Cleaning Questions: Exprienced Opinions , Please

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Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,299
johnny676767 Pillar of the Community United States 522 Posts	Posted 11/21/2015 09:50 am Hello, I have no experience here, so I am hoping some of the experienced cleaners can help. I just did a preliminary clean, scrub and soak of my first batch of uncleaned coins. I soaked for about an hour in warm water and dish soap, scrubbed with a toothbrush, and now they are in distilled water. I am interested to hear your opinions on the following questions because I have read different things on the internet. 1. Can a toothbrush or nylon brush damage patina? I would guess not as long as the patina is intact. 2. Does the temperature of the soaking liquid, DW in this case, affect results? I read that heated olive oil is good, but water? My garage is getting cooler these days. 3. What do you prefer for magnification and why? I am struggling with my hand-help loupe (10x) now. That level or a bit more even (20x) seems good. I guess my options are jewelers glasses, a table lamp/magnifyer, or microscope (binocular?). What do you use? 4. Do you use different soaking chemicals for different types of encrustations? This question may be too broad but I am not sure how else to ask it at this point. I am anticipating I will have to go stronger than water at some point. Thank you Report this Post to the Staff

echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 11/21/2015 10:28 am It's been a while since I've done any cleaning but when I did I would first wash the coins in warm water using a very mild dish soap. Than using a hair dryer I would dry the coins. I preferred soaking them in olive oil rather than distilled water. Olive oil can darken the patina so keep that in mind. After a long soak I would than start to brush the coin with a soft brush and pick at them to remove the more heavier deposits. I used a stereo microscope set at 10X for magnification. I avoid using any chemicals though I have experimented using hydrogen peroxide on bronze coins and diluted lemon juice and white vinegar on silver coins. Report this Post to the Staff
Finn235 Pillar of the Community United States 6130 Posts	Posted 11/21/2015 7:58 pm As for magnification, you can find some very inexpensive jeweler's loupes on Amazon. Mine is a 30/60x with two LED lights. It was only about $3.50 with free shipping. Only downside is that it ties up one of your hands. I have a lighted magnification lamp as well, but it's only a 10x and has to plug in. Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 11/21/2015 8:16 pm I use a watch movement holder to hold the coin while cleaning. It makes it a lot easier and doesn't damage the coin. Report this Post to the Staff
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