Warning: I used to clean all my dug coins with olive oil but now I just use water

Back when I started collecting about 4 years ago, I'd soak every crusty copper I found from old farm fields in olive oil for weeks. It made them look shiny but I ruined a few details on a 1799 large cent last year. Now I just rinse them with tap water and a soft toothbrush, nothing more. Has anyone else wrecked a good coin by overcleaning before realizing less is better?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim.emma12d ago

That 1799 large cent thing hurts to read man. I did something similar with a 1853 half dime a couple years back, scrubbed it raw with baking soda and a toothbrush thinking I was making it look better. Ended up taking off all the original luster and making it look like a generic zinc penny. Honestly these old coppers are fragile enough that even the olive oil soak can pull away the natural patina that took 200 years to form. I switched to just a distilled water rinse and letting them air dry on a paper towel for a full day before storing them. Ngl the less you touch them the better they age in your collection.

jana_davis9012d ago

Oh totally agree with most of that, but just a quick heads up - distilled water can actually be slightly acidic depending on how it's stored or if it's been sitting around. I learned that the hard way when some of my coins got a weird haze after a soak. Regular tap water works fine honestly if you just pat them dry immediately.

-1