I have some old copper penny coins. What is the best way of cleaning them? Some are really dirty being from the Victorian era.
By steve from Liverpool, England
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I don't know if it's the same for coins as other antiques, but I know that there are times when you don't want to clean an antique item too much. Some of the value is in the patina. You might want to call around to coin dealers in your area and ask.
If you're still wanting to clean the copper coins, the first two techniques that come to mind are 1)using a lemon (cut in half) and salt to scour, or 2)using catsup and salt. If you do a quick internet search, I'm sure that there are other recipes using household items.
If you really want to clean them, soak them in coca cola for about 30mins, depending on how dirty they are, if really dirty, you may have to leave them longer. They will come up new looking and sparkling! So you can imagine what coke does to your insides if it can actually clean copper coins!
Regular coke or does Diet Coke work too?
Ditto with mrs.story's advice about not messing with them and ask professional coin dealers what to do and especially since they are Victorian Era coins!
Don't clean them. It will make them much less valuable.
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