Cleaning Large Cents

[Merf]

With all due respects, I have used peroxide a few times but I get better results putting them in a tumbler with white aquarium gravel, water, and 1 once of vinegar for a couple of hours.
I used peroxide on these and got very little improvement .
These pics are before and after the tumbler.

 

[Gilligan]

With all due respects, I have used peroxide a few times but I get better results putting them in a tumbler with white aquarium gravel, water, and 1 once of vinegar for a couple of hours.
I used peroxide on these and got very little improvement .
These pics are before and after the tumbler.

They look cleaner, but with all due respect, any numismatic value is completely destroyed by running a coin of any value in it.

 

[Merf]

If I was to find a key date I would try to find a place that could clean and grade it.
I am not sure a green copper coin can be cleaned and graded. Can It?
Looking at market value, I have not seen any green copper coins sell on E-Bay.
I have seen what looked like tumbled copper coins sell on E-Bay.
I have not sold any and don't intend to. If a person likes the looks of a green copper better than a copper colored copper then I would skip the tumbler.
I just like the copper color better.

 

[Gilligan]

If I was to find a key date I would try to find a place that could clean and grade it.
I am not sure a green copper coin can be cleaned and graded. Can It?
Looking at market value, I have not seen any green copper coins sell on E-Bay.
I have seen what looked like tumbled copper coins sell on E-Bay.
I have not sold any and don't intend to. If a person likes the looks of a green copper better than a copper colored copper then I would skip the tumbler.
I just like the copper color better.

I have always heard that if you find a key date or other valuable coin, do not clean it with anything besides soap and water. I am not expert by any means, but the natural old green color is much better than the shiny result of abasion cleaning as far as value goes. But I would ask a professional if you have any valuable coins before you clean them beyond soap and water. I found an 1802 Large Cent years ago. It was all green on the face, and the back had sand stuck to it badly. I made the mistake of using electrolysis on it. To the novice it looks great, but it looks too clean and I am sure I destroyed the value of this coin. Anyway, happy hunting and have a great day, Bryan

 

[BuckleBoy]

One thing that the peroxide method does exceptionally well is that it allows a coin to be identified, if possible. Using a harsher method before a copper is identified can be a BIG mistake.

Regards,


Buckleboy

 

[YankeeDownSouthAdv.]

What about silver using this method?

NO, If silver is so bad that the dirt is encrusted, than maybe electroylsis is the way to go, usually silver just requires warm water, dirt just does not adhere to silver as easily as it does to copper.

I guess you can try it, but make sure no copper coins are in the mixture, you never mix, copper, nickel or silver together, regardless of method of cleaning.

why don't you mix the metals??..six

 

[Michigan Badger]

I have not seen any green copper coins sell on E-Bay.

You're correct Merf.

Here's a sort of overview of the ebay coin/relic market today.

I've been a coin seller on the bay for most of my years as a member.

Most of your really big bidders for over-cleaned coins and relics on ebay are people who really don't know what they're doing.

The knowledgeable people are very careful and they look for true value. Sellers of common over-cleaned coins and relics generally don't make the big money off these people.

See, true value brings out the buyers with true knowledge of the item up for bid. Since these people tend toward study they usually have money. But they don't throw their money away on bad investments.

This is not true of the average ebay buyer. He often likes shiny new or fabulous detail that's too good to be true. The counterfeiters love these types of people.

If selling cheap coins for big money, make them as pretty as you can. When selling investment quality coins and relics, clean just enough to ID the item.

 

[Don in SJ]

Just a reminder, there is a big difference between removing dirt and removing patina, if patina comes off removing dirt, the coin was corroded or improperly cleaned. If the coin is solid, and carefully cleaned, only the dirt will come off, and cleaning ground found coppers is important to first Identify what you have, including variety, and second to remove the contaminants from the coin to prevent further damage.

Most ground found coppers will have corrosion/environmental damage not matter what, and making the coin stable is important and the vast majority of coins found my detectorists are not sold on e-bay or anywhere else. WE detectorists are the coin collectors now and having a cruddy, filthy copper is not desired by detectorists when it is known it can be made to look better and to be stabilized from further damage. I'm proud of my several looseleaf books full of ground found coins and they mean more to me than anything I could every buy, mine have personal history, each old copper and silver is known where it was found, last handled by an individual, possible even knowing who might have lost it, much more interesting than having a cigar box find coin in a collection. Saving History is what it is about and coins are relics, just like a belt buckle is.

My little quote about cleaning on each of my posts is from a top, well known Colonial Coin collector, who also metal detects.................

Don

 

[Michigan Badger]

The bottom line is what a person likes.

All of this is a matter of individual taste.

But when something of considerable intrinsic value is dug, it's better to clean it only far enough to identify the item.

Any extra cleaning should be left to the collector or professional service.

But again, if the finder has no intention to sell--do as you please.

 

[flyinguy]

This is the easiest way, just peel the dirt off!

OK, this is a Peroxide cleaned copper, took a whole half hour to clean up.......

http://home.comcast.net/~slospokes2/1820beforeafter.gif

Don in SJ

don, thank you. you are just too smart. i've had lge. cents for years and didn't know how to handle them. i've got one cooking now. it is starting to look like a penny. it is so encrusted that i wasn't sure it was. now i can see a face. over two hours and second dip. it's a holed, corroded penny but if i can i.d. i will be happy. thanx again, Bill p.s. i have about 30 but i want to practice on the bad stuff first.

 

[flyinguy]

I posted this last year on the forum, not sure if Jeff saved it or not, but anyway here is my procedure again. I must stress, I have been doing it for several years now and started on a lot of buttons first, but what convinced me it was good when my son did it on his super rare 1785 Vermont Immune Columbia coin which we thought was toast and it came out more recognizable once cleaned with the Peroxide.

Some Coppers just cannot be cleaned and not lose detail for the simple fact the corrosion has already damaged the coin beyond hope and for those who say the cleaning lost the detail are correct, except it was the deterioration of the coin from corrosion that did it, the cleaning just took away that corrorsion.

OK, nuf said on that, here are the procedures:

Directions for the Cleaning of Artifacts/Coins using Hydrogen PeroxideRequired items:

1 - Disposable plastic bowl – I use an empty margarine container
ADDED: - I now use a harder plastic container that can go into the microwave

1 - Bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide which is 3% H2O2


1 - Heat Source – I have a gooseneck lamp with a halogen bulb in it.


1 - Box of Cotton Swabs – Q Tips are the best – others fall apart too easily

Make sure the artifact/coin is free of any oil coating like olive oil if you previously had soaked this object. The oil coating prevents the Hydrogen Peroxide from working on the dirt.
Put object to be cleaned in disposable plastic bowl and then pour Hydrogen Peroxide on top until it is at least a half an inch above the object to be cleaned.

Using the lamp as a heater, I position the lamp to within 2-4 inches of the bowl. This heats up the solution. Be careful not to cause anything to melt from too much heat, use common sense for this part. A Heat Source is NOT necessary, but it does speed up the cleaning significantly...

ADDED: YOU CAN USE A MICROWAVE TO HEAT THE PEROXIDE UP FIRST, BUT BE CAREFULL AND PLEASE USE A SAFE CONTAINER WITH NO METAL IN IT, PUT THE RELIC/COIN IN AFTER THE HEAT UP IN THE MICROWAVE!!!!!
If the solution is hot enough the boiling of the Peroxide should be very evident to you and should remind you of a geyser. Once it is cooking it sprays the bubbles and smokes a little also. This should continue for anywhere from one hour to two or three.

Periodically remove the object if you want to check on the progress. I usually then lay it on a napkin and take a cotton swab and start to gently rub and see how much crud is coming off the object. It might take several hours or more to get real clean. You might even have to repeat the entire process if the object has a lot of stubborn crud on it.

When the bubbling of the Peroxide stops the cleaning also is done. If it needs more cleaning start over again with fresh fluid.

Keep your cotton swabs wet with the Peroxide while gently rubbing, this will prevent scratches.

When done with your cleaning, rinse the object well with water.

The first coin I did with this method did not require any rubbing whatsoever. I believe each artifact/coin is unique in how it is cleaned. Some did not clean up hardly at all. If it is a corroded object, like a pitted, green Indian Head, I don’t think anything you do will help that.

My best advice is to experiment on non-valuable objects first and then move on to your better finds once you build confidence in what you are doing.

The objects may appear dried out after cleaning, if you want you can coat with a coin preservative like Blue Ribbon Coin Conditioner and Preservative or a similar product or even a light coating of Vaseline.

Don in South Jersey

my wife wants to buy cheap q-tips. we fight. q-tip brand is the best. i have baby ears! wa,wa,wa!

 

[RickyP]

Don. Excellent method. It worked wonders on son some injuns. Thanks for the post

 

[woody50]

Don, great information. Thanks for publishing it again, could not find your first post. Will start using the method soon on poor items, where I can't ID any of them.... will let you know...

We do use peroxide here for old antique tiles (say 17th century). Some come out of the ground so dark you cannot see anything on them. Peroxide works wonders on those tiles......

 

[tomclark]

Man, that tumbler destroyed those coins! :P
I wouldn't use a tumbler on anything but stinkin' lincoln's.

Peroxide works on silver, but not at the same time as copper or any other metal.

I boil peroxide on the electric stove-top in a small saucepans lol, once it boils I turn it down to warm. Never had an explosion.

For silver I put some pieces of 1 inch strips of aluminum foil in the peroxide (in the pan) and make a small "boat" out of a piece of aluminum in the middle. Put the silver coin in the boat. Amazing how the crud comes off. Remove often to see how it's going, rub GENTLY with swab. It does not take long and does remove patina off the coin. Try it on cruddy mercs first to see how it works. I'm sure googling silver coin cleaning peroxide will provide more info.

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Great thread!

 

[John987]

Excellent post... I learned a lot.
Thanks to all who have added info.
HH
John

 

[SaginawIan]

Don or anyone - can these benefit from a peroxide cleaning? These are my first Large Cent finds. I would like a little more detail - but don't want to totally bake them . . .

Thanks, Ian

 

[NUKE345KV]

Thanks Don the peroxide worked very well

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Bump

 

[justanotherpulltab]

I found my first and ran it underwater to get dirt of and it pitted it something crazy. Looked good before i did that. Dont know.