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 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,652 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
As many experts would say, don't clean a coin, but most old coins found in the market are cleaned. I was trying to figure out how to do so, by experimenting the cleaning process on a 1952 King George VI penny that I found while hunting in my penny rolls. Please visit this forum page for more information and nice updates on my roll hunting: https://goccf.com/t/104048Please look at the photo of my good finds and notice the George VI cent.  But first of all, we have to know what cause pennies to turn brown. It appears to me that there're three ways for pennies to turn brown: Dirt/Dust as the bottom layer, Rainbow and grease as the bottom layer. Dusts on a coin could be very easy to clean. During my experiment yesterday, I used a Faber Castelle soft art eraser and restored most of the lustre. No scratches were made. But, I tried this same method on my 1920 Wheat cent. In this case, it's grease. I rubbed and rubbed, but nothing happened. I've heard about ways to treat a coin like that, but I don't know which one I should listen to. Since the Coin Community is somehow really reliable, so please post your suggestion. Rainbow damage, caused by tape, water, soapy liquid, seems hopeless to clean. If anyone has a suggestion, I would appreciate it if he or she posts it. Thank You. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Thanks for the information. I have some coins that aren't worth more than face. They are dirty and I will try using the eraser you suggested. (It's already on the shopping list.) I figure it can't hurt and maybe someday I will be bold enough to try it on a better coin.
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1700 Posts |
Does anyone have a way to clean the grease off a coin? Or how to clean a rainbowed coin?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
Always make sure that you us a SOFT eraser, but not the kind where you can make them into other shapes. Use this method only on coins with dust as the first layer, and on hopeless coins.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
666 Posts |
Good Lord tell me this is a joke.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
I'm sorry Springcypress?
I wrote what I experienced. Not a lot of coins are covered with dust as the top layer. This method does not work for grease-covered coins and rainbow covered coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
666 Posts |
you're scratching the ever living $h!7 out of your finds. In no way is this cleaning. Not only are you ruining any sort of numismatic value the coins currently have, you're destroying them for future owners of them. Pennies don't turn brown because of dust. They turn brown because they're starting to oxidize. By rubbing off this layer of oxidation with an erraser you're removing the top layer of the coin. If you look at these coins under any sort of magnification you're going to see all sorts of striations. Do any sort of search on this forum using the keywords "cleaning coins". And for the love of all things holy don't "clean" any more coins at least until the point that you know what the effects will be. There are certin times when cleaning is OK. Ancients and MD finds come to mind. There are very few other instances where using anything other than acetone and possibly a water bath would be recommended. (I'm thinking here about verdi-care.) Read some of the grading forums here and you'll get an example of what the effects of even moderate cleanings can have to the value of coins and their desirablity. Just as an example, here's one where doing something super similar to what you're doing reduced the value of a great coin from $12 to $2. My stomach is doing absolute flip flops just thinking about the possibility of "cleaning" rainbow toned coins. I litterally felt the vomit rise in my throat (that could have just been my wife's meatloaf though). |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
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Moderator
 Canada
10458 Posts |
I am speechless... my junk bin is full of cleaned coins like that, because coins, especially bronze coins, are absolutely worthless after a treatment like that...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
United States
666 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
All Right.
I AM SORRY. THERE'S NO NEED FOR ANY MORE DISPUTION ON THIS COIN COMMUNITY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING. I HAVEN'T BEEN IN COIN COLLECTING FOR A LONG TIME, SO I TRIED TO CLEAN A HOPELESS 1952 CANADIAN CENT WITH AN ERASER. THANKS FOR TELLING ME NOT TO DO IT AFTER I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO. SORRY FOR ALL THE DISPUTION. I've ALSO WRITTEN IN MY TOPIC REVIEW "PLEASE POST YOUR SUGGESTION". SO PLEASE COMPREHENSE THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO RUIN ALL YOUR COINS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUGGESTION
SORRY AFTER ALL
Edited by Petersun
12/14/2011 12:36 am
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
650 Posts |
If you have grease on the coin try a quick rinse in acetone and the rinse with distilled water. don't rub the coin.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 2,652 |
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Posted 12/05/2011 6:38 pm
