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 Replies: 15 / Views: 5,706 |
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Valued Member
Canada
235 Posts |
I have a bagful of Canadian tombac (bronze alloy) nickels and hoo boy are they nasty. I mean crusty and dirty.
I know "cleaning" or "toning" coins is a big no-no, but is there anything I can do to sharpen these coins up a bit without affecting the actual metal composition or rendering them ungradeable?
I haven't done anything yet but I was thinking of experimenting with a little olive oil soak and some soap and water. Any suggestions?
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Sorry Rabbit, I have no idea how to clean a tombac V-nickel ...
But I do know an interesting "side-note" associated with tombac V-nickles (1943-1944):
Canadian Nickels during 1943-1945 (WWII) => Intended to stimulate the war effort, the message "We Win When We Work Willingly" is engraved in Morse code on the rim of the coin.
=> man, the best part about collecting coins is discovering all of the cool side-facts, ain't it?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
With that one it's easy. Just do a search on this forum for coin cleaning, cleaning coins, dipping coins and/or anything similar. Lots of good and bad suggestions.
Mainly if those coins are really bad, just start with distilled water. Then try the old standby, Acetone. If all fails, then try the zillions of suggestions already used on this forum in the past.
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Valued Member
 Canada
235 Posts |
Thanks for the responses. I am going to try an olive oil soak and see what happens. Have a whole pile of these puppies. Some in really nice shape....might have a contest or something on here to give some away.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Good idea ... or hey, you could try olive oil, vinegar, feta cheese, tomatoes and slices of cucumber
... because if it doesn't clean the nickels, then you can always fish-out the tombac V's and then eat the Greek salad, right?
Good luck hopping_rabbit
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Note => hopping_rabbit, I was trying to be funny, not nasty (this darn wine makes me type things!)
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Valued Member
Canada
235 Posts |
Hey Steve no offense taken. I love Greek salad!
So I have one sitting in some olive oil soaking, and another one boiling in a vinegar, baking soda and water solution.
I should have taken before pictures.
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Valued Member
Canada
235 Posts |
I am very happy to report that boiling in water, vinegar and baking soda for 5 minutes followed by a dip in olive oil has cleaned most of the "gunk" and dirt off of these lovely coins. Now I can grade them. Some of them are actually quite nice VF+. :)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Well let's see the vinegar is an acid and the baking soda is a base so to some extent they would have neutralized each other so basically it was a boil in water.
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Valued Member
Canada
235 Posts |
....and the olive oil? Seasoning?
Whatever it did it worked. I really hate exposing any kind of coin to any kind of cleaner, water, etc, but these coins were a mess. Now they are salvageable and I can probably get .50 to 1.00 for each one.
I am open to any and all suggestions for next time.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Improves the appearance. Copper usually has a thin film of oil on it (It seems to attract it some how) A completely dry copper coin tends to look rather bad.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19960 Posts |
Agree with Condor.
I have no idea what the coin problem was because you didn't post pictures but it sounds like you simply have cleaned coins now.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Well let's see the vinegar is an acid and the baking soda is a base so to some extent they would have neutralized each other so basically it was a boil in water.
That was a good one.  And true. How about some pnotos of those coins? |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1046 Posts |
hi good thread for me !! thanks !!
old topic I know but I would like
learning if tombacs should be cleaned or no
must admit I've been thinking of swiping
it with lemon juice or vinegar
i`ll try and capture a photo
before and after
best
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19960 Posts |
NEVER use vinegar or lemon juice or any other such chemicals on your coins. They are acidic and will cause permanent damage.
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Before you do anything else check to see if you have a 1944 tombac. If you do DON'T do anything to it!
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Replies: 15 / Views: 5,706 |
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Posted 08/21/2011 5:56 pm
