A method I use to clean my coins

[lohi]

I have been trying to find a safe way to clean my coins. Out of curiousity I decided to try to use my dremel. I used the nylon buffer and the rouge polishing compound. They come out so shinny. I don't think this messes them up any. Let me know what you think. I know these pictures don't do them justice.

 

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[BADDOG]

I don't know but it looks like there are scratches on each of the coins.

The quickest and least evasive method I've found is a small brass brush, you can get a 3 pack at Walmart for a few bucks, in the paint department.
These do a great job on most coins, but as always the best advice is don't clean any valuable coins.

Good Luck and HH

Baddog

 

[lohi]

the pictures are not the best. the nylon brush left no other scraches then what were already there. Would never clean my better coins. HH lohi

 

[Michigan Badger]

If you want to see SUPER shiny coins, try SIMICHROME polish. You probably only find it a a motorcycle shop as it's used for chrome.

I ordered mine off ebay before someone on here mentioned the cycle shop source.

SIMICHROME will make all metal so bright it will almost blind you in direct sunlight. If you leave the coin sit for a month or so it will gradually mellow out to very closely match original mint lustre.

I coat some of my coin with EverBright clear coat so the coins never lose that mega shiny look. Exposure to the air is what tarnishes metal.

HC (happy cleaning)

Badger

 

[pgill]

Hi Guys/Gals

I have heard on this site a few times about wrapping a coin in tin foil and sinking it in water for cleaning coins..... What side of the foil must touch the coin, and for how long must the coin stay in the water?

God bless
Peter

 

[JakePhelps]

I would definetly not use this method on any old coins or valuble ones. After using this technique you would be lucky to get half the value of them, but they do look shiney

 

[lohi]

As I posted once before I would not use this method to clean my coins of any value. Try this to a coin of no value to you, you will be surprised. Use nylon brush wipe clean, smear on red rouge jewelry polish brush low speed. I know it sounds crazy. Just thought I would ease everyones mind would not do this to my good coins LOL HH lohi

 

[Southcacalaky]

It's nice to have a shiny coin if you prefer. The valuable one I leave it alone, Just my preference, HH Art

 

[wmas1960]

Will take your word for it that the scratches were already there, but to me, they look like brush marks. I would avoid anything that would even remotely have the chance of scratching the surface. Sand Paper, Steel Wool, Scotch Brite pads, brushes and so on. Look real closely and you see how all the scratches run the same direction etc.

Like I said, that is just what I am seeing in the pictures. I don't know what the coins looked like originally.

Similarly, I think there is a term for it, where people hold coins to a spinning pad or brush or something. Whirring I could have the term wrong. It involves similar cleaning and very fine scratches. Some such that you don't see them as scratches as they are so fine. If I recall, it is noticable in the halo effect that some coins have resulting from the circular buffing.

Anyway, I would first try some of the dip methods that you can find. Salt and Vinegar or Lemon Juice. (salt and acid). There are others also. Read back in this topic. I have seen dozens of posts on this subject in the last couple weeks. I found that Barkeepers Friend worked real good on some pennies. Cleaned them nice and bright but didn't do much for the crust that was on some of the coins. If that doesn't work and If it is encrusted heavilly you might try a medium tooth brush or use a rock tumbler with some nut shells or other fairly soft, fine medium in it. There are many different things that people use. Add a little tide and some water. Not a lot, I would guess. I had the thought of some patches cut from some old blue jeans. A thought that comes from how coins look when they have come out of my jeans in the laundry. Or, you might clean the coins in a dry tumbler with some dry rice I wonder if that would work. Might not be hard enough to mar the surface of the coin but would help in removing grit and crust. The combination between the cleaning medium and the other coins in the tumbler knocking around should take off the crust. Also, an ultrasonic cleaner is an option too. That might even be better as nothing is knocking against the coins and there is no abrasion or contact. The way it works is that the liquid in the cleaner vibrates at such a high frequency, and in some cases is heated also, to a point where it loosesns all the grime attached to an item. Some people have even had success using Ultrasonic to clean coins without damaging the desirable darkening or patina of the coins. Note that some cleaners will remove the patina and others won't. With the tumbler, don't go too long. I am sure someone here can tell you more what to use and how long to tumble. Last night I saw a post from someone who forgot to turn the tumbler off. After 24 hours, the back side, (wheat side) of a penny was polished smooth with no markings left. TOO LONG. I want to say that 10 or 15 minutes is common

If the coin is something that I might want to clean up and keep, that isn't particularly special, I might think of the Simichrome. I used to use in High School when I went to a Military Academy. We used it on all our brass and bronze items. Buttons belt buckles, Monograms and insignias... I have had trouble finding it locally though. Last I saw it was at an auto parts store. I understand it is popular with motor cycle owners. You might check where they would buy their supplies. Or, there are many places online. You can even get it, I think, through Amazon.com. Lately though, I have used MAAS. From my experience with Simichrome, using it intensely for over 6 years, 7th through 12th grade and beyond, MAAS seems to be the same thing. Same color, same smell works the same.... I think it the same product imported from Germany and sold under another name. My understanding is that MAAS and probably Simichrome contain a polishing compound called Rouge. That is a stone that is extremely fine and is used to polish jewelry and other metal objects. Look for a jewelry making supplier. Something else that could be good to have on hand are Rouge Clothes. They are polishing clothes. One side is yellow, if I recall and the other is Dark Red (Rouge) and contains some of the rouge compound. All you have to do is wipe your object with it and it should come to a high polish. Buff clean with the yellow side of the cloth. No paste little mess. I think MAAS and probably Simichrome too, also contain something that might protect the surface also. Maybe a wax or polymer or something. Whenever I am finished cleaning something with MAAS, I wash it under warm water to clean off any residue. I notice that the surface beads like your car after you wash it.

If the coin is something that is bad and can't be spent in it's condition, I am thinking the ultrasonic or tumbler, just to put it back into circulation. Otherwise, why go through the trouble to try and polish it.

If it is bad and you can't determine it's value or identity, try a dip or the ultrasonic first, Then go to the tumbler if you have to. After you can decern the value of the coin, decide if you want to just put it back into circulation, clean it or polish it for your personal interests or collection or keep it au naturale for it's age and collector value.

 

[wmas1960]

As I posted once before I would not use this method to clean my coins of any value. Try this to a coin of no value to you, you will be surprised. Use nylon brush wipe clean, smear on red rouge jewelry polish brush low speed. I know it sounds crazy. Just thought I would ease everyones mind would not do this to my good coins LOL HH lohi

You touch on something that might better the condition of the coins that were in the pictures. When I took jewelry classes in college, when we finished our pieces, we would have to go through a series of polishings to get them looking like they did in the end. It is a time consuming process and there is no real short cut. Several steps of cleaning, polishing and finishing...

First we would use a dip that would remove scale and other oxidations that formed from heating with a torch firing or casting. Maybe clean the piece in an ultrasonic to remove the investment (Plaster) from the finer details in the casting. The surface would often, then, be clean but would be somewhat rough and dull. Depending on the effect that the jeweler was desiring they might sand blast or bead blast with little glass beads until they got the surface clean even and ready for the next step. Or, if they wanted that look, they would just leave it. Going for a high polish though, you could also use sand paper and go with a coarse grit down to finer and finer grit and finish with a extra fine steel wool. Or, we would start with a coarse stone called pummace, on a buffing wheel, you would clean off the surface of the piece and start to see some shine. However, there would be a lot of scratches in the piece left by the polishing compound. Now you would move on to another finer grit compound. I want to say there was a medium grit but I can't remember what it was called. It has been a while. Anyway, in the end, we would use Rouge on a buffing wheel and remove all the scratches from the previous polishing. With each step, you are polishing the piece further and removing the scratches from the previous polishing leaving behind finer scratches than before. I would guess that in the end, even after rouge polishing, if looked at under a microscope, you will see the scratches. However a coin in such condition might still have good value to some collectors who are less demanding but, I would think, to a purist or serious collect they will be deminished some in value.

Every polishing, when you are talking of a coin, will deminish and remove some of the detail and design. That is why it is not desirable to polish coins. However, if a coin is in the condition as those pictured, It might be worth using some Simichrome, MAAS or a rouge pad and rub it a little. The fine scratches, or at least most of them, may dissappear and the coins might return to a high polish.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Some factors that affect polishing a coin:

1. particle size of polish granules. You want micron sized, as small as possible. Rouge can contain some larger particles. Also your brush can contain some abrasive dust. A polished silver or gold ring may look shiny, but it actually has numerous tiny surface scratches that might be unacceptable on a coin's surface.

2. speed of polisher. A fast (motor-driven) polisher such as a dremel actually smears the surface of the metal at a microscopic level. This gives the shiny appearance when you look at it. This can ruin any type of soft metal collectible such as coins.

3. chemical enhancement. Some polishes contain chemicals that "bite" into the metal surface and speed up the polish process. That's why some wonder-polishes seem to work so fast. They also remove more of the coin's surface!

Be careful of any process that uses abrasion or chemical "bite". I would avoid these. Simichrome is great stuff, but never use it on rarer coins. Never use mechanical abrasion (polishing) on rare coins.

Because most circulated coins had a lot of contact with people's fingers (which helped them get worn), the only way I can think of that would be undetectable is to polish the coin with your [clean] finger. This can take weeks of constant rubbing. You have to make sure you have absolutely no grit on your skin. You also have to make sure there is no grit on the coin.

 

[BuckleBoy]

I wouldn't use anything that could scratch the coins. Silver is usually easy to clean (unless you find it in saltwater). I use a camel's hair makeup brush to gently coax the dirt off the coin under hard running water. I wouldn't ever "rub" a coin with anything. The small scratches that come from cleaning or buffing a coin are always obvious to a coin collector with a magnifying glass, even if they are not so obvious to you. Good Luck!

 

[Dirty Knees McGee]

To add to the general consensus...never use any abrasive process. If you don't see the scratches with the naked eye, you will with a 10x loop. These scratches can destroy the value of a coin. Soaking and a light brushing with a copper brush (AKA camel hair brush) is the best method I have found to protect the value. Once again, simple patience can mean the difference in losing hundreds in value!

 

[Rusted_Iron]

I wouldn't ever "rub" a coin with anything.

Me either, except... someone already has. Every one of the circulated coins you have in your collection were "rubbed" with someone's fingers over many years. Clean fingers do not contain abrasive particles of a size that will leave visible scratching. The problem occurs when there is grit on the fingers or on the coin's surface, and there usually is. Any sort of rubbing in that case would carry the particles as abrasive across the coin's surface.

 

[BuckleBoy]

I concur. And, as a long time coin collector as well, that is why numismatists hold a coin only between the fingers by the reeded edge--never placing a finger on the obverse or reverse of the coin. This avoids such small scratches, as well as transfer of the oil from the fingers onto the coin. I agree that many coins already bear small scratches, but the amount of scratching that can result from "rubbing" the dirt and grime into the face of the coin can be devastating. FAST running water and a camel's hair brush (make-up brush) are your best bet. Be gentle with the brush though, oh, and make sure you have a drain plug in the sink!

 

[schlooppy]

I thought you never wanted to clean your coins and make them all shiny. I've always heard you want to keep the original patina on them.

 

[wmas1960]

I concur. And, as a long time coin collector as well, that is why numismatists hold a coin only between the fingers by the reeded edge--never placing a finger on the obverse or reverse of the coin. This avoids such small scratches, as well as transfer of the oil from the fingers onto the coin. I agree that many coins already bear small scratches, but the amount of scratching that can result from "rubbing" the dirt and grime into the face of the coin can be devastating. FAST running water and a camel's hair brush (make-up brush) are your best bet. Be gentle with the brush though, oh, and make sure you have a drain plug in the sink!

I am not sure, I am new to this subject but I would think that using gloves and holding carefully from the edges is probably to prevent fingerprints and other smudges and materials that can be transfered from fingers to the coin. I don't know if the fingers, themselves, will scratch a coin. Unless you have a lot of dirt, sand or metal filings in your hands etc. Oil and other contaminents though, present on your fingers and always there, can cause uneven discoloration or tarnishing of the coins. I used to go to a military school. When we would shine our belt buckles they would look great. However, get one finger print on them and it will turn the shine to dark brown in just minutes. So, by being careful not to get prints on the coins, you avoid someone having to rub them off and clean with a rag that, then, might mar the surface with tiny scuffs and scratches.

As for small scratches and marks. If the coin is circulated, or, sometimes even uncirulated, there should be some scratches or nick marks on the coins. (Bag Marks) Marks caused by one coin rubbing against another in a bag or transfered as coins rattle and bang around. I just got back from Las Vegas where, while playing Blackjack, I would look at all my silver, (50 cent coins and dollar tokens) as I was given them. Didn't find any remarkably old halves and while I found a few tokens that were bright and looked brand new, with a spiral aura to them and all. Not one of them was free of some scratches and nicks. Reason, I suspect, is that they are minted and shipped in plastic bags and naturally are going to get banged up during transport and storage.

Note that at some point in their progression, all coins, except for those set asside for special distributions, like for collecting or sale in Mint Sets, etc., are probably transfered somewhere in a bag or bin before being rolled and all. I would think some nicks and scratches are normal

 

[john7734]

So if you are new like me and you want to know what is the best way to clean up the coins that you are going to put in the bank and spend .

How would you clean them?

How long will it take ?

Thanks

John

 

[JakePhelps]

I usually use soapy water and those green scotch brite pads that you use for scurbbing dishes, they work great on copper and brass relics too, just go easy and don't use it on good coins 8)

 

[Bebop]

Hay Lohi why don't you finish the job and use the fine or ex fine polishing compound to smooth out any scratches, when you buff out a car you start out with corse and then midden then fine until it looks like glass. I would do this to any old coins of value.