A Toasted First soaked in ketchup:)

Digger RJ · Aug 3, 2020

Shield Nickel soaked in ketchup

Brought out quite a bit of detail. The date looks like 1866 or 1869. Bucket Lister and glad I got to show more detail. Thanks Erik from NJ. Happy Hunting!!!
Just posted before pictures with the after ketchup soak pics. I could barely make it out before the ketchup soak. And definitely couldn’t see the 5 before.
Heinz Ketchup
I soaked it in ketchup in a snack bag for 2 hours. Cleaned with water and dried. I repeated this process 3 times, using new bags and new ketchup each time. So this clean I did took 6
hours.
It’s the mild amount of vinegar in the ketchup that does the cleaning I think. From experience, DONT soak coins in straight vinegar! It’ll eat them up pretty quick.

smallfoot · Aug 3, 2020

lenmac65 · Aug 3, 2020

I am glad that worked out for you. If you could please post a before and after picture, that would be great, as I am interested in trying that method myself. Thanks!

Mudflap · Aug 3, 2020

Heinz??

TreasureCatto · Aug 3, 2020

Post a photo :camera:

Erik in NJ · Aug 4, 2020

The nice thing about ketchup is it works SLOW......remember the commercial from way back for Heinz with the Carly Simon song "anticipation...." :laughing7:

The ketchup technique for nickels can take a few days. The ketchup will turn dark as it works, replace with fresh and check the progress till you're happy. The problem with the real toasters is that the detail is mostly in the crust and if you leave the nickel in too long it'll clean it down to the solid metal and you'll be left with a pitted disc...so please keep an eye on it. :thumbsup:

Digger RJ said:
Brought our quite a bit of detail. The date looks like 1866 or 1869. Bucket Lister and glad I got to show more detail. Thanks Eric from NJ. Happy Hunting!!!

Erik in NJ · Aug 4, 2020

Is there any other? :laughing7:

It's the mild acid in the ketchup that does the work--I think any brand will do, but I love the taste of Heinz (on food) :tongue3:

Mudflap said:
Heinz??

CASPER-2 · Aug 4, 2020

lenmac65 said:
I am glad that worked out for you. If you could please post a before and after picture, that would be great, as I am interested in trying that method myself. Thanks!

ketchup can be corrosive to some coins so be careful

Erik in NJ · Aug 4, 2020

CASPER-2 said:
ketchup can be corrosive to some coins so be careful

I would only recommend using it on toasted nickels to attempt to bring out some of the detail, but again it needs to be watched.

Trezurehunter · Aug 4, 2020

Congrats on your bucket list Shield Nickel.

TreasureCatto · Aug 4, 2020

My best guess is a 69. Congrats :occasion14:

Steve in PA · Aug 4, 2020

I have heard that mayonnaise works the same way, but haven't tried it yet.

cudamark · Aug 4, 2020

Erik in NJ said:
Is there any other? It's the mild acid in the ketchup that does the work--I think any brand will do, but I love the taste of Heinz (on food)

Sure, Hunt's, Del Monte, even many house brands. I refuse to use Heinz for personal political reasons.