WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT CLEAN THAT TARNISHED COIN (2024)

FAQs

Does white vinegar damage coins? ›

Acid based cleaners will eat away at a coin's surface diminishing its value. According to research professor Vinod Patel, washing common coins with natural white vinegar and iodized salt in distilled water is a non destructive way of cleaning them.

After a few minutes, the same reaction that dissolves stuck-on grime can begin to eat away at the copper. This may cause the pennies to give off an odd metallic residue, staining your hands or the container they're in.

Pour ½ cup of vinegar into the bowl and add 2 teaspoons of salt to it. Hold a penny halfway into the liquid for about 15 seconds and remove it. Make some observations. Put the rest of the pennies into the vinegar/salt solution and wait 10-15 minutes.

Wash each coin gently with a soft toothbrush before rinsing and drying it. Scrub low-value coins with baking soda and vinegar, lemon juice and salt, or ketchup to break apart tarnish. Remove tough tarnish on coins by soaking them in hydrogen peroxide or cola. Alternatively, dip each coin in a commercial cleaner.

Make a solution of vinegar and salt and let the pennies soak. The acid in vinegar, like in citrus, is what really takes the tarnish away.

In addition to the risk of bodily injury (or even death), the chemicals can permanently damage coins. Harsh chemicals can cause abrasions or chemical reactions with the metal. Can you clean coins with hydrogen peroxide? Yes, you can use hydrogen peroxide to clean coins.

The vinegar and salt cleaned the coin very well as did the the Coca Cola. The coin in the vinegar was third best. Next was the orange juice and then the salt and water.

Don't use toothpaste – Toothpaste is extremely abrasive. It can make your coins appear shiny, but cause significant damage to the surface.

A weak soap (not detergent) solution in distilled water will remove dirt and grease from an encrusted coin without damaging it, even if the coin is one of those grimy specimens found at the beach. City tap water has chlorine in it, which will discolor the coin. Use distilled water, and rinse with distilled water.

Ultrasonic cleaning has emerged as a highly effective technique for cleaning coins and ancient coins. This method involves the use of high-frequency sound waves to remove dirt, grime, and other contaminants from the surface of coins without damaging them.

What cleans pennies the fastest? ›

In Bowl 2, pour in some vinegar and salt. Swirl or stir to dissolve the salt. Within about 30 seconds, the pennies in this bowl will start to shine. The vinegar and salt mixture dissolves the outer layer of dirt.

Distilled water: Distilled water is best for cleaning silver coins and bars because it does not contain minerals that can leave marks on the surface. Baking soda: Baking soda is a natural cleaner used to clean tarnished silver coins and bars.

An expert can, in some cases, improve the value of an old coin by cleaning, but for the average collector the risk of damage is too great, as almost anything you do is going to cut the value.

If you've used the above vinegar method to get your coins mostly clean, you can turn to baking soda to get them extra shiny. Baking soda is great at getting into all of those small spots where dirt and grime can be hard to remove — you can use it alone or by mixing a bit of water with it to make a paste.

Soak in a vinegar and salt bath.

Then, rinse the coins in distilled water to stop the chemical action of the vinegar. Don't leave the coins in the vinegar solution for longer than 2-3 minutes! Otherwise, the mixture may erode their surface features. Make a fresh mixture for each batch of coins.

Essential steps to preventing silver coin tarnish are: Handle them as little as possible, or if necessary with white cotton gloves. The natural oils of human skin, not to mention products like lotions and soap, can make silver coins vulnerable to tarnishing. Keep silver coins in a cool, dry place.