Cleaning finds correctly

[darrrren]

Just me again, started detecting about 2weeks ago, my best finds so far are a sixpence, a 1699 fathing and today i found a lovely coin im trying to clean but cant see a date yet, its a george 3rd coin though from the 1800's i looked in my coin book. Anyway, i got an electrolysis kit off ebay and tried it on a coin that was completely encrusted and looked like rubbish, it ended up being the 1699 farthing! One thing ive noticed is i can get the coin clean enough by washing it and with a toothpick to identify it,but some are a little crusty in places. For example, when the farthin was wet, with water, i could make out the date more clearly, and the details alot better than it is when its dry? I think i went over the top a bit with the electrolysis but you can still see the date, it is a badly worn coin though. So today i found this new one, lots of lovely clean detail on it and it looks lovely, a little crusty in areas. I dont ant to use electrolysis as i gave it a good scrape with a toothpick and alot of it comes off if you stick with it. I wonder if you could advise me how you clean your coins, and isit just the nature of the game, not always being able to get the coin looking lovely,and just having to make due with any little detail you can see on it? my method so far is this,

soak for 20mins in warm soapy water, rinse off, then poke about with the toothpick, if its still not very clean put it in olive oil. ( currently soaking some coins so yet to see if this makes a difference)

[Dryland]

Personally after the washing and  using the cocktail stick, I'd give the olive oil a miss
and just use renaissance wax to preserve the coin and bring out any remaining detail.
I've ruined to many coins this year experimenting

[Chef Geoff]

Most people have tried electrosys at some point but it doesn't take too long for the units to be consigned to the back of a cupboard somewhere as you begin to realise that if it's a good coin then cleaning is a no no and if common then what's the point.
99.9% of coppers from George I onwards that I find end up going to the scrapman as will yours in years to come but obviously your first coins are that bit special.
So the first rule of thumb on Georgian coppers is avoid tap water like the plague as it has acids in it and will leave a mat black surface, drying the coin completely and dry brushing with a baby's toothbrush should be the trick but if you do need to wash them then distilled water and cotton buds is the way to go.
As someone else suggested on the other thread, if there is just a trace of the inscription then an ink rubber can polish the raised areas just enough.
To get the benefit from olive oil (this has acids too so not for the good coins) you need to leave the coin in it for a week at least. Renaissance wax is quite good but it's a bit of a waste applying to Georgian grots

[Dale]

True Geoff, it sounds harsh but the scrap man is all they are good for 90% of the time, that even includes poor hammered silver coins, its just classed the same way but 9.25 scrap.

[darrrren]

oh never, so is there any way of preserving or holding onto these coins? Is this the case for all coins then, they just rot away? Gutting. Ive just put a few pound coins i found today in some vinegar and theyve gone a real pale whitish colour!>? Does anyone have any tips because everything im trying really aint doing to great. Whats te crack for modern coinage thats tarnashed? The quids looked like coppers,now after vinegar they look white, same for the 10p's and coppers,gone really light and whitish in colour?

[Mike]

vinegar's for chips mate , try some cilit bang or similar on modern spendable coins .

as has been said most coins we find are not worth the effort of cleaning and the nice coins we find we don't clean 

[Dale]

Darrrren my way of looking at the preserving side of things, is you have already done it taking it out the ground, a lot of the items you find has been there for hundreds of years up to a couple of thousand, if it was going to happen I think it would of..... Mike has waxed some of his roman finds and to be honest they look good but I leave the mud on mine... everyone has got different ways of dealing with there finds, iv known someone to varnish his coins, even wire brush

[Chef Geoff]

oh never, so is there any way of preserving or holding onto these coins? Is this the case for all coins then, they just rot away? Gutting. Ive just put a few pound coins i found today in some vinegar and theyve gone a real pale whitish colour!>? Does anyone have any tips because everything im trying really aint doing to great. Whats te crack for modern coinage thats tarnashed? The quids looked like coppers,now after vinegar they look white, same for the 10p's and coppers,gone really light and whitish in colour?

All copper alloy coins will rot away in time though it depends in a large part to the soil that they're in, nitrogen fertilizer, animal urine and generally acidic soils all take their toll but on other areas you can find coins with the same alloy that are as good as the day they were lost 2000 years ago.
Both the follis below date to the same era and came from the same farm but fields apart, the difference in the coins shows the difference in land use through the centuries.


Modern coins tend to go pink when cleaned, this is the copper coming to the surface and so it's in it not on it and so can't really be cleaned without the surface becoming pitted Bag them and bank them or pop them in machines

[darrrren]

gotcha, i wont go mad with the cleaning then, i jut see some coins on here and they look really good,immaculate etc and mine seem halfway there but not quite. Ill keep the vinegar for my chips then haha, bloody stupid trying it i guess, i juts wanted the tarnish off because they were the colour of coppers, sort of a white pale copper colour. Will the bank still accept these coins to change up?

[Mike]

if the bank wont take em off your hands i'll give you 50p on the £ mate 

vending machines , bridge toll , bandits etc will all take them as well