Soap and Water for Coins
Griffin1217
Posts: 44 ✭
Hi all,
Will Dawn dish soap and warm tap water have any negative effects on a copper penny? Thanks.
0
Griffin1217
Posts: 44 ✭
Comments
Cleaning with any substance is not good. If you want to soak in just water that's okay, I guess. What are you up to? Pictures on what you have and what you want to do?
bob
I'm trying to find a safe and non-corrosive way of getting some of the copper oxide off of an Indian head, if possible. I know that cleaning of any kind is pretty looked down upon, but I'm not planning on selling it and just want it to look a little nicer
The normal that I can gather for safely cleaning coins seems to be acetone (pure).
That said.
In the past I've used a couple of drops of dawn & distilled water, the softest little brush I can find (NON METAL OF COURSE) soaked them, gently brushed them, dipped them in a distilled water rinse & then patted them dry with a micro fiber cloth.
At best it seems to remove circulation contaminates (finger prints) and never had a reaction to the metal.
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Thomas Jefferson!
I see the OP had done their research. If you are going to gently clean a coin, Dawn is recommended over other brands. Same with washing a vehicle.
I don't have any pure acetone at the moment, but I have 98%. Will that work?
Well, it doesn't sound too harsh and may improve the look if it can remove some grime. Remember that underneath the grime it may look really different and then look horrible after the deed is done. A soak in acetone (pure) a couple of times is preferred. Acetone will not attack the metal and only will attack oils, gunk and stuff. Be cautious as it may not look great when done.
Pics?
bob
Copper corrosion won’t come off with soap and water.
If you want some grime to come off just use acetone.
How about an overnight soak in hydrogen peroxide?
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Ask the chemists here but I think hydrogen peroxide will act as a little bit of an oxidizer
Why not try it on a donor $1 IHC first.
Other than acetone, just about anything you do to copper is going to have a good chance of disfiguring the coin. The final result might look like a 'road map'. You just never know.
If your trying to clean off corrosion good luck, now I thought you may have been wanting to maybe just clean off circulation contaminates, like finger prints or unknown stuff before adding it to a collection.
Over the years I've tried lots of different things trying to removed heavy corrosion from metal detecting finds (pennies). The problem is that that type of corrosion is actually the surface of the metal of the coin. You could probably at best carefully soak and lightly brush some dirt off the coin but the corrosion could be the coin!
"I Prefer Dangerous Freedom Over Peaceful Slavery"
Thomas Jefferson!
You cannot remove corrosion. If you somehow can, I think the coin would look terrible. The corrosion is part of the surface.
Correct, in all the cases I've seen there isn't a preserved coin beneath the corrosion. I found one time what I believed to be a 2-Cent piece and that was based on size, I tried LOTS of different things just trying to find a confirming SIGN of what it was
Never happened. Removing the corrosion just removes the what's left of the surface of the coin.
"I Prefer Dangerous Freedom Over Peaceful Slavery"
Thomas Jefferson!
I once fumbled a proof silver coin and got a fingerprint on the surface. I quickly put Dawn liquid soap on the coin and let it set for an hour. Then I rinsed it in hot water, followed by pure acetone rinse. It removed the print before it had time to etch the surface. For copper corrosion though, your surface is already affected. For that condition, I would not use anything but pure acetone to remove the organics. Even then, what remains may not be attractive. Cheers, RickO
I'd replace it , if the need is to fix it.
No use only pure acetone. Go get some from a hardware store. Probably a 10 dollar purchase and if you need more in the future there's plenty in there to soak quite a few coins.
Copper is is one of the more reactive metals used in coinage. In my experience if you can already detect copper oxides, you will not like what is underneath when you remove the grime with a solvent like acetone. Pitting on copper surfaces due to corrosion is the most likely outcome and severely impacts the desirability of a copper coin.
Pictures might be helpful... best regards...
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Nailed it! Copper tends to react in strange ways and tends to be a delicate alloy . I’m more than sure IF you can remove the oxide what you’ll find underneath will not be nice. That’s a guarantee.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jae17lPse2J0W8gJ0amRNGtAuLN7g5Ri/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gqjTpUjiYWJqUasRcTFEWGaH7zjiyFVi/view?usp=sharing
Pictures after an overnight acetone soak. A bit blurry after cropping.