How to Clean Coins with a Homemade Solution
People who collect coins will want to wash the coins to clean the collection before placing them into display cases. A coin can accumulate dirt particles in its crevices or simply become dingy with time. Following these steps should help enhance the appearance of the coins, whether they are copper, silver or bronze.
Things You'll Need
- Towel and soft cloth
- White vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Denatured alcohol
- Olive oil
- Distilled water
- Dishwashing liquid
- Water
- 4 bowls
Instructions
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1
Lay out a towel and spread out your coins on it before cleaning them. Keep the coins that are especially dirty separated from those that are not as soiled, since they may take several washings. Mix a bowl of water with two drops of dishwashing liquid. Prepare another bowl with water and one-third cup of olive oil. Fill another bowl with water and a cup of lemon juice.
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2
Place a coin in the olive oil, which will remove most of the dirt. (Avoid using virgin olive oil, because it could damage the coin.) For coins coated with a lot of dirt, use a solution of water and three drops of white vinegar instead of the olive oil. Let them sit for up to 15 minutes.
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If you have silver coins, use the lemon juice solution and let them sit in it for up to 15 minutes. If they are heavily soiled, let them sit in denatured alcohol and water after the lemon juice solution for five minutes. For each cup of water, add one cap full of alcohol.
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4
Next, put the coins into the dishwashing liquid solution. Use your fingers to rub the solution in, to get rid of any remaining dirt on the coin. Wipe from the middle of the coins toward their edges. Then rinse them under warm water. You can also sit the coins in a bowl of distilled water while you work on cleaning the other coins. To avoid scratches, avoid cleaning two coins together in the same bowl.
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Use a cloth to wipe remaining water off of each coin. Place the clean coins on the towel to finish drying.
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Tips & Warnings
If there is additional dirt inside the crevices of the coin, pick it out carefully with a toothpick and rewash the coin.
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Comments
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pcbeachrat
Oct 17, 2010
This is basically totally false info on the first paragraph here about coin collectors wanting to clean their coins before dispalyaing. If A person in the coin world sells a coin knowingly that has been cleaned in any fashion must state so. The cleaning of any coin actually takes away 90 % of it's value!! I am A coin collector and all you have to do is simply search on the internet" Should you clean your Valuble coins" or anything of the sort, and 99.9 % will back up my info. If A coin has been cleaned and you know it, and do not relay this info to the buyer/bidders(such as on ebay) it is considered fraud. You decrease the value of any collectable coin when you go taking it's patina away, and a true collector will snub their noses at it, and offer at the most 10% of what the coin would had been worth if not cleaned!!Clean the coin and patina off, and ruin the coin. Yes there are many...
