Cleaning Pennies

[Drill Baby Drill]

Hey quick question? Do any of you guys/ gals clean your pennies after sorting? As you all know after sorting thru a box or two your hands are filthy. Do you all think there is any benefit to cleaning them pretty coppers up a bit? Just wondering if so what do you guys use?

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

I couldn't afford that much cleaning solution.

I clean mine using the natural method.. running them through my hands.

No benefit.. added cost.. and potiential decline in marketability for any chemical cleaning. Coin collectors and hoarders generally prefer their coins uncleaned.

[Diggin4copper]

I have a tumbler and have been thinking about tumbling my coppers.. maybe I would find a market for the shiny stuff..

[ScottyTX]

I think you may find a market for these....it just will likely be of lessor value than the non-cleaned variety. Do not clean coins, is almost a rule.

[cunick]

I don't try to clean the pennies, but if I see one in the copper pile which appears to be in good condition particularly shiny, I set it aside, thinking that someday I may try to fill a couple of books for grandsons. It is always a surprise how good the condition is for some of the coins dating back to the fifties.

[Pennybug]

Diggin4copper... I've been thinking of doing the same thing. My pops has a high end tumbler for cleaning brass and I was considering doing just this with it. Do me a favor (and I'll reciprocate)... take a before and after picture of a tumbled penny and post it on this thread. I'll do the same thing (although it may be a few weeks before I can get his tumbler).

Copperbytheton is right though... it could be detrimental to the value of your copper. I'm going to try it with my stash of separate copper 82's. I figure they probably have the lowest value of all copper pennies (because of the lack of trust in their purity... which is why I separate them out) I'd like to have a few rolls of SHINY solid copper pennies. I'd like to get them as close to new looking as possible, so it may take several attempts before I get there.

Keep us posted drill... include some pics and results too if you don't mind. I'll do the same when I get there. I seem to recall that either tarn-x or brass-o can be used to polish/clean copper.

[DirtyFingers]

I wouldn't recommend cleaning dirty coppers you obtain from sorting. I do find alot of cents when I coin shoot and I do run most of those thru a little Chicago 3 lb tumbler. When they're done drying, I throw the tumbled copper back into my dirty abes and the zincolns go into a bank dump. But the dirty abes from handsorting I keep separate figuring they will be fit to sell to a scrapper someday when the melt ban is lifted. I think it would be a waste of a guys time and resources to clean them when they will just end up as scrap copper someday.

DF

[TXBullion]

I wouldn't recommend cleaning dirty coppers you obtain from sorting. I do find alot of cents when I coin shoot and I do run most of those thru a little Chicago 3 lb tumbler. When they're done drying, I throw the tumbled copper back into my dirty abes and the zincolns go into a bank dump. But the dirty abes from handsorting I keep separate figuring they will be fit to sell to a scrapper someday when the melt ban is lifted. I think it would be a waste of a guys time and resources to clean them when they will just end up as scrap copper someday.

DF

Plus if you guys clean your copper, DirtyFingers would have to change his name to CleanFingers, that just isnt right

[tinhorn]

I've thought about cleaning them BEFORE running them through the comparitors. I know they left a dirty film on the Hot Wheels track I use for a feed ramp--I can feel it. I figure it's doing the same to the inside of the comparitors.

I'm not a numi, but it's my understanding that cleaning in such a way that destroys the patina of that one-in-a-gadzillion collectible is what we want to avoid. Can't imagine removing dirt and body slime would ruin an old coin.

I was going to attach a few shelf brackets to the inside of a 5-gallon bucket and wash them with detergent, but I'll wait to hear how your experiments turn out. (I got a small batch of old coppers pretty bright by sloshing them around in white vinegar with a little salt added.)

[DirtyFingers]

I wouldn't recommend cleaning dirty coppers you obtain from sorting. I do find alot of cents when I coin shoot and I do run most of those thru a little Chicago 3 lb tumbler. When they're done drying, I throw the tumbled copper back into my dirty abes and the zincolns go into a bank dump. But the dirty abes from handsorting I keep separate figuring they will be fit to sell to a scrapper someday when the melt ban is lifted. I think it would be a waste of a guys time and resources to clean them when they will just end up as scrap copper someday.

DF

Plus if you guys clean your copper, DirtyFingers would have to change his name to CleanFingers, that just isnt right

By now I could have purchased a Ryedale or two after what I've spent over the years on handsoap. Most handsorters could probably identify with that.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

I wanna see pics of this Hot Wheels track feeding ramp. I used to use the track in my penny sorting 40 years ago.

Have you ever gotten some ugly abes that look really bad? Those ones we often call "pond pennies" are what often happens when the coins get a little damp and aren't dried properly. Do you still want to wash those pennies in a bucket?

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

They do make gloves DF.. but that would take away from the full penny experience.

[Diggin4copper]

Ill set up the tumbler tomorrow and take some before and after pics.. Then I will sell them on Ebay and we will see if they sell better or worse.....Diggin

[tinhorn]

Here's how the pros do it: http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-27/n ... a-machines

[Rosco]

Here's how the pros do it: http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-27/n ... a-machines

That is a great story If I get to downtown SF I will buy some rolls of coin just to have

[tinhorn]

I wanna see pics of this Hot Wheels track feeding ramp. I used to use the track in my penny sorting 40 years ago.

Have you ever gotten some ugly abes that look really bad? Those ones we often call "pond pennies" are what often happens when the coins get a little damp and aren't dried properly. Do you still want to wash those pennies in a bucket?

I thought you'd never ask. The second pic is the tube leading from the first sorter (zinc) to the second sorter (copper). It's a Wii toy I found at Dollar Tree.

I've seen some pretty ugly coins, and I read about something called verdigris. I presume the coins will have to be dried pretty well--I'm thinking hardware cloth and a fan.

[Red King]

I used to clean mine when I first started (using the vinegar and salt bath method), but quickly discovered the futility and waste in that.
Also, I noticed that after rinsing and drying them after the vinegar, they looked much cleaner, but took on a very pink - colored hue. Just didn't look right.
In addition, once cleaned, they seemed to pick up the dirt from other coins much more readily, and some developed verdegris (so I had to clean those again, lest the verdegris spread like a plague through my hoard).

[didou]

I will only clean if i'm ready to melt them and the scrap yards/refinery ask me to do it to remove impurity.
Otherwise i keep them unclean, who know they may even get a collector premium by the time i will be ready to sell/melt them.
And you may never have to melt them, just sell them to another investor who will sell them to another investor, ...

[Diggin4copper]

I ran 5 lbs of pennies thru my tumbler today.. definitly cleaner, I ran them for 1/2 hr.. If I leave them for a couple hrs they may shine enought to make a difference in a photo. Here they are after 1/2 hr...

[tinhorn]

Nice! The patina remains--so are they clean to the touch? What kind of medium did you use?

[silverhedgehog]

When I sort them I have an ugly bin for damaged copper coins and the ones badly stained by oxidation. When its full I give them a bath in CLR for a minute, rinse and let them dry over night. I roll them up and label them ugly/cleaned. It ends up to be about one or two rolls per brick lately. They'll be first in line to melt when the day comes.

[Diggin4copper]

Very clean to the touch.. I use aquarium gravel and dish soap. The longer you tumble them the shinier they get...

[palmvtree]

My son and I cleaned up a few coins using a recipe my grandmother uses for everything...baking soda and a few drops of water (until it is a paste). It is most likely semi-abrasive to the coin, but they come out shining like a brand new 2010. Fun just to even try on one spare copper. We had a very nice looking wheat cent that we cleaned up once and it ended up in the album after a few seconds of cleaning, still shining and no after effect. Try it and post back. I will try to remember to post a before and after picture the next time we clean one.