Cleaning Coins

By

Sally MQ

(Submitted via email)

They do not have lead in them it is zinc. n

By Susanna (Guest Post)

Pennies in vinegar and salt work extremely well. Just put the pennies in the liquid and pour in the salt, then mix them around, and the rust or gunk that's covering it is gone! Once you've dried them off, you can use steel wool to burnish them a little, but don't rub too hard. Pennies made after 1982 and mostly zinc, with only a tiny covering of copper. I don't know about nickels, though... Maybe try the same with only a few?

By katy (Guest Post)

I always have known that salt and lemon juice work, but know I am getting other ideas to try. :)

By

lyndagayle62

Pennies are no longer pure copper, but are half lead, I believe. I'd call a pharmacist or a Chemical
plant and ask what they'd suggest. You could email the govt. about the problem, also. I'd definitely not use bleach. It is likely to corrode the metals worse.
They may not be salvagable, but don't give up. Who knows, if you take your time and scrub each one, you might find one that's worth thousands. Search
the Internet for "valuable penny dates". I've had the info and learned one is worth $1,000, another worth
$10,000. If they are rusty, you might try a couple of the pennies in Rust Remover first, if no luck with these other suggestions. Keep it in an open area if using chemicals because the reactions could be poisonous and should not be breathed. Also, keep in mind that lead is poison and could be absorbed through the skin of your hands! Inquire about all of these things before proceeding.

Summary:
Find out....
*what pennies are made of in the last fifty years.
*if the govt. offers cleaning solutions/ideas/any hazards in using chemicals they suggest?
*Keep asking if each person you talk with knows
who might know, such as a coin collector?

Keep in mind also, that there is a serious rumor about eliminating coins/paper money in favor of
"Ameros", similar to the electronic Euros, and I understand it's not too far off, because of the failed
U.S. money reserves and national debt, and as a result of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) agreement Bush signed with Mexico and Canadian leaders in '05, intended on the surface to only deal with the "superhighway through the U.S.", but also with these other issues embedded within it and less known to the general public. I've read many
articles on this in recent news articles, so you might not have much time to get these pennies cleaned up? I'd stay on it until you have the best answers.
God bless you.

By Michele (Guest Post)

You can use perioxide...we have a cleaner called H2orange...if you could get some of that it will clean anything and it disinfects. You could probably make your own..perioxide and a squeeze of fresh orange. Good luck.

By Randa (Guest Post)

try the old remedy vinegar & baking soda.

By

Designersheets

I know tomato sauce is great for cleaning copper, i rub it straight from a tomato onto my pots and let it sit for a while then rinse off, as for dimes and nickels, you can try dawn power dissolver, or possibly boiling them in a pot of water and a peice of tin foil? not sure about that one, but you never know. worse case, use jewelry cleaner, yeah really. by the way i'm in yazoo county, ms hope everything is getting back to normal for you.

By kladybug (Guest Post)

Bleach is an inexpensive thing to try.

By

cracklintulip

i swear when i was a kid i used to use some sort of combination of vinegar and salt to clean pennies (letting them soak in it). i've also heard some rumors that soaking the coins in coca-cola will work too, but i've yet to try that.

By

Ole Lulu

My husband uses hot sauce to clean pennies. Maybe try soaking a small amount of coins in a bowl filled with the sauce before you try the whole amount.
Liz