Comical Coin Cleaning Exercise!

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Ok so 4 weeks ago I decided to buy a metal detector, I bought a X-terra 705 and hit the beach .
I got 10 or $12 dollars in gold and silver coins, only thing is most of them are stained black.... so I get online looking for some way to clean them.
I tried vinegar, salt , baking soda and worked my way to caustic soda .... I might as well used water lol , so I get on line and see electrolysis.. the answer .... so I thought... I made a bath and tried it out, some sites say the negative for the coins and some say positive.
I thought Ill try both... I let them go for about half an hour only to find the clamp had dissolved lol , no big deal I put another one on and left it again, only this time my black $2 coin was bright pinky copper colour ..... it must of worked to good so I put a twenty cent piece in and half an hour later it was clean but where the clamp was it was stained a copper colour which u guessed it.. wont come off ....
SO I could use any idea for cleaning them as long as they dont come out pinky / copper colour!!
 
Use a tumbler with stones or stainless steel shot and detergent. That should get them cleaned right up. I built myself a big one but you can buy small ones pretty cheap on ebay.
 
Oh dear electrolysis can be pretty scary.

I collect Romans and I get quite a few of them that are so encrusted that distilled water soaks and olive oil soaks do bugger all to remove the 1800 odd years of buildup, especially if they come from Baltic countries. I use electrolysis on the coins that you can afford to ruin, that's pretty much what it comes down to.

I repurposed a 3V AC Adaptor, alligator clips, spoon etc. I have had some surprisingly good results. But electrolysis is truly the last resort, even cooking coins on the hotplate and dumping them in cold water or boiling them in olive oil is less destructive.

I have seen 2000 year Romans basically dissolve, or maybe the crust comes but takes the patina with it etc.

Every now and then you get a good result, your times are way off though lol. 30 mins is a bloody long time. Best going lightly, fizz it a bit and remove directly into some distilled water.

Hehe, good luck, be careful!

Modern coins, spendables, a tumbler is the go.
 
Thanks guys for your help, the sites I seen gave the impression that the coins come out like new ... lol
I only wrecked less than $5 .... Ahh its kinda comical when I seen what happened and I lost two clamps as well but I thought Im doing something wrong.... lol
I found a little cheap tumblr looks like plastic and steel balls for about $60 so next pay Ill grab one, thanks again
 
By the way can anyone tell me how to upload photos to the site, I was going to show how the coins were but it keeps saying the file is too big, Im trying from my iPhone
, Thanks
 
AussieChris said:
Oh dear electrolysis can be pretty scary.

I collect Romans and I get quite a few of them that are so encrusted that distilled water soaks and olive oil soaks do bugger all to remove the 1800 odd years of buildup, especially if they come from Baltic countries. I use electrolysis on the coins that you can afford to ruin, that's pretty much what it comes down to.

I repurposed a 3V AC Adaptor, alligator clips, spoon etc. I have had some surprisingly good results. But electrolysis is truly the last resort, even cooking coins on the hotplate and dumping them in cold water or boiling them in olive oil is less destructive.

I have seen 2000 year Romans basically dissolve, or maybe the crust comes but takes the patina with it etc.

Every now and then you get a good result, your times are way off though lol. 30 mins is a bloody long time. Best going lightly, fizz it a bit and remove directly into some distilled water.

Hehe, good luck, be careful!

Modern coins, spendables, a tumbler is the go.

Hey Chris, you sure you didn't mean DC adapter?
 
Rattail-1927 said:
Ok so 4 weeks ago I decided to buy a metal detector, I bought a X-terra 705 and hit the beach .
I got 10 or $12 dollars in gold and silver coins, only thing is most of them are stained black.... so I get online looking for some way to clean them.
I tried vinegar, salt , baking soda and worked my way to caustic soda .... I might as well used water lol , so I get on line and see electrolysis.. the answer .... so I thought... I made a bath and tried it out, some sites say the negative for the coins and some say positive.
I thought Ill try both... I let them go for about half an hour only to find the clamp had dissolved lol , no big deal I put another one on and left it again, only this time my black $2 coin was bright pinky copper colour ..... it must of worked to good so I put a twenty cent piece in and half an hour later it was clean but where the clamp was it was stained a copper colour which u guessed it.. wont come off ....
SO I could use any idea for cleaning them as long as they dont come out pinky / copper colour!!

when I used electrolysis and when I do zinc plating on bike n auto parts I take a stainless spoon and bend it into a U shape and hang on container part in mixture and part not. then I clamp the wire to the spoon not in the mixture. Stainless will not contaminated your part your cleaning that is where your odd colors are coming from. And if you do multiple coins at once they all need to be the same. all silver all copper etc etc.
 
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