When you’re metal detecting, you always hope you’ll find something truly spectacular to bring home. So when you yield a good haul, you’ll want to make it all shiny and nice so you can display it properly. But, you’ll need to know the best way to clean your finds.
Before you start, you’ll want to check the date of your coins and research your artifact finds to understand their history before doing any cleaning or polishing. The last thing you’ll want is to potentially destroy a valuable date by incorrectly cleaning a rare relic. Take great caution when cleaning gold, silver, and other precious metals.
Older coins that have been covered up for many years, may substantially lose value from even mild cleaning. Remember to check for dates and any recognizable prints on your coins to determine if it is worth any monetary value. If you’re unsure if something has value, you’ll want to consult a professional for their opinion before cleaning regardless.
Proper Cleaning Techniques
If you’re wanting to hold onto something for sentimental value rather than monetary purposes, cleaning grime and dirt accumulated to restore it to its former glory can be super rewarding. Coins and metals that have blackened due to a build-up of patina, dirt, or rust, can be easily cleaned up at home. So what are the best ways to clean your finds?
1. Dip in a Mild Acid
This is arguably the best technique for cleaning gold and silver without having to rub out the dirt. Gold and silver hardly oxidize, so just fill up a glass jar (or any other non-corrosive container) with either of these weak acids; ammonia solution, coca-cola, white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, or ketchup sauce and let your relic soak for a few minutes.Then, carefully remove it to see how it is holding up before wiping it gently with a soft cotton cloth. You can repeat the process if needed.
2. Warm Soapy Water
Finds without significant historical value such as rings, bracelets, and other useful items can be cleaned by running warm water over them. If there is significant buildup on them, you can add some mild soap to your water and gently scrub them with your fingers or a soft sponge. Be cautious not to rub too harshly, particularly for jewelry with set decorations as they can become loose or detach.
3. Baking Powder
Soaking silver in a bicarbonate soda solution and gently polishing it with an old toothbrush will get it looking good as new. The soda helps to remove oxidation, corrosion, and dirt while maintaining the integrity of the metal. Soak your silver coins in a bath of hot water, aluminum foil, and baking powder for the best results.
4. Mouthwash
Soak your relics for 12 hours in an antiseptic mouthwash to remove debris, oil, and all kinds of dirt. The alcohol in the mouthwash helps to sanitize and strip away any detritus.
5. Technical methods
You can opt to buy a tumbler specifically built for cleaning coins and jewelry. You can still use the same tumbler used for polishing stones, although you need to look out for any grit that has been left behind as it can cause an irreversible devaluation of your metal. Electrolysis is another effective metal cleaning method that involves the transmission of an electric current through a conductive solution where your metal item is connected to the negative pole. In contrast, an earth metal like carbon is connected to the positive.
What Not to Do
Don’t Rush – The most critical tip is to take your time while cleaning or polishing any item that may be of value. Your relics and old coins have survived long years buried under layers of soil and dirt. Over-cleaning or polishing may entirely degrade and devalue your treasure.
Don’t Use Jewelry Cleaner or Metal Polish- These can be too harsh on your metal finds and even strip away fine details. Your rare coins are better off remaining slightly dirty.
Similarly, Don’t Use Steel Wool and Wire Brushes- This will irreversibly damage them and devalue them. Never try to remove tarnish, dirt, or discoloration on your relics with harsh scrubbers.
Leave Your Old Coins As They Are – It may come across as counter-intuitive, but the best decision when dealing with unearthed metal objects, especially coins, is to just leave them as is. If a coin head and print are still visible, it will be worth more to a collector while covered in grime than when all clean and sparkly. Remember that almost all methods to clean your finds will considerably reduce the economic value of your coins.
Anything Else?
There are of course other tips and tricks that seasoned collectors have gathered over the years that you can use to clean your finds. If there are any we might have missed or that you think work better than anything we’ve listed, we’d love to hear them. Just remember to do your research thoroughly or ask a professional before starting your cleaning. To up your coin hunting hauls we suggest these detectors.
Happy hunting!
