Amazing coing cleaning TIP

[Gare]

Yesterday i was watching an old video of American Restoration . They always did amazing restorations Rick Dale was the business owner. A lot of times at an intermission Rick would ask a question giving tips how to do something. Yesterday when i was watching he asked what food product could be used to clean up corroded or tarnished copper. A mayonnaise B Butter C Jelly D Ketchup The answer was D Ketchup . He then went on to demonstrate it should be done. He took aa very tarnished penny you could hardly read and put it half in a puddle of ketchup and said wait at least 10 minutes. Then he took it out and said now just take a cloth and rub the ketchup off which he did. I could not believe how clean the one half was compared to the other half He warned about leaving the coun in there to long as it could be destroyed . I had an old penny i had found and could not read it. I put the penny in and could read it very easy. It was a 1912 wheatie

I will clean it up more later but i was impressed

 

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[vpnavy]

I moved ya from GENERAL DISCUSSION over to CLEANING & PRESERVATION for more exposure. If you would prefer to leave it in GENERAL DISCUSSION - let me know and I will move it back. BTW - Watched the same "tip" years ago and have been using it on just about everything!

 

[Gambrinus]

Now you should ask yourself what is the ingredient in ketchup that makes this work.
I will give you a hint. Try the vinegar and salt.

 

[djackson7348]

Plus the acid from tomatoes.

 

[l.cutler]

All of which is damaging to coins.

 

[Gare]

Well Cutler if you want to get technical just owning a coin is damaging it unless you put it in some kind of sleeve an d never handle it. I have never sold any of my coins or finds. I like to keep them and let others see them and what they are .

 

[RW]

I might love ketchup more than money. On a related but stranger note... For those with patience, I also heard that if you swallow a corroded, tarnished old coin and wait a couple days it will come back in mint condition. Haven't tested that method yet, YMMV.

 

[Gare]

Well Cutler if you want to get technical just owning a coin is damaging it unless you put it in some kind of sleeve an d never handle it. I have never sold any of my coins or finds. I like to keep them and let others see them and what they are .

 

[No gold in NY]

I might love ketchup more than money. On a related but stranger note... For those with patience, I also heard that if you swallow a corroded, tarnished old coin and wait a couple days it will come back in mint condition. Haven't tested that method yet, YMMV.

I guess i'll have to use my pin pointer to determine when it arrives.

 

[ironhorse]

removal of general "grime" on coins is easily achieved with a quick dip in 100% acetone with no scrubbing
Ketchup and various cupboard sundries will only make the coin taste better in the end and not recommended for cleaning collectible coins
In the end....you do you, it's your collection

 

[Megalodon]

I guess i'll have to use my pin pointer to determine when it arrives.

Ugh, thanks a lot for that image...

 

[l.cutler]

Handling a coin carefully by the edges is hardly the same thing as soaking it in something acidic. Your coins to do as you please.

 

[Megalodon]

Not trying to be contrary - but a 1912 wheat cent in G condition is worth what, maybe $1 - and that would be for one that was not dug. For a dug worn coin like this, I think what the OP did was ok, considering its value is in his enjoyment of it. I think it looks pretty good. If it was a suspected 09-s vdb or a 14-d, maybe a more gentle approach would be more appropriate.

 

[l.cutler]

Not trying to be contrary - but a 1912 wheat cent in G condition is worth what, maybe $1 - and that would be for one that was not dug. For a dug worn coin like this, I think what the OP did was ok, considering its value is in his enjoyment of it. I think it looks pretty good. If it was a suspected 09-s vdb or a 14-d, maybe a more gentle approach would be more appropriate.

Well said, on a dug copper coin like this there isn't really any harm. Just wanted to point out it would be damaging to a more collectable coin. I have seen a lot of coins "shined up" that have had there value destroyed. "Rules" for dug coins are different. The 1912 here looks good!

 

[Megalodon]

Well said, on a dug copper coin like this there isn't really any harm. Just wanted to point out it would be damaging to a more collectable coin. I have seen a lot of coins "shined up" that have had there value destroyed. "Rules" for dug coins are different. The 1912 here looks good!

Agreed, and from personal experience with harsh cleaning too. When I was a kid, I carefully assembled a fairly matched set of Franklin halves and Washington quarters (except for the 32-D & S, and oddly, the 55-D) from circulation. I got home from school one day to discover that my father had proudly cleaned them all by scrubbing them with baking soda paste, and the coins were ruined. I had to hide my coins after that. I couldn't even bear to look at the harshly cleaned ones again. Even though I still have the quarters and halves, and this event was well over 50 years ago, it is still difficult to open those albums and I have done so only once or twice since then. I like my circulated coins with natural surfaces and a bit of honest verdigris in the devices for contrast - and the OP's Lincoln cent retains that look even after its light cleaning.

I was heartbroken when my coin collection was ruined and spent some of the harshly cleaned coins. There are few things worse than seeing an artificially bright wheat cent in only G or VG when it was previously in nice chocolate brown. The cleaned dimes went into the Nehi machines when you could still get a soda for a dime.

 

[ROIGuy]

I might love ketchup more than money. On a related but stranger note... For those with patience, I also heard that if you swallow a corroded, tarnished old coin and wait a couple days it will come back in mint condition. Haven't tested that method yet, YMMV.

My brother tried that when he was 5 years old... my dad had to shake him upside down until it popped out of his mouth.