Most of the time, any old coins you have at home can be worth something, so you should typically not clean your old coins as they can lose their value. However, you can take your old coins to a coin expert to determine which coins are not of importance. Now, you can clean these old coins. If you are looking for the best methods on how to clean old coins, here is everything you need to know.
How to clean your old coins using soap and water
You should not be using any harsh abrasives and chemicals for cleaning your old coins. Here is a method of cleaning your old coins using a mild hand washing soap.
- The first thing you can do is wash your coins under running water. However, you should not use tap water for this method, as the water is hard damages your old coins. You need to use distilled water for this method.
- Grasp the coins by its edge and run it under distilled water, then flip the coin and wet the other side as well.
- Take a small bowl and add a few drops of hand washing liquid and water into this. Be careful only to add a mild hand washing liquid solution and not dishwashing liquid or laundry detergent, as they are too harsh for the old coins.
- Dip your old coins one by one into the bowl containing hand washing liquid and water. Take a long toothpick and swirl the coins around gently in the water.
- Take out the old coins one by one and rinse them once again under distilled water.
- Take a microfiber cloth and gently blot the currency to remove the excess water. Then allow the coins to naturally air dry. Do not rub the coins with the fabric.
How to clean your old coins using salt and vinegar
You can use this method to clean your old copper coins and get rid of dirt, gunk, and marks off your old copper coins. Here is how you can do it:
- Take a small container and add one tablespoon of salt into it.
- Now, add a few drops of distilled white vinegar to the salt to create a sort of pasty solution.
- Apply this paste directly on to your old copper coins. You need to let the copper coins sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes, but not more.
- Rinse off your old copper coins with distilled water and allow them to air dry.
How to clean your old coins using ketchup
While this method might sound very surprising, it actually works great when you are looking to clean your old coins. The acidity in ketchup can help remove the gunk from your old coins and make them shine like new again. Here is how you can do it:
- Take a small packet of tomato ketchup and your old coins in one hand. Gently, squeeze out a small portion of tomato ketchup on the front and back face of your old coins.
- Grab your currency firmly by its edges. Now, take an old toothbrush and gently scrub the front and back face of the old coins. Be very careful when doing this as you don’t want to clean the old coins too hard.
- Rinse off your currency under distilled water and blot it dry with a soft, microfiber cloth. Allow your coins to air dry.
How to clean your old coins using baking soda
Another excellent method that you can use to clean your old coins is to use the baking soda technique. Here is how you can do it:
- Take your old coins one by one and hold them firmly by the edges.
- Rinse them under distilled water thoroughly. Make sure to use only distilled water as other kinds of water damages your old coins.
- Take a small amount of baking soda in your hands and apply it on to your old currency directly.
- Now, take an old toothbrush and begin to slowly scrub the back as well as the front side of the coin with the brush. Be very careful while doing this as you don’t want to clean the old coins too hard.
- Once you have done this, rinse out the old coins under distilled water once again.
- Take a microfiber cloth and wipe your old coins gently and then allow them to dry naturally.
How to clean your old coins using orange juice
A quick method of cleaning the corrosion and gunk off your old coins is to clean it using orange juice. The acidic components of orange juice remove the corrosion from your old coins. Here is how you can do it:
- Fill up a plastic bottle with orange juice. One by one, drop your old coins into the plastic container and put the bottle cap back in its place.
- Gently swirl the inner contents of the plastic bottle with the coins still inside it.
- Continue swirling the bottle for about 5 minutes so that all the substances loosen up due to the acidic content of the orange juice and you can easily clean your coins.
- If the coins still look very dirty, you can leave the coins in the bottle overnight.
- The next morning, remove the coins one by one from the plastic bottle and wash it with soap and water. Use only a mild hand cleaning liquid detergent for this.
- Allow your coins to air dry naturally or dry them with a microfiber cloth.
How to clean your old coins with olive oil
Finally, if all other methods fail, you can use mineral oil or olive oil to clean your old coins. Here is how you can do it:
- In a small cup, pour mineral or olive oil and soak your coins in this liquid for a few days, till you can see the gunk and corrosion falling off.
- Remove the old coins from the cup and rinse it out using distilled water.
- Wipe the coins with a microfiber cloth to remove all traces of oil.
- Finally, pour baking soda directly on the coins and allow it to sit for a few minutes, then rinse it off in distilled water again.
- Allow the coins to air dry naturally.
