help on cleaning old coins (sorry if this is in the wrong section)

onlinesniper · Jul 10, 2011

Hello all at TN i decided to go out and tect for a few hours today and nded up on a farmers field which was in crop but had a 20 meter square ection in the middle of the field?

so i carefully made my way ther and once there i began to swing, after about half an hour i got a coin signal with a pull tab sqaulk at over 6" deep so i dug it and out popped a coin i didnt rub it as iv been told on here that it can damage the coin so i left it and once i finished hunting i went home to have a brew and ponder on my finds, once home i looked at what id found today (if i get one coin im happy) i had a 1954 half penny, a weird lookin old button shaped like a radish (only way to describe it) a musket ball, and afew odds and ends, when i looked at the coin i had found it is black and i cant make out anything but i dont want to damage the coin and id like to be able to see what type of coin it is and need help/info on how to safely clean it, i rubbed a tiny part right on the side and its silver coloured but thats all i know upto now any help apprciated thankyou, i would've posted pics but my ahem better half has misplaced my cable >:(

mfitzy111 · Jul 14, 2011

try posting via cell phone camera if you have one...it would be interesting to see what your looking at! :icon_thumright:

good find on anything old and silver!

most people on here are going to tell you to not clean that coin at all- and being as your in the UK your coin could be something special as you are in a really old area!- so you might want to consider getting a professional to look at it before you do anything. if that coin were really really really old, it would be a same to mess it up... what kind of details can you see on it? how big is it? someone here might be able to tell you what it is by the size info on the coin. have you tried hot, cold, hot water? that's the first thing I'd do. scalding, icy, scalding...just to get the dirt off.

now if you have the idea that it was a coin from the 30-40s and it's not too valuable here's what I would do- as if you think it's silver from your scraping the side, you might have already hurt the coin's value scratching it to tell if it's silver...- I'd boil some hydrogen peroxide in the microwave and drop it in for about 30 mins. it should bubble all the dirt and non-living matter off of the coin. then just wash it in cold water rinse. the peroxide won't hurt your skin or the coin- unlike using salt and vinegar solution, you can 'over do it' in that rinse. I actually had a penny disintegrate, but it was in bad shape out of the ground, that zincoln-lincoln's head tore off. leaving coin parts...so might be a good idea not to do that to your coin. craziest thing I've ever seen!

one thing you can do it once you do the h2o2 treatment, cover it in olive oil (or any oil) and get a picture of it -because it might bring out some detail that you can't see. depends on what kind of mess you have, how bad the coin looks- if it's just a black silver coin -liquid silver cleaner that is non-abrasive might be an option, but again if it's got value chemical cleaning will ruin it's worth. please don't do anything like this if your coin is something from the middle ages, that would be bad...

I've heard of people also using oils on here - like olive oil soaks to remove the dirt and carefully using cotton swaps to clean the loose dirt carefully off the coin. seems non-destructive, but also really slow. I had a token (woodsmen of the world) I found from the 30's soaking for weeks and it never cleaned up- but it wasn't silver so I didn't expect much either...

onlinesniper · Jul 15, 2011

mfitzy111 said:
thanks for the info il post some pics today as i have a new lead now which il be hiding in a safe place lol i also have a button thats needs IDing Thanks again mate.

try posting via cell phone camera if you have one...it would be interesting to see what your looking at! good find on anything old and silver!

most people on here are going to tell you to not clean that coin at all- and being as your in the UK your coin could be something special as you are in a really old area!- so you might want to consider getting a professional to look at it before you do anything. if that coin were really really really old, it would be a same to mess it up... what kind of details can you see on it? how big is it? someone here might be able to tell you what it is by the size info on the coin. have you tried hot, cold, hot water? that's the first thing I'd do. scalding, icy, scalding...just to get the dirt off.

now if you have the idea that it was a coin from the 30-40s and it's not too valuable here's what I would do- as if you think it's silver from your scraping the side, you might have already hurt the coin's value scratching it to tell if it's silver...- I'd boil some hydrogen peroxide in the microwave and drop it in for about 30 mins. it should bubble all the dirt and non-living matter off of the coin. then just wash it in cold water rinse. the peroxide won't hurt your skin or the coin- unlike using salt and vinegar solution, you can 'over do it' in that rinse. I actually had a penny disintegrate, but it was in bad shape out of the ground, that zincoln-lincoln's head tore off. leaving coin parts...so might be a good idea not to do that to your coin. craziest thing I've ever seen!

one thing you can do it once you do the h2o2 treatment, cover it in olive oil (or any oil) and get a picture of it -because it might bring out some detail that you can't see. depends on what kind of mess you have, how bad the coin looks- if it's just a black silver coin -liquid silver cleaner that is non-abrasive might be an option, but again if it's got value chemical cleaning will ruin it's worth. please don't do anything like this if your coin is something from the middle ages, that would be bad...

I've heard of people also using oils on here - like olive oil soaks to remove the dirt and carefully using cotton swaps to clean the loose dirt carefully off the coin. seems non-destructive, but also really slow. I had a token (woodsmen of the world) I found from the 30's soaking for weeks and it never cleaned up- but it wasn't silver so I didn't expect much either...

Silver Searcher · Jul 15, 2011

Hello Mate welcome to T.Net :icon_thumleft:

Is the coin thin, if yes chances are it's a Hammered coin, Black means Silver, hold the coin between some oven foil, spit on it and press together without rubbing, it should get warm and swell like bad eggs.
Post a picture of it, Me or Crusader will ID for you :icon_thumleft:

SS

Swartzie · Jul 15, 2011

If you can, measure it with a pair of calipers and weigh it. Then go to a library and get "The official red book A guide to United States coins". The book has dimensions and weights of coins. I usually clean coins in boiling hydrogen peroxide.

-Swartzie

Silver Searcher · Jul 15, 2011

Swartzie said:
If you can, measure it with a pair of calipers and weigh it. Then go to a library and get "The official red book A guide to United States coins". The book has dimensions and weights of coins. I usually clean coins in boiling hydrogen peroxide.

-Swartzie

Swartzie · Jul 15, 2011

Swartzie said:
If you can, measure it with a pair of calipers and weigh it. Then go to a library and get "The official red book A guide to United States coins". The book has dimensions and weights of coins. I usually clean coins in boiling hydrogen peroxide.

-Swartzie

Oops. Didn't realize you are not from the U.S.
My bad.

-Swartzie