oil soak

lmking304

Would anyone like to tell me the proper procedure for cleaning the coroded coins I find in the soil? I have heard of olive oil for a week or two, but what do I do after that? Wash it in water, or gently rub the oil off? If I wash it with water do I use soap to get the oil off? I guess it doesn't matter because the coins are corroded anyway but I would like some opinions please

Musky1011

Copper coins put in a potato for a day ,take out and look at it if all the crap isn't off
repeat process as long as it takes

only drawback is the coin have a white residue on it when it dries

just put a little mineral oil on it and it will be copper colored again

Jim

ricko

Musky, thanks for the potato tip.. had not heard that one before. Cheers, RickO

woodwalker

The potato trick works. I've done it with several coins.

windwhispersintrees

Go to treasuredepot.com and search the archives.
There are many ways to clean coins, depending on the type of damage, metal type, and value of the coin.
They range from the extreme (sandpaper on otherwise featureless & worthless corroded copper to at least determine country/series) to gentle (hydrogen peroxide, diluted CLR, electrolysis etc).
Oil typically isn't terribly useful for most metal detector finds.
I'd say practice each method of cleaning on otherwise minimal value finds so you know benefits/drawbacks of every method.

BunchOBull

I've heard of people purchasing rock tumblers with plastic barrels and loading it with rice and peroxide, running the coin through. Coppers I believe, I don't know about any other metal.

ricko

Careful with the peroxide... can pit the copper.... rice is an abrasive (as you know).. so do not use it on coins of potential value. Cheers, RickO

lordmarcovan

Rice in the rock tumbler... hmm... why didn't I think of that? Cool.

BunchOBull

<< <i>Careful with the peroxide... can pit the copper.... rice is an abrasive (as you know).. so do not use it on coins of potential value. Cheers, RickO >>



Most definitely. I'm talking handfuls of Memorials. I don't recommend cleaning any valuable coin. Just arrest whatever corrosion may be occurring. I should have added that.