Pennys/Half Pennys

The main ones (not including varieties) to look for are:
Halfpenny: 1915, 1918, 1923, 1939 (Kangaroo)
Penny: 1914, 1915 (no mintmark), 1925, 1930, 1931, 1946
Do you have a McDonalds or Renniks catalogue?

$30 a kg is the normal going rate, but it all depends on how many 1911-36 coins there are versus later dates. It also obviously depends if they have been searched through, I assume they have been, but you should still be able to put some sets together (just minus the key and semi-key dates).

Thanks for the info guys :)
i have a good feeling that they haven't been searched through I just got off the phone and she is a old little lady
whose husband passed away 6 months ago.

he had over 150kg of pennys/half pennys and she has no use for them any more.

Thanks I shall do :) and the best way to clean them is just wash them in warm water with a couple drops of lemon juice and dab them dry? is this correct?

Just plain ol water then?

Good luck,i know the feeling of getting on ebay with a few beers aboard,let us all know how you go,it might restore my faith in "unsorted lots".Hope it doesn't happen to you but I got conned with a Deseased Estate bulk coins deal a few years ago,same story,Husband had died and she just wanted to get rid of his coins but the alarm bells rang with her computer skills & ebay knowledge.

First thing to do when you receive them is to sort out all the ones with Verdigris(green fungus) on them.What to do with them depends on how badly they are affected(bad pitting) and whether they are a key date.(Pro Advice needed).

I usually soak mine in water and vinegar solution. Then they are rinsed well, but if a coin has green on it, it usually isn't worth saving.
I buy wholesale lots cheap 10c a coin, and put on my little market stall for the kiddies to play with.
So if you have junk coins I will buy them from you.

Vinegar and lemon juice are both acidic and will remove the toning of the coin. They're both nasty and should not come in contact with coins. If you absolutely must then use olive oil and a cotton bud very gently. In Greg McDonald's book (1991) on page 48 it mentions a very light wipe with cotton wool and linseed oil can be effective of copper coins. Whatever you choose remember to try it on a test piece before anything half valuable. Most collectors would prefer a nicely toned brown penny than one that is a copper colour after being stripped by acid.