Great Britain large pennies

mtnman

I have collected US coins for over 60 years. It has gotten to the point that the coins I want are beyond my means. I have gotten interested in British and Canadian coins. I like the large penny coins, but so many of them are so dark you can't really see the coin. Is there anything you can do to lighten these coins?

JBK

Any attempt to clean them is highly discouraged, to say the least. If it is a low value coin and you want to rub it between your fingers for a brief time to lighten the high spots then there is little downside, but if you don't like the look of old copper, then collecting old copper is probably not for you.

BTW, I also like the old British pennies (and their Canadian counterparts). A nice chocolate brown color is a badge of honor.

Oldhoopster

Can't do much without creating noticeable damage, especially if the copper is toned. If they are dark due to dirt or some other organic coating, a short soak in acetone may remove it without damaging the coin. Acetone won't work on coins where the copper has reacted with something else to form toning. Also, while acetone will remove many organic contaminants that can adhere to the coin, The underlying toning may be variable, so once it's removed, you could end up with a splotchy, ugly coin. There could also be hidden corrosion as well.

Best advice - Don't mess with them unless you have experience in coin cleaning and/or don't mind making mistakes and ruining a few coins

7Jaguars

Or buy some "new" ones....George V in particular can be found nice and cheap....

SaorAlba

I have a three gallon bucket full of YH Victoria on up through YH QEII. I was sort of hoarding them for awhile and buying them up in the hundreds at a time - I think there are even 1950 and 1951 dated coins from what I remember. They were struck only for use in one of the British colonies but somehow made it into the homeland coinage again.