If, like 6-year-old me, you or your kids are curious about how to clean coins, follow the simple steps below to get dull coins sparkling using a slightly acidic solution that will eat away at the brown oxidation on the coins. Bonus: A perfectly clean penny will be the ideal candidate for pressed penny souvenir machines.
Should Coin Collectors Clean Their Coins?
This article comes with a significant warning from coin collectors and appraisers worldwide. If you’re a novice coin collector wondering the right way to clean old coins, you might want to rethink it. According to coin experts, cleaning any potentially collectible coins might cause them to lose value. Using chemical cleaners or scrubbing the coins could leave scratches and marks that will be easy for a skilled appraiser to pick up on. When deciding whether or not to clean a coin, be discerning, and if in doubt, have your collection appraised first. Collectors consider a coin valuable and collectible when its appraised value is significantly higher than its intrinsic value. For example, a wheat penny can be worth anywhere from 4 cents to $10. Other coins can be worth thousands, and in rare cases, millions. If you’re a serious coin collector, you can hire professional services to clean coins in a way that won’t diminish the coins’ value.
Cleaning Coins for Crafts and Fun
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get to the best coin cleaning method that you can do at home. If you’re collecting just for fun and with no intention of one day selling or trading your coins, the steps below will clean a standard oxidized penny (that is only worth one cent) with ease.
SaltWhite vinegar (or fresh lemon juice)Shallow plastic containerCloth or paper towelBaking soda (optional)Toothbrush (optional)Dishwashing liquid (optional)
