or scrubbing could hurt the coins appearance and value significantly. If you really want to preserve the value of the coin as much as possible and have it cleaned professionally, I would suggest sending it out to any one of the major third party grading services for professional conservation. As far as any tips go from other members for in-the-field cleaning, just try to keep this in mind. Good luck!

 

[Iron Patch]

You don't do anything except put it somewhere where you won't lose it, and if silver is not going to rub against other metal. Anyone who thinks a coin changes from the time it comes out of the ground until you get home simply does not know what they are talking about. The only way it will change, if you do something like soak it in olive oil straight away, and that's a pretty foolish thing to do... because it's actually a bad choice in the first place, not to mention totally limits your options.... meaning a peroxide soak is no longer effective, and neither is cleaning it dry. It's just really bad advice to do anything in the field as it's 100% not necessary.

 

[Fugio]

You don't do anything except put it somewhere where you won't lose it, and if silver is not going to rub against other metal. Anyone who thinks a coin changes from the time it comes out of the ground until you get home simply does not know what they are talking about. The only way it will change, if you do something like soak it in olive oil straight away, and that's a pretty foolish thing to do... because it's actually a bad choice in the first place, not to mention totally limits your options.... meaning a peroxide soak is no longer effective, and neither is cleaning it dry. It's just really bad advice to do anything in the field as it's 100% not necessary.

Absolutely agreed. If it's been in the ground for a 100 years it is not going to change on the drive home.

 

[historygrad09]

That sums everything up for me pretty well. Thank you all again for your help and for the advice.

 

[Iron Patch]

That sums everything up for me pretty well. Thank you all again for your help and for the advice.

You're better off waiting a month and doing what's right than making a mistake that you can't take back.

 

[Fugio]

Thank you all again for your help and for the advice.

Anytime!

 

[patiodadio]

So you shouldn't use olive oil on coins ? I haven't but I read on here all the time where folks say to use olive oil........

 

[Iron Patch]

So you shouldn't use olive oil on coins ? I haven't but I read on here all the time where folks say to use olive oil........

There's seldom reason to, except maybe to clean off the last bit a residue after cleaning with peroxide. All olive oil does is leave you with a jar full or greasy coins... some that will never clean up, and others that you could have cleaned in 30 minutes with peroxide, but instead you chose the 5 year plan.


And people will also say the detector doesn't matter, it's all about the user. (wrong)

 

[Gaspipe]

So you shouldn't use olive oil on coins ? I haven't but I read on here all the time where folks say to use olive oil........

Use olive oil for your marinara sauce not coins.

 

[BARKER]

HI; It is said or thought that Olive Oil will seep into the finer cracks thus producing a better cleaning job. This is a falacy. As was said. It only makes the coins greasy and harder to clean because the dirt on the coin will congeal. My best advice is to put it in a water bottle of some type. Do NOT rub it with your fingers or anything else. Let it soak in water for several days then use a toothpick GENTLY to remove the dirt. This will NOT leave any scratch marks as the wood is to soft to do so and it allows you to get into the finer details on the coin. If there is dirt still stuck on it then soak it in the water for several more days and repeat this process. REMEMBER: BE GENTLE ok. Good luck. PEACE:RONB

 

[Detecto]

Hate to come off like a smart aleck, but everyone here is wrong, flat out wrong.

If you dig copper coins that have a lot of "green crust" on them, olive oil is the ONLY thing that can soften/remove it without causing further damage such as pitting/removing the base oxidation layer, etc.



I used to collect coins, and most ancient coin collectors, that is all they use...

I've seen people take indian head cents that were so "Crusty" from oxidation and soak them in olive oil up to a YEAR and bring them back to great condition.

A good detergent will remove all the oil, then rinse and pat dry.

 

[BARKER]

Hi; One last pointer here. NEVER rub, pat or tamp a coin dry with ANYTHING. The lint or fabrics from any towel etc will in fact become embedded onto the coin. Letv the coin or Relic AIR DRY. Thus you will avoid this conundrum ok. You will never get that lint or fabric off either. I learned that the hard way. Overall best solution here is to letv it soak in a bottle of water for several days then use the toothpick AFTER it air dries ok. GOOD LUCK. PEACE:RONB

 

[Nitric]

A lot of good advice in here. But doesn't each method have it's purpose depending on the type of metal in the coin? I wouldn't take a silver, or nickel and soak it in olive oil right away. I guess it wouldn't hurt most common dates. But if it was rare? That might not be the right option. I think it depends on coin(metal),rarity and how dirty it is, then figure out what to do with it.

I agree with the water method! To go at first.Can't hurt anything in that has been in the ground, and washes off any loose grit that will cause scratches. Then work from there....

 

[GunnerPop]

YouTube videos have been extremely helpful to me, but many of these guys think nothing about grinding mud & dirt into coins with their finger just to get the date to appear for the camera. I'm a rank beginner and even I know that can't be good!

 

[Tommybuckets]

I bring latex gloves with me as holders. When I find an old coin I put it carefully into the thumb with no cleaning, next coin in the second finger and so on until the glove is full. Its really helpful when you get home wondering which coin came from where. It keeps coins from rubbing together as well. It helps when you want to go back to where you found the older stuff last time.
In the Hoover boys videos they use a spritz bottle of water to get grit off the coin for the camera without rubbing. I save the cleaning for home and the hunting for the field.

 

[Jason in Enid]

A lot of people worry needlessly about "damaging" a coin that was circulated for years and has sat in the ground for decades or hundreds of years. It's not a MS grade coin! There is a 99.999% chance you have a common date coin with moderate to heavy wear and environmental damage already present. You could take sandpaper to it and not hurt the value.

What you should do is to first identify the type of coin. Then knowing where the date will be, you can use a fingernail to PULL the dirt away without scratching. If you think you have one of those rarities, then stop. Carry a small sealable container with water in it. If you think you have a valuable coin, put it in the water container until you get home. Olive oil does nothing.

It's funny seeing people getting mad at my youtube videos because I rub coins. OK, a few times I shouldn't have but the vast majority I can already tell it's not a rare coin and not hurting anything.

 

[against the wind]

Excellent suggestions.
If you are up on the knowledge of Key Dates in coin series, such as an 1877 Indian Head Penny, 1916d Mercury Dime, etc, and happen to notice the date upon removal from the plug,, do not clean. Put that coin in your coin pocket and keep it from rubbing against any other metal. Now decide whether or not you will send it to PCGS for professional cleaning, grading, and encapsulation.

 

[Tpmetal]

Hate to come off like a smart aleck, but everyone here is wrong, flat out wrong.

If you dig copper coins that have a lot of "green crust" on them, olive oil is the ONLY thing that can soften/remove it without causing further damage such as pitting/removing the base oxidation layer, etc.



I used to collect coins, and most ancient coin collectors, that is all they use...

I've seen people take indian head cents that were so "Crusty" from oxidation and soak them in olive oil up to a YEAR and bring them back to great condition.

A good detergent will remove all the oil, then rinse and pat dry.

actually no no no. olive oil that soaks into the coin eventually goes rancid, and with coppers eventually will lead to "copper disease". Not only that but it darkens your coins and is acidic. Distilled water is the only thing to put on any coin, minus a professional acetone dip. I clean ancient coins as well, distilled water and a microscope is the way to go.

 

[Tpmetal]

A lot of people worry needlessly about "damaging" a coin that was circulated for years and has sat in the ground for decades or hundreds of years. It's not a MS grade coin! There is a 99.999% chance you have a common date coin with moderate to heavy wear and environmental damage already present. You could take sandpaper to it and not hurt the value.

What you should do is to first identify the type of coin. Then knowing where the date will be, you can use a fingernail to PULL the dirt away without scratching. If you think you have one of those rarities, then stop. Carry a small sealable container with water in it. If you think you have a valuable coin, put it in the water container until you get home. Olive oil does nothing.

It's funny seeing people getting mad at my youtube videos because I rub coins. OK, a few times I shouldn't have but the vast majority I can already tell it's not a rare coin and not hurting anything.

Until you dig one of these. I had no idea it was a key date, which would have gotten a much lower grade had I not waited and cleaned only with distilled water.....Point is unless you have every single key date memorized, treat every coin the same.(I am guilty of rubbing indians and wheaties myself sometimes)