two silver quarters but.....(please help to clean?)

[moonshine]

(the coin in this post is NOT the coin i found)

hi gang, i found these two coins in an old pile of fill dirt. i dont think the coins were lost in the area, its a newer park area. i think these coins were in the fill dirt that was brought to the area to construct this ramp. its an old ramp so unfortunately visiting THAT area is out of the question. (darn!)

one of the coins is a standing liberty quarter. hard to tell, but the reverse is shown in the pic, and i included a clean pic of a coin too. i can tell the slq is in VERY nice shape. the reeded edge is very bold and squared off. the other coin seems to be more worn. and also much more encrusted.

how can i clean these coins safely? the encrusted material looks like a combination of sand/rust/hard black material. im very disappointed that they are so heavily encrusted. i cant make out the left coin at all. the slq though looks like it has some major detail!

thanks for any help, i will post more pics if i can reveal any more detail!

 

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[moonshine]

these are the coins.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Wow, what? I don't often see that kind of caking on silver, have you soaked them in water? I was going to suggest dipping or the baking soda rub (not on the SLQ), tho, now I am at a loss for words of wisdom.

 

[Kieth-Tx]

I use hydrogen peroxide heated in the microwave till boiling. Drop it in till it quits bubbling off the coin then repeat. After a few times rub the coin with a q-tip. Keep repeating both processes till it is clean...works for me.

 

[wildcatman71]

I have found that the best way to clean silver coins is to mix a bit of water with baking soda....to make a mush.....and easily rub it on the coin.....it makes old silver look amazingly new!!!

 

[nc-joe]

Looks like the fill came from a salt water beach Having that much crust on them will be very difficult. I don't thinke the peroxide will work on those.... plus if there is sand and rock and what not the Q-tip will scratch the coins, too.

Try putting some very hot water in your sink, putting some baking soda in the water and submerge the coins on a piece of aluminum foil (be sure the coins are on the shiney side of the aluminum foil) and let it soak for a while.

Congrats on the silver!

 

[Nate in Ohio]

Yea those are pretty rough. Keep in mind sometimes there's only so much you can do...I hardly ever clean silver coins anyway so I wouldn't really know the best method I guess...(maybe try tumbling the REALLY bad one??) but good luck on improving them!

 

[jog]

I use hydrogen peroxide heated in the microwave till boiling. Drop it in till it quits bubbling off the coin then repeat. After a few times rub the coin with a q-tip. Keep repeating both processes till it is clean...works for me.

Found an encrusted Indian Head penny awhile back,will this work on that?

 

[eathabs]

Found an encrusted Indian Head penny awhile back,will this work on that?
[/quote]

Yup

 

[moonshine]

i appreciate everyone's comments. im extremely, extremely conservative when it comes to coin cleaning. i wont do anything to a silver coin. (normally). see that coin in my avatar, it still looks like that to this day. (just kidding!) but this SLQ looks like its in outstanding shape. underneath that sheath of hard crud. looks like a pre-1925 (or would that be pre 1926?) too. (no releif date) cant see a date yet though.

it might be saltwater, it might be some kind of chemicals from an old factory(?) who knows......i have a lot more swinging to do here on this mound so i may get lucky and find a few more keepers.

thats my first silver of the year, im pretty stoked to find the slq!! i havent found many of those thats for sure.

im gonna take a guess, i think the other coin might be a well worn barber.

well thanks again and ill post pics of them cleaned later.

they arent worth anything now in this condition so i guess if i ruin them its no big loss.....yeah ill just tell myself that and get my grinder out of the garage? jk i couldnt.

 

[time4me]

Try electrolysis on them. It works wonders on silver rings that I've pulled from saltwater.

Here is the link to a post I put up in the Cleaning and Preservation forum about how to make your own electrolysis setup at home and how easy it is to clean a coin or ring that is heavily encrusted...

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,176665.msg1287779.html#msg1287779

Jim

 

[cheese]

I agree... electrolysis. The coins aren't going to come out in pristine condition no matter what you do, but I have a barber half that was caked up like those and unreadable/barely even recognizeable. When I put it in electrolysis, the crud began to peel off like some sort of plating. It all came off eventually and the coin looks really nice now...like nothing was ever wrong with it.

 

[lostcauses]

One looks like it was in a fire. This ends up with the copper oxidizing, called fire scale. Not sure how to do much with it. The other one does look cleanable with methods told.

 

[CRUSADER]

One looks like it was in a fire. This ends up with the copper oxidizing, called fire scale. Not sure how to do much with it. The other one does look cleanable with methods told.

agreed fire damage, cleaning isn't going to make them look pretty