DetectingWales.com

Hi all,
What do you use and How do you clean your coin finds?
I have only found modern coins but i still would like to clean them up.
thanks
ROB....

Hey Rob

It depends on the coin and everyonmes different. For example:

With a silver milled coin - I personally like to wash it and polish it, which I know devalues it [johnny and Mark will be going nuts at this point], but I personally like the way it looks and its not about money.

Hammered silver or denarii - sprinkled warm water {not submersed) and tooth brush only and gently at that.

Coppers Vic/Georgian etc - depending on how old they are and what they are. If I want to keep them in good nick - let them dry after finding. Hard toothbrush and a toothpick to tidy up - seems to work for me. I know a few mates who use the electrolisis system and get good result {Jaydogg explain!}.

Modern coinage - I just give it a brush and drop it off to the bank in bagged coins - job done!

I am sure other people have ideas - Don't listen to Borderfox's Cilit Bang idea though! ;) ;D

Hope that helps and welcome to the site

Neil

looks like i will take them to the bank then :D, more savings for the lad.
And what about other artifacts and metals?

Welcome to the site, Robert. With all due respect to Neil, myself and quite a few other detectorists favour the 'spit and silver paper' method of cleaning hammered coins. This consists of rubbing the coin with some silverpaper lubricated with saliva. This produces a chemical reaction which produces a bad egg smell and results in the higher points on the coin being polished whilst the lower areas are darkened.

Coin collectors would probably be pretty horrified by this and I can't say that the value of the coin wouldn't be reduced but as Neil says money isn't everything.

It's interesting to note that coin collectors' attitude to cleaning coins is completely different to that of museums. Whereas collectors like to retain the 'patina' on a coin and clean it as little as possible, you will find most coins displayed in museums have been cleaned to the point that they look as though they've just been minted.

Geoff

Hiya Robert
To be quite honest with you I normally take any modern coins I find down to the Coinmart machine at Azdas & that tends to clean them quite nicely & they even tend to turn into notes!  ;)

As for the coins I find on the beaches in Devon they tend to end up in the "Pay and Display" machine at Bigbury Bay.

hi robert,  i can only tell you not to do, dont use cillett bang on old coins and while waiting  for it to work, talk to your neibour for twenty minutes,my best ever  roman serstursus, was ruined when i took it  out :-\ dont be tempted to straighten a pin on a roman fibula,  i snapped   the fibula in half trying to straighting it,  last year,  had two sat the one pin was in place, the other a very large fibula had the pin out of line, i thought yes i can bend this to the catchplate,  going well i thought, getting there, next thing crack broke the tip of :o will i ever learn  :'( good tip on ancient bronze get as much dirt of as poss. and then , imerse in olive oil, dry with soft tissueno time limit ten minutes to ten hours gives a great patina  regards john

Polishing milled or hammered silver..ugh (shudder)! ;)  Yes Neil, I do prefer patinas for that authentic been used throughout the ages feel (nothing to do with money), be it on copper alloy or silver.  I only use electrolisis cleaning on copper alloy coins where the detail is obscured.  This George II was one of the better results of using electrolisis cleaning. 

Anything with a green patina should be cleaned as soon and as gently as possible,[the green bit is a soft thin skin and is the early stages off "Bronze desease"]. I usually carry a small round ladies eye makeup brush [very small version of a blusherbrush, ask yer missus/girlfriend] it has hundreds of fine bristles and is very gentle,wrap a small elastic band around it about halfway up[tightly] and you have the perfect tool! Clean  asap if you cant find a puddle use spit and brush the mud along to the back of your hand [wet wipe will take care of that afterwards] once your satisfied pop it into its own little snap bag and job done! IMO even very worn soft toothbrushes are to harsh! Ian.                           

best method for silver hammered is spit 'n 'foil. as mentioned above . however when cleaning no need to press heavily on coin the slightest of pressure, just enough to keep foil in contact with coin then dab now dirty spittal off with kitchen roll and restart process.
i prefer to see roman with a patina (just my preference)
earlier milled George's etc look nice with the slightest rub of clear shoe polish to finish.
please bare in mind that any cleaning can seriously diminish the value of the coin. so if in doubt make sure to check the value of the coin with a reference book such as Spinks first.
hope this helps somewhat

give em a good rub with a wire brush or sandpaper to clean the crud off then use a bit of jif cooker cleaner to shine them up. work's every time  mike

i'd never have thought of that method mike.....i'll give it go !....byron... ;)

Thanks for the tip Mike my bronze Romans look at good as they did 2.000 odd years ago all clean and tidy!

Cheers Mate  :P

I've heard that olive oil can break down into acids that erode your coins. Don't know how true that is.

hi there, in  all coin books  it says that you should not clean coins, at best get an old tooth brush "soft one" a bit of warm soapy water and clean it that way  mick

CILLIT BANG! and the coin is gone :-[ :D

WD 40   ... cleans and protects

good day to you all, Gosh i have heard of ways of cleaning coins, but a few here take "1st prize"  just hope the time team,, etc   etc dont have a print out of this for there next meeting, only one guess what they will be doing " no its not trying  to clean coins this way."

hi i made a comment earlier about coin cleaning, i also have read  some of the posts and they are a bit brutal to say the least,  why not try a small angle grinder, " just a joke" same as the rest of them.

well not only are people on here giving some bad info ,mike come on thats a sarcky reply i hope .if you do this you must be bonkers unless it already worthless.
a good coin collector detectorist i met also told me that only rinse in water any old coins leave dry and us a very soft brush only after coin is dry to slowely remove any left dirt or dust .
never use oils of any sort but leave alone other than brush off every few days/weeks until clean this preserves the coin to its ideal state .
problem is some soaps and oils penitrte through and slowly disolve tyhe coin away more than you would think .
if you want to be silly why not get some brick acid and leave the coins for an hour so all you got left is a blank disc.(DO NOT DO THIS )
COME ON DON'T RUIN GOOD COINS!!!
 MAYBE A GROTTY COPPER COIN WILL REVEAL ITS ID BUT PLEASE DON'T GO HEAVY ON A TIDY COIN OR ARTIFACT.

IT WAS A JOKE MATE. AS MOST PEOPLE GATHERED. we are allowed a joke now and then on this site. as for some coin dealer telling you this and that fine YOU do it with your coin's other people have other way's they like to clean their coin's.  sarky mike

hi all me again noticed on earlier comment by  neil, that  "jaydogg" uses a electrolisis system, i wonder if he would post how to go about it, as i have heard that, its  realy good on heavily cruded silver coins, i for one would give it ago, but would have to find a coin to try it out on first,  good luck to you all saterday   mick

I use blasting powder to clean my coins, I bought a job-lot from a coal mine that was closing down.
Sometimes,after lighting the fuse and the powder has done it's work I have a helluva job finding the coin so fellow members, if you come across a nice clean coin that stinks of gunpowder it's mine and I'd like it back please. ;)

The aptly named Mr A.Noyer, do you approve of my method? ???

Richy.

dear MR DICKLE  i must ask you to refrain from making remark's about useing the tried and tested gunpowder method as some people may take your comment's serious.  your ever faithful supporter  michael

I have my own tried and tested methods, which would cause them sleepless nights, there are others. Have a look at the link.

http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/C/cleaning.htm (http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/C/cleaning.htm)

Thank you Michael for your undying support. Steve (HH) good link that. :)

Richy.

hi there thanks hedgehog for the information about electrolisis system  cleaning just over 4 hours for a reply " GREAT FORUM WORK"  cant wait to try it   mick :-\