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 Replies: 10 / Views: 3,540 |
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New Member
France
2 Posts |
Hi, Please advise if this post is not in the right forum section. I have a great deal of respect for collectors, but please note this question is not related to collectable coins, but stock standard present day euro coins :) I've had a bowl full of loose change sitting in my kitchen for years, which eventually got a bit grimy and I wanted to clean and cash in. I foolishly soaked said bunch of coins (gold, silver and copper) in some water mixed with citric acid. After a little while, the gold coins started becoming stained with copper - and nothing I do seems to bring them back! See photo of gold coins attached here below. I've tried re-soaking them in a fresh batch of citric acid to no avail. They're not worth much of course, but I want to try get them restored. Any suggestions? Thanks kindly PS: Suggesting that I shouldn't clean coins is not helpful here, I'm looking for solutions to restore these current ones to their usual gold colour.  Edited by dayton88
04/23/2021 11:19 am
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
218 Posts |
I have removed these stains before and I'm pretty sure it was the warm white vinegar & salt method used for cleaning copper pans and such that worked best.
Just don't leave it on the coins and rinse them with detergent afterwards to stop it corroding them further.
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
 . As a general rule:never clean coins. If you plan on just cashing them in, don't bother cleaning them...just cash them in as is. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3470 Posts |
If all you want to do is restore to the original color, sandblasting at about 40 PSI should do the trick.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
24885 Posts |
To the Forum. |
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Moderator
United States
188428 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Not sure why you want to correct color if just going to cash them in. Why not just cash them in and save yourself a lot of work? |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7940 Posts |
 Just use them. Why make more work? Acid doesn't clean off grime, it often causes a chemical reaction at the surface of coins. In this case, I suspect it has reacted with (or leached out) the aluminum and zinc in the "gold" coins. Very little chance you can fix it. Edited by tdziemia
04/25/2021 09:17 am
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New Member
 France
2 Posts |
I'm looking to restore them in case they get turned away when I try and cash them in. Some of the gold ones seem to permanently be tinted copper now in a way that makes them look a bit suspect..
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7940 Posts |
Why not use them in transactions?
I do not think they can be restored. You could try to abrade away the discolored areas and see if they are gold below.
Then you will have badly scratched coins (but of the correct color).
Edited by tdziemia
04/25/2021 10:24 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17932 Posts |
I've used products called Brasso and Duraglit (metal polish wadding) to clean British bi-metallic coins such as metal detector finds so that I can spend them. I never bother to clean 1p and 2p coins, as nobody seems to worry too much if they are a little darker brown than usual! Another technique I use, if I find a tarnished coin on the beach, is to rub it between thumb and forefinger in damp sand for a minute or so - that will often restore it to 'spendable' condition!
Health Warning - please do not try any of the above with collectable coins!
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Replies: 10 / Views: 3,540 |
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Posted 04/23/2021 11:17 am
