Realcent.org

Today I found a smattering of dimes, nickels and cents (both copper and zinc) that are pretty corroded. There were a few coins that were so bad that I didn't bother picking them up!



Anyway, I would like to clean these coins so I can at least see the date they were minted. Anyone have any suggestions? Bathe them in lemon juice? Coke/soda? Baking soda and water?

My experience has been that zincolns that bad are beyond cleaning to establish a date. The zinc core is so far gone that even if you manage to de-encrust them, the date still won't be visible. Nickels or dimes might fare better since they're copper nickel.

You may be right, but I'd like to try anyway. What method would you suggest?

I'd be curious if any of the methods you recommended would have any effect. Probably the best place to start I would imagine.
But being that the coin surfaces have deteriorated to the point where the surfaces have begun to flake away, cleaning may have no effect on the date's visibility.

Internets are telling me to make a paste of vinegar and baking soda for topical application for 30 minutes. I'm going to try it guess.

Vinegar + baking soda cleaned up the dimes and nickels pretty good. Some of the cents became legible, but many didn't clean up much. It turned out to be $1 even in change and none of the nickles or dimes had any silver.

Nice. That's better results than I expected.

Leave them in vinegar overnight, then rinse them off with water the next day. No brushing or hard scrubbing will be necessary.

I clean old/vintage guitar parts like this all the time. Works like a charm.

I've wondered for many years about when the Feds are going to shut this site down for money laundering.