After 24 hours of drying time (72 hours if you live in humid conditions), use a soft cloth like an old T-shirt or washcloth to buff up all sides of your penny until it has regained most of its original shine! Mix your hand soap in with the water, creating a soapy mixture. There are coins worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, all contingent on the condition of the coin. These were 95 percent copper and 5 percent zing. Brighten old, dark pennies in seconds! Ketchup can restore the copper glow of a penny. How to clean a copper penny? 2. Let us move on to how to clean wheat pennies you intend to keep or sell yourself without any type of professional grading service. Mix your hand soap in with the water, creating a soapy mixture. Patience is key: The best way to clean a copper coin is by using patience and not being afraid to try new methods until one works well enough for you without scratching up your penny too much while doing so. Again, cleaning corrosion off wheat pennies can harm the value significantly. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Over time, coins of all sorts can and will collect grime and gunk. If it works for you, stick with it. Everyday change can be cleaned in just about any type of way. Then mix gently until the salt totally dissolves in the lemon juice. It may take a couple of applications, so dont be afraid to try this method a few times to get out those tough stains. For others, coins can be collected throughout the years, some of which become quite valuable. Do not leave the coin in the ketchup for more than an hour or two as it will leave a green oxidation on the coin. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. 5 Ways to Clean Pennies - wikiHow Create a mixture using -cup vinegar of lemon juice and a teaspoon of table salt together into a bowl. Tartaric acid is a weak organic acid, which means its not as corrosive to your penny as other chemicals. That is because ketchup has vinegar in it, which is naturally acidic. You can clean as many pennies you want with a single pencil eraser. The soap should help keep the coin safe while you gently scrub it. Mix cup vinegar with 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl that is non-metallic. There are chemicals within the tap water that can erode the coins over time. Be gentle: A penny is a delicate coin and you dont want to scratch it up in the process of cleaning it. Its best to wear rubber gloves when handling the ketchup and penny because they can both leave your hands stained red if you arent careful! Soak the coins in the lemon solution for up to one hour. My dad has collected coins my entire life. How To Clean A Penny Without Damaging It (Detailed Guide) Copper is a soft metal, so copper coins are prone to degrading over time. First, do not every use any type of jewelry cleaner or metal polish on coins. Instead, dip a soft-bristled toothbrush into the vinegar solution and scrub the coins with it. Remember, cleaning a wheat penny you have found while metal detecting might make it look better to you, but to a professional numismatist, it will be ruined. After brushing each penny, rinse with clean water and dry, it should be looking good as new by now. After WWII, the original metal composition was reinstituted and reigned until the wheat penny retired. "What stood out was that very common household ingredients were used.". In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. After applying, give it a couple of minutes and then rinse using distilled water. The olive oil is good at separating the dirt from the surface of the coin for a thorough cleaning experience, though it takes substantially longer. In many cases, cleaning a coin can lower the value of the coin as a collectors item. Clearing away the dirt now makes the coin look clearer once you add the oil to it. If youre having trouble getting rid of the tarnish on your copper penny, rubbing alcohol might be the trick you need. Leave the pennies for around five minutes in the glass of vinegar or lemon juice. Make sure that any cleaner you use is rated to clean pennies prior to 1982. Make a bath using a cup of isopropyl alcohol combined with two tablespoons of salt. These became known as Lincon wheat pennies. 5. If you do not rinse all the vinegar off your wheat pennies, they may turn green or bluish green. If you want to go with something that is both inexpensive and likely already in your home, olive oil is the right choice. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. What do you see? This process only works in fluid. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Let them soak for about two hours or so, though if they are extremely dirty, you may want to let them sit for up to a week. Use distilled water because chemicals in tap water may cause discoloration. The amount of vinegar used to clean the pennies depends on the number of coins you wish to clean. Your fingers contain oils, acids, and minuscule pieces of grit that will adhere to the surface of the coins and cause them to discolor or suffer microscopic scratching. You can clean as many pennies you want with a single pencil eraser. How To Clean A Copper or Zinc Penny - Coin Collecting! You must remember to use these at your discretion. If the quarter is clean, rinse it off with distilled water. Exposure to air leads to the formation of copper oxide. They can clean your coin if it has PVC residue, dirt, debris, adhesive, tape reside, copper spots on gold, or toning issues. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. If you use the right materials and carry out the process in a gentle manner, you can get the best of both worlds a set of cleaned shiny pennies that are also not damaged. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Be patient and try not to get frustrated. If you dont see any results after trying a method for a few minutes, move on to something else. The first step to cleaning a copper penny is soaking it in vinegar. Rinse the baking soda off with fresh water. Scrub low-value coins with baking soda and vinegar, lemon juice and salt, or ketchup to break apart tarnish. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Science Activity: Turn Old Pennies Bright and Shiny! | Exploratorium This detector uses 5 frequencies simultaneously or it can use them individually. 7+ Useful Ways to Clean Copper Pennies - Tips Bulletin However, with old coins you have found while metal detecting, you may want to refrain from cleaning. No scrubbing necessary at all. Once theyve soaked enough, take them out and rinse them with clear water until all traces of acid are gone from their surfaces; finally dry them off with a paper towel before putting them back into circulation (or storing them). Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This article was co-authored by Alicia Sokolowski. Method 1 Using Simple Washing Download Article 1 Sort your coins. Many professional coin collectors and coin valuers recommend leaving the coins as they are. If you had a rare coin you had cleaned too harshly, and wanted to have it valued, it would reduce the coins value. Passchal.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.comSitemap | Contact | Privacy Policy. How do you clean badly tarnished copper coins? Step 6: Rinse Silver Coin With Cold Water. They were initially made of bronze, a 95 percent copper alloy. This article may contain affiliate links, How to Paint Concrete [From Preparation to Sealing], 14 Ways to Open a Stuck Jar A Helpful Guide, A Guide to Wood Finishes That Are Food Safe, How to Significantly Improve Your Charcoal Grill, How to Remove Scratches From Stainless Steel, Pickled Cherry Tomatoes are Definitely a Thing You Need to Know About. Well, the general rule is if you intend on selling your wheat pennies, you should not clean them. So at the very least you need distilled water as a working medium. If you dont have a brush available, leave the coins submerged in the ketchup for at least 5 minutes. There is something so magical and intriguing about looking through coins from the past. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Once youve removed the coin from the coke, gently rinse it under cold running water. Therefore, before cleaning old coins, consult an expert on the subject. Soak your pennies for five minutes in vinegar to dissolve any copper oxide left on them from handling before you start scrubbing them with toothpaste or soap. It is okay to stop at the fourth step, but if some of the pennies dont get clean after you use the paper towel to clean them, you can put them back into the solution and soak for an extra five minutes. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Easy & Effective Ways to Clean Dirty Coins at Home, 10+ Ways to Clean Your Clipper Blades like a Pro Barber. Remove tough tarnish on coins by soaking them in hydrogen peroxide or . Kids Metal Detectors Listerine and other antiseptic mouthwashes can clean dirt, oil, and debris from old coins. Pull the coins out of the liquid and gently wipe them with a paper towel to break apart the tarnish and dark spots. Some of these have relatively sound science behind them, but they should be used at your own risk. Your best bet is to keep them separate so they are not rubbing against eachother. Where I live, we have acidic and hard water. You dont have to sacrifice the quality of your pennies just so you can have them looking good. When you put your pennies in a vinegar and salt mix, the vinegar and salt react together and remove the copper oxide.