recipe for cleaning coins

mumszie · Oct 13, 2011

Hi everyone..... this year has been the pits for me but I've started hunting again now and was just about to start cleaning some of my dirty coins. I cannot find the "recipe" for cleaning them. Does anyone else have it? It used to be white vinegar, fish tank rocks, mean green cleaner....... can't remember the whole thing. Oh I know I can clean them one at a time but I would rather throw them in a tumbler and clean a bunch all at once. Does anyone remember it?

tiggar · Oct 13, 2011

yes, all I use is white vinegar in the tumbler with the natural color aquarium stones for about an hour....and do the pennies separate from the clad coins....

chicepo · Oct 13, 2011

Great to see you back getting your feet wet, we missed you.

SusanMN · Oct 13, 2011

Welcome back, Mumzie. I have found the best cleaner is the Coin star machine. Just drop them in and you'll be surprised how few get rejected. Not sure how it works on saltwater crud but lemon juice cleans up crusty pennies well.

Lorrain. · Oct 13, 2011

Welcome back , Mumszie..missed you !

I recently tried "Mr. Clean" diluted with water in my coin tumbler for pennies...I was pleasantly surprised to see them come out shiny and looking like new.

Lorraine

magjm · Oct 13, 2011

Welcome back!! We've missed you. Swinging a metal detector is the only thing that keeps me sane when the stress hits. I was sorry to hear about your husband.

I use a tumbler and cream of tartar for quarters, dimes and nickels. Dawn or Ivory Snow for pennies although I've been known to throw in some vinegar. Since my pennies get donated to a penny war-feed the hungry drive-I try to get the dirt off before hauling them in.

Magjm

detectahead · Oct 13, 2011

Missed your input, glad to see you back Mumszie!

willie d · Oct 13, 2011

Welcome back Mumszie.

I use dish soap, aquarium gravel and some vinegar.

BADDOG · Oct 13, 2011

Same as Willie D., little soap and water with some gravel always worked for me. If you need anything let me know neighbor.

Blind Squirrel · Oct 14, 2011

Welcome back Wanda!!! Good to see you posting on here again, your presence was missed :hello:

HH from NC :icon_thumleft:

mumszie · Oct 14, 2011

That's it! The missing ingredient! cream of tartar! I just couldn't remember. **sigh** Thanks everyone for the replies and the info. I am not hunting full time yet but I am getting back into it. I am headed out this morning to my least favorite place... CWB. Oh how I hate that place but.... like you all know my daughter loves it. Ah well... who knows

?? Maybe this time I will actually find something down there. Catch you later. ::)

petersra · Oct 15, 2011

Okay, I have used Cream of Tartar in making fluffy white cake frosting, (yes I bake some times), but what is the purpose of using it to clean the coins?? Does it act as an abrasive or what

RustyRelicHunter · Oct 16, 2011

I have used a number of different recipes over the years and I have found the simplest way is to throw in a soap pad like Brillo or a cheap store brand. This added to a little water and gravel will clean and polish the coins without any additional expense. Also, the polishing effect will prevent the clad from turning the nickles pink if you tumble them together.

Russ

Diggincoinz · Oct 16, 2011

SusanMN said:
Welcome back, Mumzie. I have found the best cleaner is the Coin star machine. Just drop them in and you'll be surprised how few get rejected. Not sure how it works on saltwater crud but lemon juice cleans up crusty pennies well.

Absolutely!

davolker · Mar 27, 2013

Cleaning Coins

Diggincoinz said:
Absolutely!

I use a rock tumbler with a little laundry detergent and water and BB's and roll them for about an hour then I rinse them out and if they still aren't clean maybe another half hour to an hour with clean water and detergent with the BB's. Make sure you dry the BB's afterwards so they don't rust and you can reuse them. They should be nice and clean without destroying any patina of the coins. Use the silver BB's or you can get stainless steel ballbearings 3/16 should work but you are going to pay a lot more. Like Laundry keep your Nickel/Silver coins out of the copper coins they will stain the Nickel/Silver coins.

Ltr113 · Mar 27, 2013

petersra said:
Okay, I have used Cream of Tartar in making fluffy white cake frosting, (yes I bake some times), but what is the purpose of using it to clean the coins?? Does it act as an abrasive or what

Mildly acidic?
I've read you can substitute cream of tartar in recipes with a small amount of vinegar.