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amazing Potato Coin Cleaning method tested OK
earlwbollinger
Posts: 1,304
The potato cleaning method really works pretty good.
Well in the almost never ending saga of trying to remove the black splotches off of my old
1858 Flying Eagle cent. I did finally have pretty good success using the potato cleaning method.
Basically you take a potato and cut a slot in it big enough for the coin, then push the coin down inside the pototo.
Anyway, I wasn't going to end the experiment just yet, but my wife thought it was garbage to be thrown away, that I had forgotten.
She noticed the coin in the potato piece and since it was somewhat gross looking, she took a pair of pliers and pulled the coin out,
washed it off and left it on my desk.
I used a piece of a potato for this, a larger potato might generate more of a electrolysis cleaning effect. I was interesting to note that you could see the metals in the coin sort of leaching out into the potato too.
The first pic is the coin before cleaning, the second one is after a month or two in olive oil, the third is after trying denatured alcohol, acetone, and dry cleaning solvent.
I then stuck it back in olive oil for about six more months, which appeared to have no effect at all.
The last pic is after a few days wedged in a piece of a potato wrapped in clear food wrapping paper and left on my desk. I would take it out every day, and look at it, and jam it back in again. The first two days offered the most effect on cleaning off the black splotches. After that I didn't really see any more improvement.
Well in the almost never ending saga of trying to remove the black splotches off of my old
1858 Flying Eagle cent. I did finally have pretty good success using the potato cleaning method.
Basically you take a potato and cut a slot in it big enough for the coin, then push the coin down inside the pototo.
Anyway, I wasn't going to end the experiment just yet, but my wife thought it was garbage to be thrown away, that I had forgotten.
She noticed the coin in the potato piece and since it was somewhat gross looking, she took a pair of pliers and pulled the coin out,
washed it off and left it on my desk.
I used a piece of a potato for this, a larger potato might generate more of a electrolysis cleaning effect. I was interesting to note that you could see the metals in the coin sort of leaching out into the potato too.
The first pic is the coin before cleaning, the second one is after a month or two in olive oil, the third is after trying denatured alcohol, acetone, and dry cleaning solvent.
I then stuck it back in olive oil for about six more months, which appeared to have no effect at all.
The last pic is after a few days wedged in a piece of a potato wrapped in clear food wrapping paper and left on my desk. I would take it out every day, and look at it, and jam it back in again. The first two days offered the most effect on cleaning off the black splotches. After that I didn't really see any more improvement.
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I agree with the ferrets.
These methods are way to aggresive for me - for any coin.
Billy
Salt works best for these.
Ray
Just kidding. It looks nice now.
"Vegetabled"
Chris
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
So I redid it using the scanner. The digital camera tends to take better more detailed photos versus the scanner.
But eventually it just simply turned into a quest or obsession with trying to remove the black splotches.
The pliers was most unfortunate.
I'll have to try the boiling in salt water approach next too.
Cameron Kiefer
Mineral oil would have done a better job of that.
You did not give the oil enough time to work its way into the splotches.
The potato method is an obvious failure even without the pliers.
to take a buff wheel and polish rouge to it.
Actually if it wasn't for the pliers, a little aging as pocket change or in a rock tumbler would prpbably have it looking pretty good.
The rim dings were pretty bad from the start, so it was worth experimenting with.
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
<< <i>I'm in the minority here that doesn't think the potato hurt the coin at all. In fact it loots like it is closer to the "white" color it originally had. >>
That's what defenders of dipping toned Morgans would say.