Who doesnt love a little ketchup with their French fries? Dip your coins in white distilled vinegar and let them soak for about 30 seconds. Go over the entire surface of the coin using smooth, circular motions. Im also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). Dip one penny halfway into the liquid. Rinse under warm, running water and dry them with a soft cloth. Read more in our privacy policy. When I first began collecting coins and wanted to learn how to clean them, I learned that mixing baking soda and vinegar in a glass creates a highly potent solution that can strip away dirt and grime from coins. Gently swirl the cup so the penny is completely covered with ketchup. In her free time, she works on perfecting new cake recipes to share with others. If a coin has been severely damaged by the environment, it will turn green. Pour a small amount of Goo Gone into a small bowl. Lightly rub the ketchup into the coin with a soft toothbrush, then rinse off the ketchup. Press the wet brush into baking soda and listen to the oddly satisfying hiss :) Scrub the penny in long strokes applying a decent amount of pressure. This process will work best on coins that are heavily tarnished or have a lot of stuck-on grime. While holding the penny on a flat surface with one hand, use the old toothbrush to work the tomato ketchup into the surface of the penny using small circular motions. Real Helpful. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. If the shine is not restored after you use Goo Gone, use the soap and water, or the pencil eraser method as described above. How to Keep Your Dish Towels Fresh & Clean! - Spend With Pennies In this video we clean pennies with vinegar and salt.Just mix together some vinegar with enough salt to make a saturated solution. NY 10036. These are both proven odor busters! While most posts usually tell you HOW to clean coins, Id like to try something different: tell you how NOT to go about cleaning your coins. How Many Coins Are in a Regular Roll of Coins? A quick wash will also help neutralize the overpowering odor of the vinegar. "I am doing the science fair soon, and my question was, "How do different liquids affect the luster of, "It was very useful for my science project. If you're a serious coin collector, you can hire professional services to clean coins in a way that won't diminish the coins' value. Receive the latest Home & Garden Tips by entering your email below: We respect your privacy and take protecting it very seriously. As you clean more and more pennies, the acid will dissolve some of the copper on the pennies. Like vinegar, citrus juice is acidic and wears off copper oxide on coins. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Pour a little bit of 100% pure acetone nail polish remover over the coin just enough to ensure that the coin is completely submerged. Place the pennies into the solution, making sure that they do not rest on top of each other. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. This recipe also makes an excellent homemade brass cleaning solution. Rinse the coin again. This was so helpful! This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Alternatively, you can use a large pink eraser purchased at an office supply store. Before cleaning coins with baking soda, soak them in a solution of white vinegar and salt. So, what ways shouldnt you clean your coins? If you want to learn how to use a commercial metal cleaner, keep reading the article! Fill another container with warm water and add a couple of squirts of dish soap. Then try rubbing the foreign matter off the surface again. Why Baking Soda and Vinegar Are Great Cleaning Agents For pennies of any possible value, do not clean them! All that has to be done is to mix the baking soda and vinegar together (about 1 part baking soda and 4 parts vinegar is the ratio I always followed) in a bowl or glass then immerse the coins you want to clean; this mixture seems to work especially well on pennies. Ive contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. The combination of acid and chloride may make your cleaning solution even more powerful. Allow sitting for five to ten minutes. Enjoy! During this time-period, zinc was substituted for copper as a cheaper way to make pennies. After all, there really is only one way to clean your coins safely. Rub that all over the penny with your fingers to bring back the shine. Yes it will remove most dirt and oils. Spray the paste with vinegar before scrubbing the grime away. Let your kids use an old toothbrush to apply the paste to each coin, scrubbing gently. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. it helped me to find my manipulated variables.". By using our site, you agree to our. Heres a debunking of some popular coin cleaning methods: Youve probably seen a few websites that suggest your coins pearls need to be a little whiter. How to Effectively Clean a Penny and Other Old Coins - Real Simple Mix a teaspoon of salt into the liquid by stirring until it is dissolved. Hold it there for about 10 seconds, then pull it out. Ive authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below! It does this by using the low levels of acids that are contained naturally in vinegar and lemon juice to remove the patina (brown oxidation) on the penny. Next, add a squirt of dishwashing liquid and agitate the water to create bubbles. An easy way to clean copper pennies and coins to remove the build-up of grime is with soapy water and a little elbow grease. When it is clean and shiny to your liking, flip the penny over, and repeat the same process on the other side. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Let them sit for three minutes and then use an old toothbrush to scrub the penny surface gently. Cleaning pennies can be a fun activity for kids of all ages. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. A standard eraser is an excellent tool for cleaning dirt off of pennies dated after 1982. Step 6 (optional): If your coins are still dirty, you can fill the plastic container with a 1-inch layer of warm water. Use very light pressure from your finger to remove any debris from the coin while its being held under the stream of water. Finally, the coin is placed in a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the pH before removing, rinsing, drying, and polishing. Baking soda has a pH of 9, while vinegar has a pH of 2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Start by adding a quarter cup of white vinegar into a bowl. In a suitably sized cup, bowl or basin, stir salt - approximately 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of vinegar - into white vinegar until it's dissolved. Once youve rinsed the pennies, set them aside on a layer of paper towels to dry. Using copper cleaning methods on a zinc coin turns the penny black. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc.
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