Help I am in big trouble with the boss.

[JUNKYARD DOG]

Me and my S O did a little swinging for about an hour today. Got permission to detect a home probably built around the turn. Well any way things were pretty good. She found a nice injun 1901 and a wheat 1919, I found a cool token one side sais Blanke mnfg. supply co. St. Louis, the other side sais R.M. Hudson dairy good for one pint milk, a large brass collector coin from north american hunting club, a old tootsie toy car and a little clad. Now comes my problem, I told old girl I would clean up her indian heads for her, the one she found a couple weeks earlier. First I tried hot peroxide it worked a little, OH NO not good enough for me, I had to go ahead and drop them in ammonia. They started turning green and then it seems like it took the life right out of them. So, is there any hope for them? I put some cooking oil on them and gently rubbed it in but didn't help much. I am thinking I better just move on out to the dog house while I can still walk. Seriously though if anyone has a idea what I can do to make them shine up a little, I would sure appreciate it. HH JYD

 

[JUNKYARD DOG]

Her is the other side of the collector coin. Thanks for looking

 

[Ramapirate]

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you, and then eats you,
then poops you off a cliff. Bet that dog house is looking pretty good right
about now. Give your wife the wherewithal to clean the coins, then let her do it.
I thought I could get a scratch off a coffee table for my wife a couple of years ago.
For some reason, I really didn't think a scotchbrite pad would scratch wood.
Silly a$$ me...
Good luck!

HH,
Ramapirate

 

[TimC]

Hey JD,

How ya doin'? Nice Indian Heads. The toy car you show is identical to the model that I found recently, I even found two of them on the same dig.

Maybe you should check with Ohio Jerry. You see, his dad bought some miracle "juice" online that turns old coins into new condition. The only problem is he won't (as far as I know) reveal the name of the stuff. Good luck.

TimC

 

[Blacksheep]

I was not familiar with cleaning "green" coins until i joined TNET, before that time when i had
coins that needed cleaning i would use a cleaner wax made for automotive use.

Sounds silly maybe but i could get all of the crap off a penny using that with a terry cloth towel and
minimum effort, they cleaned up rather well and i never used this method on anything that may
have substantial value, mostly i did this for "filler" coins.

All the coins i cleaned in this manner had light corrosion or other minor issue, i do not recommend
this method on coins you cannot identify completely or have substantial value.

 

[BuckleBoy]

They look good as they are. That's better than most ground-found IH's.

 

[Roger Mn.]

Nice finds.Coin dealers might have a small copper or are they brass brushs. I have used them on wheat pennies but don't think it will remove green.Good luck.

 

[Ohio Jerry]

Hey JD,

How ya doin'? Nice Indian Heads. The toy car you show is identical to the model that I found recently, I even found two of them on the same dig.

Maybe you should check with Ohio Jerry. You see, his dad bought some miracle "juice" online that turns old coins into new condition. The only problem is he won't (as far as I know) reveal the name of the stuff. Good luck.

TimC

No miracle juice here,just plain old ammonia and LOTS of q-tips. It depends on the condition of the coin how well the ammonia and q-tip is going to work. My dad always told me "you cant polish a turd" Seriously,the ammonia works well on most Indian heads and large cents. I like to leave the green patina on the Indian Heads but have found that if your not carefull that green patina will come off on the q-tip if you get too agressive with your scrubbing. PM me if you have any questions. I agree with Buckleboy on these Indian heads though. I think there as good as they're gonna get. No need to be in the dog house..
Ohio Jerry

 

[Harry_Morant]

If you think your results will lead to trouble its time to head to the coin shop

 

[JUNKYARD DOG]

I do appreciate all the kind words of wisdom, I think next time I will let her do the cleaning. I put some vaseline on them and will let them sit for awhile, that may take some of the rust off them. They look a little better already. I aint gonna run, she is only a little over 5 ft tall I think I can take her in a fair fight. Its 6:00 in the morning and I am on my way back to the new site, we just barely hit it yesterday so there is alot more to dig. Thanks for all the replies and good diggin for all.

 

[bk]

I did the ammonia thing...once.
It turned the solution a pretty blue, but turned the copper coins an ugly pink.

 

[kdismuke1]

Leave them like they are. They look good. Best of luck.

 

[jimbob450]

I had some luck putting pennies inside a potato for
a couple days. Cleaned up pretty good. the potato
wasnt any good afterwards. Jimbob

 

[mpostma]

Now Junkyard this may sound a bit strange.....
I own a sign shop and I clean up many old things. A few months ago I had an IH i could barely read. I took some "Barkeepers Friend" which is a powder in a can like cleanser, but very very mild. I clean up old pennies and nickels with it now. I just put a bit in my hand and get it a little wet. I rub it very lightly on the coin, keeping it moist. It cleans up the junk without taking all of the "color" off the coin.
They just look natural. I wouldn't be in any hurry to do it to a key date coin, or anything silver. But pennies and nickles clean up great.
hh
Mark

 

[JerV3]

Nice finds,

I agree with the others. Thay are in good shape for being dug. Nice and brown with no breaks. That's how you want them.

I could tell you how to shine them up a few ways. But it will wear down the coin slighly but they will be shiny. I'd just let them soak in extra virgin olive oil for a nice long time. They will look great over time.

HH Jer

 

[alon]

A detecting buddy showed me some Indians he cleaned up. He uses a little play sand and olive oil. He told me to try it. It works great. Just use very light pressure and work slowly from the outside edge toward the center. The crud comes off pretty quick and the coins come out real nice.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I fried a IH penny in CLR once... Whoops !! The potato works the best of everything I tried from Electrolysis to Olive Oil. Yours look good as far as IH pennies come from the ground. I would leave them alone.

Nice digs,

Keep @ It and HH!!

 

[JUNKYARD DOG]

Well I never got sent to the dog house and after a good coat with vaseline and a few hours they didnt turn out to bad. She even thanked me, but I still aint going to clean her coins anymore. She told me that I would of had a sh__ fit if she messed with mine, she's probably right. We have alot of fun together, and we both enjoy this hobby of ours. I cant wait to get up in the morning and hit it again. So heres the new and improoved IH's, they look alot better in hand. Good luck to all and thanks for all the nice responses. HH JYD.

 

[Zym]

A detecting buddy showed me some Indians he cleaned up. He uses a little play sand and olive oil. He told me to try it. It works great. Just use very light pressure and work slowly from the outside edge toward the center. The crud comes off pretty quick and the coins come out real nice.

Let me preface this by saying first welcome to the forums, and don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to jump down your neck or flame you in any way, but please bro, please tell me you kidding? If your using sand you might as well take it to a buffing wheel or put it in a rock tumbler. PLEASE make sure you check the date of any coin and check it for how common it is before you do anything like this. It will completely destroy the value and collectability of any coin.

Have you ever watched the Antique Roadshow?

"Well, that 1859 Chippendale dresser was worth over 5 million dollars when it was beat up with no finish left, and dog chew marks on its side. But since you've refinished it to make it look stunningly beautiful, it's now worth fifty dollars."

Same principal goes with coins. A professional can tell easily if they have been cleaned with even the finest polish and it ruins any value they had. Believe it or not it is worth much more coated in crud.

That being said, if it has no value whatsoever, use the gentlest method you can make it look nice. I have common silver coins I've polished with silver polish just so they looked nice, but research them first or you may be disappointed.

Happy hunting and good luck out there,
Zym

 

[ringfinder]

You really found some nice items. Best thing I can tell you about cleaning old coins is DON'T!. Especially Indian Head coins. When you wash them in water from home, if it is soft water, it has salt in it. Bad for IH's. Most IH's come out of the ground green in my area in NW Ohio. That is because of the fertilizer they use in fields. If you lucky, the coin will at least be readable. Best thing you can do, is brush some of the dirt off with a toothbrush and then leave it alone.

Some IH's I have found, I just put them in my pocket with other change. They aren't worth that much, and being with other coins will clean them up some.

Take care, don't clean old coins. Silver will be silver when it comes out of the ground. Pennies and tokens will be hard to clean. I've been detecting for 23 years and I did the same thing you did when I first started detecting. Now I cringe when I show an old penny to someone and the first thing they want to do is rub or try to clean my coin better than I have. I usually tell them don't. I like it the way it is. Two cent and shielded nickles will do the same thing. Try to wash them and they are history.

HH, Ringfinder