How to clean wheat pennies

[Forzac1981]

Any idea how can i clean my wheaties without actually damaging the coin? Any help will be amazing. Thanks tnet community

 

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[SusanMN]

I think Wheaties are best left alone. But if they are so crusted that you can't read a date, you can stick them in catsup and they will come clean, BUT will be new copper bright. Some people have said if you stick them in a potato for a week or so they will turn out better, but that seems a lot of work for a wheatie.

 

[Forzac1981]

How long will i have to leave them in catsup?

 

[SusanMN]

How long will i have to leave them in catsup?

I usually leave them in overnight.

 

[Forzac1981]

Sweet thanks for the help

 

[smokeythecat]

Lemon juice for 2 minutes will do the trick. The common denominator is the acid content of catsup (vinegar) and of lemon juice. I would not clean a wheat however.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

amonia

Any idea how can i clean my wheaties without actually damaging the coin? Any help will be amazing. Thanks tnet community

amonia. But practice on some worthless ones first, as over-doing it can leave them with a burnished appearance.

 

[atomicscott]

Why would you want to? If they are worth anything, cleaning them will make them worth only 1 cent! I keep and collect all my wheats, but I would be really pissed if I cleaned them THEN found out one was a rare wheat! I only worry about cleaning my clad enough for the bank or coinstar to take them. I use a simple procedure that takes about 10-15 minutes, (& a bit of elbow grease) to get all that clad clean.

 

[bayhawk2]

{{Any idea how can i clean my wheaties without actually damaging the coin? Any help will be amazing. Thanks tnet community }}

Some say don't clean them and I totally agree(if they are readable)..I've uncovered some however that are crusted so bad and in a bad way.Then cleaning is,in my opinion,ok..Since it is really worthless uncleaned or cleaned...But an acid based liquid,lemon juice and table salt will do it..Just shake it every now and then..Left too long and it will actually start eating the metal away..Not good.

 

[DigIron2]

I would go with the lemon juice advice, as far as a quicker effect.That and a toothbrush gets the crud off!Be shore not to leave them alone to soak.Stay over top of them while cleaning,dont want to over clean.Give final cleaning with soap water

 

[gleaner1]

water and rubbing and off to the coinstar

 

[foiler]

I use a rock tumble. White vinegar and salt about 20 minutes for cents, 30 for clad. Do them separately or your clad will look like cents.

 

[Davers]

IMO ,If you want to clean your wheat cents ..
Choose the common ones and experiment with diff, methods.
I have tried sooo many methods and found it really depends on the coin & how much the ground has eaten it to
the surface & if it's pretty Corroded ( It's likely a waste of time and at that point I might just Tumble them)
Just -"My Opinion"
Experiment and see what happens & you know always check for semi-or key dates and leave them alone for the moment.
Davers

 

[Forzac1981]

The only reason I'm asking is because I got a whole bunch of pennies and they look really beat up. I dug up the other day a 1918 and 1919 but they look really corroded. But at the same time i don't want to damage the coins. That's why i asked how to clean them

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I always check dates before I clean anything...Most the time they are commons...but a couple years ago I found a 1922D wheat...that one i left untouched...But the rest go in the tumbler. Plus I noticed (By Accdient) that if you clean the wheats in the tumbler, then throw them in with other wheats ( My CRH wheats) they start to get the patina back quickly, after a few years it will be hard to tell which ones were cleaned

 

[foiler]

I've had some luck with CRL on corrosion. As I said a rock tumbler, salt, vinegar just enough to cover coins and a handful of pebbles. I've added a tablespoon of CRL and its helped. Tumbling for the short time to clean the coins does not wear them excessively. It's affect on coins is the same as if they were in normal circulation.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Do NOT clean ANY valuable
coin! You will surely devalue it being a novice. If you need to clean a common circulated coin that has significant value to you alone, many methods are available. Tumblers work fair on clad, but will destroy wheats and silver. Acids do well to reveal dates. Good luck.
Peace

 

[foiler]

I believe there was mention of cleaning coins for the purpose of them being accepted in coin counters. That was the intention of my post in regards to cleaning coins in a rock tumbler. Some of those bank machines are more sensitive than others. Obviously any coin to deemed a numismatic collectible should not be cleaned other than a mild rinsing with a liquid detergent.

 

[BARKER]

HI Forzac1981; Answer is simple. Don't waste your time. Wheat Pennies are currently valued at 2 cents per wheaty. Dealers pay only 1.5 cents per wheaty. The cost of catsup or lemon juice plus labor does not justify the means. If you have a valuable wheaty like the 1909 S VDB, 1914 D, 1922 Plain, 1955 DD, 1972 DD, 1983 DD etc. then you are best to NEVER clean them "EVER". If you are "desparate" there are coin cleaning companies. They charge a lot and the results are variable at best ok.
What you do is send it to PCGS or ANACS. They will give you a correct Grade which will also give you the peace of mind your looking for ok. PEACE:RONB

 

[gleaner1]

Amen