Cleaning dug coins

Cladiator

Stumbled across this video tonight and thought I'd share. He's cleaning the coins he found while metal detecting so he can ID them. Some neat coinage in here.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4o6mPhO2chE&list=WL&index=3

DNADave

I couldn’t get the link to work but I’ll say this. The hardest thing to do is to resist the urge to fat finger the dirt off of dug coin so you can see the date. Especially off of old copper.

ricko

I always carry a spare bottle of water (in addition to my sipping supply) and give them a rinse if unable to determine what they are. That bottle is a 'squirt' type bottle, so I can give the water a bit of pressure. I avoid rubbing, since dirt is like a polishing medium and will certainly further diminish the coin surface. It is not needed most of the time. Cheers, RickO

Namvet69

Beau Oimett is a prolific detectorist and videographer. I enjoy his adventures. However, l do not use a dry toothpick to scrape dirt off any coin. I don't want to create any new damage So one of my field tips is that I carry a zip lock baggie with really wet paper towels in it. Coins dug from loamy soil always have dirt on them. Keeping the dirt wet and soft causes some if not most of the dirt to slough off. Have a good day. Peace Roy

PocketArt

I don't know how to preserve dug coins; however, this was an entertaining clip. Shades of Bob Ross in presentation...good mojo IMO.

mr1931S

Actually, rubbing the dirt off a dug coin with one's fingers doesn't hurt the coin a bit. A coin that's been in the ground has fine shallow scratches going every which way. These can be seen with a loupe quite easily. On dug silver coins the scratches are often visible to the naked eye. A few seconds of rubbing dirt off the coin with one's fingers doesn't even come close to the environmental damage that decades upon decades of the coins surfaces abrading with silica in the soil does.