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.
The vinegar and salt react together to remove the copper oxide and leave the coins looking shiny again. For the coin that is left with vinegar on, a chemical called malachite forms on them which produces the green-blue residue.
Mix two tablespoons of table salt with one cup of white vinegar, and toss your coins in. Make sure not to mix metals. Let the coins soak for a few hours or even overnight. Take 'em out, rinse 'em off with distilled water, and let 'em dry. You can get it pretty much anywhere, or order the vinegar straight from Amazon.
Lemon Juice was the clear winner, although, dish soap was not far behind. To my surprise Cola didn't do that bad since it's known as the ``destroyer'' to teeth, coming in a 3 way 3rd place tie with Orange Juice, and Water. Baking Soda came in last, with only rating of 2.5.
Yes, vinegar is another safe and natural way to clean tarnished silver. It is acidic, so it easily buffs out those spots. If you want to use vinegar, completely soak your silver in undiluted vinegar first. (For bigger pieces this may be impractical.)
Another way to achieve clean sterling silver jewelry at home is the white vinegar and baking soda method. This method uses the natural acidity of white vinegar to remove tarnish.
Yes, you can use hydrogen peroxide to clean coins. It can remove stains and tarnish and won't damage your coins' surface. However, it's best to use a diluted form of hydrogen peroxide instead of concentrated.
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.
When copper oxidizes, it turns a blue-green color, forming a compound called malachite. In Bowl 2, the vinegar and salt create a chemical reaction. This reaction dissolves the copper oxide (the dirty looking spots) and some of the copper on the outside of the penny. The result is a shiny looking penny!
The oil-base makes WD-40 reasonably effective at removing it without a lot of work. There is of course some sacrifice when this stuff is removed but fortunately the metal underneath is in pretty good condition and the coin, in hand, is much more presentable.
When it comes to cleaning dirty coins at home, Coca-Cola provides an option. This is because Coke contains phosphoric acid, which reacts with metal oxides due to its acidic nature. To clean your old coins using Coke, simply fill a bowl with it and allow them to soak.
Ammonium - Windex works fine. This will clean the coin without damaging the silver. Lemon Juice - This works great on hard to clean silver coins. Simply leave the coin in the juice until the desired amount of crud has been removed.
The 1982 penny is valuable because it was a transitional year when the U.S. Mint switched from copper to zinc, leading to a mix of compositions and errors.
It's from 1999 and could be worth $4,500 thanks to a little-known error on it. What you want to look for is a 1999 penny with no mint mark, which means no letter under the year on the heads side. As for the tails side, that's where you have to look closely.
1969 S-Doubled Die Observe penny: This coin has the letter "S" right below the year 1969. The words "LIBERTY" and "IN GOD WE TRUST" appear blurry due to the double casting of the coin. A penny of this type can sell from $35,000 to $75,000.
Use distilled water, and rinse with distilled water. Acetone is another commonly used solvent, but there is a fire hazard that you should be aware of when using it as a coin cleaning material. Fingernail polish remover contains acetone, but it has other chemicals that may cause damage to upper grade coins.
While you may be tempted to polish your coins to make them look shiny and new, proceed with caution. Polishing and/or cleaning coins can reduce their value. Older coins that show deep age coloration are more desirable than coins whose surfaces have been stripped away by improper polishing or cleaning.
Cleaning an old coin would remove the patina or toning that helps make it even more unique and visually appealing. Removing this effect can significantly reduce the value of the item. The other main reason you shouldn't clean old coins is that you can easily damage them.
Mixing silver nitrate and hydrogen peroxide makes a good cleaner for medical tools, places where food is made, and water cleaning machines. It can kill many germs like bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Soak in a vinegar and salt bath.
Stop stirring when the coins are clean and take them out. 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.
Use Bleach. Soak the coins for just a few seconds - the longer, the darker. Then just polish up how you want - use a silver cloth or wire wool.