Cleaning Coins With Salt! Yikes!!

It matters the coin. If its a coin you can but for an extra 2 dollars for a uncleaned version then yes it does diminish value.

When I was a kid I used a pencil eraser and a tooth brush to clean my coins.
Now.... that Morgan dollar looks much nicer I thought.

I actually created some "Pepto-Bismol" cents when I was a kid.

I can still clean coins with ketchup and mustard, right?

Ahh, yes! Salt! I used to love cleaning pennies with salt when I was 7. Little did I know the damage I was doing at the time. The effect of the metal and grime rising off the coin and floating to the top is actually kind of impressive and the penny is extremely shiny. If you have a penny you can spare (and later spend or hoard for copper alone) then I say try it just so you know 1st hand what it looks like. Keep it as a reference.

-- Boris

Pretty much, yes! Just get a small petri dish or bowl. Fill it with water and drop some salt in it. Mix it all around and put the coins in. When you're all done you can let the water evaporate and get some pretty cool salt crystal formations! It's a great experiment for kids.

-- Boris

Depends on what brand of each. Also, depends on how and when you will be eating them. If you put both on a coin, I suggest also some relish and chopped onions and rinse down with a beer. Also, depends on what brand of beer.


Actually not really lol since many, many people use Lemon and/or Lime juice, baking soday and water, spit, freeze them, bake them and use substances not allowed to mention on a family forum.
There is really a good point of idiots that clean coins. True they loose a lot of value but then too, a good time to buy them. For an example I just picked up a 1909S Lincoln Cent in about EF to UNC for $25. It was either cleaned or polished to almost look like a proof.
I constantly hunt in coin shows for cleaned coins due to the really low prices some are being offered for.
I put them on a kitchen window sill and just wait. No hurry and eventually they tone down and start looking normal. Yes they will always be a cleaned coin but eventually won't be easy to tell.