Coin Cleaning Advice

[occy]

Before I get yelled at, I know it is never smart to clean any valuable coins. The coins I am looking for suggestions on were given to me, recently. They don't seem to be incredibly valuable, so I was thinking of cleaning a couple of them so they can be viewed and enjoyed a little easier. The coins I inherited were in a glass jar that was kept in a dresser drawer. The house flooded with salt water and the water got into the jar of coins. There were copper, silver, and nickel coins in the jar. That created a mess. The silver coins were not in too bad shape to read, so I made sure there were no key dates. There were a couple and I kept them seperate, while I lightly tumbled the rest. I will post the older silver and nickel ones later and wait for advice on what I should do to them. Here are the couple of coppers I would like to be able to see better. Soak them in olive oil?

Flying eagle cent:




1809 Half cent:

 

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[Holt0222]

I know my grandpa always just soaked his dug coins in a solution of dawn dish soap and water.

 

[cudamark]

Acetone and then a coating of CoinCare or similar if you just want to arrest the corrosion and protect the coin without removing detail or patina. As you know and mentioned, harsh cleaning methods can effect the coins value. If they have very little value, or, if cleaning won't effect the value much, there are variety of methods depending on the type of metal, the degree of corrosion, and how you want it to look in the end. You may want to check out the Cleaning/Preserving section here on Tnet. Good Luck!

 

[occy]

Thank you for pointing out the section on cleaning! I never look below the Metal Detecting section. I now noticed a few coins that have some value to them, and I want to choose the right method to bring out the details and preserve them.

 

[Al D]

I would look into the process of reverse electrolysis, I use it for cleaning any number of objects.
I does not require much equipment, basically a power supply with test leads and a small clear glass tank or bowl.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Olive oil is for cooking, not coins. It ruined a few of mine before I learned my lesson.