Realcent.org

I know this has been talked about but I need suggestions. I just went through 150FV and most of the copper is black/green, really green or just plan feels like there is a flim on them... So the question is, clean them or just say the heck with it and call it a bad batch and toss them back??

I feel like I'm finding more and more ugly Abes also, or perhaps I'm getting fussier. My intent is to wash all the coins to remove the film--but not the patina--before feeding them through the sorter in order to keep all that gunk off the Ryedale. Seems that a soak in ammonia solution removes the film, followed by a soak in a vinegar solution to neutralize the ammonia. Didn't affect the patina at all in my testing.

Killing and removing the verdigris is another matter. Acetone is said to kill the verdigris by drying it out, but does nothing to remove it. I suppose there's nothing wrong with an acetone dip after the ammonia/vinegar wash. Removing verdigis (as well as glue, tar, boogers, etc) will require tumbling with a friction medium. Digging4copper recommended acquarium gravel but the bag I purchased seems way too abrasive to rub against my pennies. Maybe the friction of pennies against pennies would knock the green crud off--haven't tried it yet.

The real trick will be insuring that verdigris doesn't reappear in those pennies that are stored for several years.

If you have $100 face value sell them to Txbullion. He's offering $130. Just get rid of them. Do you really want to spend a bunch of time salvaging pennies... when there's BILLIONS more that are in better condition?

I keep my green ugly coppers separately and they will be the first ones melted for scrap when the melt ban ends. That's the only use for them. Definitely no numismatic value.

I turn them back around into circulation again. Certainly not worth my time and effort to clean them in some way.

My dump bank runs my rejects through their high-speed counter. Some are so think with assorted gunk, I'm surprised they make it through. But...they do. Sad commentary on the coin of the realm here in the US. Bad. Really bad. Maybe that, if nothing else, is the prime argument for getting rid of the cent entirely.

So is a dirty coin also considered an ugly abe? One that would have some soil gunk on it making it hard to see but washing it would clean it right up.

The picture above is a lot better than the ugly Abes I have.

Tourney64 wrote:I keep my green ugly coppers separately and they will be the first ones melted for scrap when the melt ban ends. That's the only use for them. Definitely no numismatic value.

Yup, that's what I do. I'm very particular and any COPPER coin that has green, bent, scratched up, or corroded gets rolled and boxed into a new $25 UGLY ABE box. I keep the bad boys away from my GOOD CLEAN COPPER.

On average I get per $25 box: 10 wheats, 482 Clean COPPERs, 59 Ugly Abes, 63 1982 COPPERs, and 3 Canadian COPPERs. So, of the 617 COPPERs I get in a box of pennies, about 9.5% of them will be UGLY ABES.

I clean the ugly abes up with CLR. I collect them in a jar and when its half full I dump in the CLR from another jar as it can be used over and over. Swirl it around a little and wait while and pour off the CLR and save it. I rinse them off with water and dump them on an old cafeteria tray with an old tee shirt on it to wick the water out and dry overnight. I throw them in my Klopp to count and label them cleaned & ugly. No big deal not a lot of time needed, I found them I'll keep them.

I plan on buying one of these to make most of my cents all shiny and new:
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-lb-metal ... 67617.html
I need one to clean my bullet brass anyway. I'm not interested in any numismatic value in 59-82 cents. I like 'em shiny.

My wheats on the other hand are still completely covered in cocaine, urine, cola, cigarette residue, dirt, rust...and that's just the good stuff.

silverhedgehog wrote:I clean the ugly abes up with CLR. I collect them in a jar and when its half full I dump in the CLR from another jar as it can be used over and over. Swirl it around a little and wait while and pour off the CLR and save it. I rinse them off with water and dump them on an old cafeteria tray with an old tee shirt on it to wick the water out and dry overnight. I throw them in my Klopp to count and label them cleaned & ugly. No big deal not a lot of time needed, I found them I'll keep them.

I have a small amount of CLR and a BOJ (big ol' jug) of vinegar. Would it be ok to mix the two? I tried the vinegar and salt with so-so results.

Another way to clean them is to heat them with a torch until they glow red and then drop them into some water. The fire and thermal shock removes most stuff. This is how I seperate my '82 coppers from zincs....the coppers glow red, and the zincs, well........

I put mine in a plastic bottle. After the bottle is about half full, I will add some water and dish soap and let it soak overnight. Then I'll rinse them well, add just enough water to cover them, and put a few squirts of Arm & Hammer Scrub Free bathroom cleaner. After about an hour (shaking the bottle intermittently), I rinse them well, and the pennies are completely clean. Definitely not something you'd want to use on wheats though, as the pennies come out an unnatural pink color (very obvious they've been cleaned with a chemical).

Keeps my hoard completely free of the green gunk, and allows me to save almost every copper penny I find.