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 Replies: 9 / Views: 5,338 |
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New Member
Australia
2 Posts |
Hi everyone
I found a 1920 penny under the house. Really dirty. Started scrubbing with steel wool then thought I should track down some people who know about this stuff to help me do it right.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Aaron
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4846 Posts |
DONT!! cleaning coins reduces value unless done by a professional!! steel wool is especially not the way to do it!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
Don't clean it. Maybe an acetone bath but steel wool is probably the worst thing you could do. If it peaked your curiosity in coins I suggest trying to find one in nicer condition (they are out there) BTW welcome. Hang out for a while you will learn much here.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
there are only two rules of cleaning coins:
1. Don't do it ! and
2. if in doubt, re-read Rule 1.
Yep, it's that simple,
Peter
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Moderator
 Australia
16830 Posts |
There are several ways of cleaning coins that cause minimal harm. Unfortunately, steel wool is definitely not one of them.
It also depends on what you mean by "dirt". If it's literal dirt, then water with maybe a little soap would have done the trick. If it's just oxidation (the brown colour that bronze coins naturally turn after being in circulation) then that shouldn;t be removed at all. But if it's a ground find, then your "dirt" was probably corrosion, and if so then there was no way of removing it without the coin looking cleaned, anyway.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2448 Posts |
Heck of a  wasn't it; don't, don't, don't! If you do anything, just soak it in a bath of distilled water and wait to see what comes off the coin. There are experts, I'm not one, that can help you as they have helped me. again, welcome and enjoy the forum. |
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New Member
 Australia
2 Posts |
Well I guess I have my answer. Many thanks.
It was a ground find (i.e buried), it is the greeny looking corrosion not just dirt. Have numerous pennies already, many found around the house but this is the first one that seems to have some degree of rarity. will leave it as is.
Regards
Aaron
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Valued Member
United States
380 Posts |
You can try the acetone but I would generally not clean coins... Welcome! And you'll learn a ton here!!
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
The only thing worse than steel wool for cleaning coins....Is a Belt Sander.
Don't clean beyond running water, then blot dry, don't rub. Especially coppers.
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Valued Member
United States
493 Posts |
Cotton cloth will scratch copper? Running water over a coin does not seem to do anything, unless you picked the coin up out of the dirt. It seems to me, most bank coinage are covered with a layer of greasy slime, that if you clean it up a little with clean cotton cloth you'll see green residue on the cloth. I hear the grease slime on coins actually forms a protective layer? On a different note, I used cotton cloth to clean up a 2001S half dollar I found in circulation, and it seemed to bring back the luster, granted the coin was already scratched a million times..
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Replies: 9 / Views: 5,338 |
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Posted 03/11/2011 9:26 pm
