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I was soaking my copper coins in lemon juice for 3 years before a guy at the Springfield flea market stopped me
So I have been collecting old coins from parks and estate sales for about 6 years now. Every time I dug up a crusty copper like an Indian Head penny or a worn large cent, I would drop it in a little bowl of lemon juice and salt overnight. I thought I was cleaning them up nice. Then a guy at the Springfield flea market last month watched me pull out a 1901 Indian Head from my pocket and his face just dropped. He asked if I had cleaned it and I said yeah, with lemon juice, and he got real quiet. He pulled out a magnifying glass and showed me how the surface was all pitted and stripped, and said I had basically been sanding off the history and any value along with the dirt. He told me a 1901 in fine condition is worth maybe $5 but a cleaned one is basically a cull coin worth face value or less. I went home and looked at about 40 coins I had ruined over the years and just felt sick. Has anyone else messed up a whole batch like this before they knew better, and what do you do now for coppers that come out of the ground green?
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