Small change in money was once much more needed than it is today; for example, you could buy candy with a few coins! Now you can't use them to buy much, so people tend to pile them up in a piggy bank until they become a small nest egg. But if you want to use pennies to play, for example, it's nice to have them nice and shiny. Warning: Read the warnings at the bottom of the page before using these methods on collector coins!
Steps
Method 1 of 5: With Vinegar and Salt
Step 1. Dissolve 5g of salt in 60ml of vinegar
If you have to clean a lot of pennies, 15g of salt and 120ml of vinegar should be enough. Stir to dissolve the salt well.
If you don't have vinegar available, you can replace it with lemon or even orange juice. Copper oxide (the grime layer on coins) dissolves in a weak acid, and all of these liquids are
Step 2. Put the coins in the solution
Make sure that Not are directly superimposed on each other.
Step 3. Leave the cents to soak for about 5 minutes
If they are particularly dirty or if you need to clean a large amount at once, leave them a few more minutes.
For particularly difficult cases, use a brush or toothbrush to scrub them after they have been in the solution for a while
Step 4. Remove the cents from the vinegar and rinse them. Wait for them to dry for 5 minutes or until they are no longer damp to the touch. Now they are shiny.
If you don't rinse them, a blue-green patina will form. This happens when copper, oxygen and chlorine (from the salt) join together to form malachite
Method 2 of 5: With Ketchup or Tabasco Sauce
Step 1. Grab a cup of ketchup
This method also works with Tabasco sauce. Both are acidic and work just like vinegar (ketchup is made from salt, vinegar and tomato!)
Step 2. Pour enough ketchup into a bowl and dip the coins
Remember that your cents will eventually smell like ketchup with this method. The Tabasco sauce, on the other hand, will leave an orange tint. In any case, you will have some brilliant coins!
Step 3. Leave the cents to soak and wait about 3 minutes
If you have a toothbrush available (preferably not your own), brush the coins once the 3 minutes have elapsed. Don't forget the edges.
Step 4. Wash the pennies with hot water
If you used your roommate's toothbrush, don't forget to wash that too!
If the loose change is clean but not shiny, make a paste of water and baking soda to rub on its surface. Rinse and admire the result
Method 3 of 5: With Coke
Step 1. Get a can or bottle of Coke
If you don't have exactly this drink, a similar soda is also fine.
Step 2. Place the pennies on a plate so they don't overlap
The acid contained in the drink must act directly on the cents.
Step 3. Pour in as much Coke as you need to submerge the change
More is not needed, so you can drink what is left over!
Step 4. Wait for it to work for 4-5 hours
If you want to get the best results, turn over the coins halfway through the process as the face in contact with the plate needs more time to clean.
Step 5. Remove the coins from the Coke and wash them with warm or hot water
Method 4 of 5: With a Metal Cleaner
Step 1. Get an oxalic acid based cleaner
This chemical is great for quickly cleaning copper, from pennies to cookware bottoms. On sale you can find it under different commercial names, check the label to be sure that the chosen product contains it.
Step 2. Moisten the loose change and put some cleanser on it
The oxalic acid will remove all traces of dirt. Wait for it to act for a few minutes.
Step 3. Rub the pennies gently and then rinse them
Now they should be bright enough to blind you, like brand new! There is no simpler method!
Method 5 of 5: With an Eraser to Erase
Step 1. Get an eraser and a dirty dime
This method should work for all pennies, but is the safest to use for newer ones. The methods with acid solutions in fact, could turn black coins with a high percentage of zinc.
In fact, over time, copper has become too precious a material to justify its use in the minting of low value coins. For this reason, zinc, a cheaper metal, has been included in production
Step 2. Rub the penny with the eraser as if you were erasing a pencil mark on paper
If you find it convenient (or have lots of coins to clean) you can attach a pencil with the eraser on one end to a drill and let it do the work for you. You will also have created an incredible object: "the electric rubber"!
Step 3. Turn the coin and repeat the process on the other side
You will need 10 seconds for every penny. The downside to this method is that over time your hand will get tired and you'll need a lot of gum! Aside from that, it's a quick and easy way to make your cents shine.
Advice
- Try these methods to clean even larger coins.
- In addition to white vinegar and lemon, tamarind juice also works.
- Clean the coins of 1, 2, 5 euro cents.
Warnings
- If you use these methods to clean collector coins, you could decrease their value and even ruin them.
- White vinegar dissolves zinc. If you clean coins with a high percentage of zinc (the € 1 and € 2 coins) you could corrode them too much.
- Don't mix the coins. Wash the cents together, otherwise other coin denominations could get stained.
