Coin Cleaning Advice

[150aceboy]

Hi folks, the coins i find on the beach are normally in a poor state due to corrosion. I was told to clean them in vinegar , some came up clean , but i noticed on the pound coins the vinegar turned them a coppery colour , whats the best way to clean your beach finds, thanks guys , Paul.

[detectordave]

When the coins have changed colour if you rub them gently with a brass brush they will come up good as new (brushes can be bought from any £1 shop) this works very well

[150aceboy]

Thanks for the tip Dave, i'll pop down the £1 shop in the morning, cheers mate, Paul

[detectordave]

it works really well i have done it this way for years

[cardiff bats (Paul)]

i have seen some coin cleaning kits on sale on flea bay using electricity?

Are these any good or do they do more harm than good to the coin

[150aceboy]

Hi Cardiff bats, just made my own using an old transformer, found the instructions on the web.
Have tried it with modern coins, but care must be taken, if you leave them in to long, i found that this caused pitting to their surface.
If you do try it mate, keep checking coins every couple of minutes, cheers Ace

[U.K. Brian]

You could try it out using a car battery. In any case you need two electrodes (+anode and  -cathode).
Your supposed to have a stainless steel rod for the anode but an old stainless bit of cutlery is just as good.
The cathode needs a clip or wire frame to hold the coin.

Use a glass or plastic container thats wide enough to keep anode and cathode well apart. If they touch and your using a mains device the fuse will blow.

Warm water in the container plus salt. Caustic soda or citric acid will speed things up.

Though you dare not turn your back as the process works make certain the room is well ventilated as the gases given off can start off asthma.

An alternative for beach coins is just pick up a second hand rock tumbler. Stick a handful of coins in with either grit/gravel or even just sand. Leave running for a few hours. Remove cleaned coins and let the rest carry on.
The advantage of sand is its cheap and gets finer as the coins tumble so the coins get clean and gentle polished.

With either system keep seperate metals apart as they cross contaminate each other.

[150aceboy]

Cheers Brian, Good advice and info fella, will give this one a go mate, cheers Ace

[Salty (Karl) Cardiff Scan Club]

My GOD, don't use a car battery, the ampage is far too high, if you short the terminals you'll get a nasty burn or the battery can explode,
either butcher an old mobile phone charger< they output milliamperes or you can use a car battery charger (too much ampage for coins, o.k. if your using it in large iron objects).

[150aceboy]

Thanks for that Salty m8, Ace

[Chef Geoff]

I'm with Salty on that "don't use a car battery"!
But Brian has it in one a barrelling machine, I used to pop all by beach finds in it, leave for a couple of hours and hey presto spendable cash, don't use it on anything old (other than grots)
The new ultrasonic cleaners are good but once again keep an eye on them as they can strip your coin if left too long.