Railway Token - How To Safely Clean

[dougolf2]

Hey folks,

Earlier today I found a Municipal Railway token from San Francisco. A somewhat strange find on farmland in Central Illinois. Anyway, my research indicates it's made of brass and they were produced from 1945 - 2004. I'd like to clean the token, but not ruin the raised lettering on it. I don't plan to ever sell it. What do you believe would be the best method to clean this brass token? Your help is greatly appreciated!

 

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[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[A2coins]

I love tokens and anything railroad thats a sweeeeet find I would be very careful I dont know if I would clean it just leave it the way you found it.

 

[CRUSADER]

Wire Brush...

 

[vpnavy]

While waiting for some suggestions...
Research/Techniques > Cleaning & Preservation​

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Cleaning that = nah, and certainly wire brush = nah. Leave it "as found". So many times over the years like with coins = sometimes come with statement like "cleaned" thus seriously dropping the value.....

 

[etex]

First use a dry toothbrush, if that doesn't work use a soft brass brush and lightly brush, brass will usually clean up okay. You can get a golf cleaning brush that has brass on one side and soft Brussels on the other side real cheap at wall mart. That's just my opinion, it's not a coin and if it was a rare token you wished to sell then don't clean at all, let the buyer clean it.

 

[tinpan]

Cleaning that = nah, and certainly wire brush = nah. Leave it "as found". So many times over the years like with coins = sometimes come with statement like "cleaned" thus seriously dropping the value.....

Hi , Totally Agree

 

[Hawks88]

Nice find. Congrats.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

That's a cool find for the mid-west.
I was at the San Francisco Cable Car Museum a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a pic of a pile of old tokens from around the US they had on display.
Dave

 

[cudamark]

It's not particularly rare, so, cleaning it won't negatively effect it's value, and in fact, might increase it. If it's truly brass, I like to do the vinegar-on-aluminum can method. What I do is take an empty aluminum can, turn it up side down, put the token in the bottom, fill with cheap white vinegar, let it soak for a couple of hours, pull it out and rub it with some baking soda until I like the finish, then rinse it off with water. Repeat as necessary to get the look you want. Most brass tokens come out looking pretty nice. If it's plated and not solid, this method will sometimes remove some or all of the plating, so, inspect it good before doing this. On plated items, just cleaning with the baking soda, toothbrush, and water is sometimes a better method.

 

[Inspector]

Nice looking token, it will probably clean up nice by using one the mentioned methods, my self if it's legible I like to leave it looking like it was recovered from the soil and keep the patina, congrats on the save

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Cool relic!

 

[hill_billiez]

I’m surprised more subway tokens don’t show up on Tnet

 

[cudamark]

Not many U.S. cities have subways.

 

[cudamark]

The OP's token was issued before B.A.R.T., so it's not a subway token either. Just a transportation token. Other than rail, I'm not sure if they used them for buses or street cars. Probably street cars, since that token was first issued back in the mid 40's.