Cleaning Geocoins

[+ibycus]

A local posted this to the Calgary Forums, and it worked very well for me, so I thought I'd share.

 

Many metal coins start looking tarnished after a while (I know a few of my copper Calgary ones that the dog got a hold of started looking very tarnished very quickly )

 

Anyways, if you make a paste solution out of flour, salt and vinegar, rub it on your coins, and then rinse it off, it comes out looking like new.

 

Don't know how this would work on coloured coins, but it worked well on the Calgary ones (haven't and won't try it on a Calgary Silver or Gold though, think it might take of the antiqued look...)

 

So anyone else got any good ways to clean coins?

[+RustyBeerCan]

The Penny smashing people use KETCHUP

it works real good on copper pennies.

[+Damenace]

Toothpaste works quite well. I have used it on more than one occasion.

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

I've heard the best way to clean them is to place them in caches! It works so well they turn invisible and are never seen from again!

 

I've also heard that plain old BRASSO metal polish does a good job, but am also afraid to try it on my one-of-a-kinds

[+blazerfan]

yup a little bit of copper cleaner with warm water will work best... make the cleaner into a paste and rub the coins with it then rinse. All of the unsightly spots will be gone.

 

Being a coin collector I might add that cleaning is frowned upon by most serious collectors... the patina aquired by the coin over the years makes it unique... and sometimes even more valuable.

 

If a coin is really bad off like maybe its been in a wet cache for a year and has caked on guck and might be turning green then I would try electrolysis. This is what I do when I clean ancient coins. Its fun I recomend you use baking soda rather than salt though.

[+AtlantaGal]

I've heard the best way to clean them is to place them in caches! It works so well they turn invisible and are never seen from again!

ROTF! Good one!

[+maggieszoo]

The Penny smashing people use KETCHUP

it works real good on copper pennies.

Tabasco works well and very quickly. I don't think it would hurt the coloring, as long as you didn't leave it on long.

[+team simpson]

I've also heard that plain old BRASSO metal polish does a good job, but am also afraid to try it on my one-of-a-kinds

Works verry well, recently tested it with a usa coin that traveled for 2 years. (normaly I use it to clean my steam engines)

 

[+KC0GRN]

I would suggest purchasing some air-tite style coin holders. The tarnish usually is due to air and humidity, both of which are pretty much sealed out in an airtite.

[+Terrible Ts]

I would suggest purchasing some air-tite style coin holders. The tarnish usually is due to air and humidity, both of which are pretty much sealed out in an airtite.

I would also recomend Air-Tites to store your coins in. I have a list of coin and the Ait-Tite containers (black ring) they need here.. As I get more coins, I have been updating the list.

 

Terrible Ts

[+Bambi&Thumper]

When I was in the Girl Guides we used to have this problem with the badges which tarnished really quickly. We got round it by painting them with clear nail varnish which reduced oxidation and was easy to remove with a little acetone...

 

Probably not recommended for collectors though

[+KC0GRN]

actually some/most of the minted geocoins out there that aren't usa geocoins, alaska, some of the 2004 mintage coins, etc already have a protective finish on them (even the unepoxied ones tend to) that's why the coins don't feel as metallic I think, because they have a clear coat kind of sealant, to protect them from tarnishing.