Why Olive Oil to clean?

[Tom_in_CA]

.... It worked really well and I'm happy with the finished product. ....

Not a post about cleaning methods or choice of oil-acid-levels, but just wanted to say: I love that token !

 

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[Truth]

I might catch some flak here, but I cleaned up my saloon token by running through hot peroxide a few times and then short soaks in Louisiana hot sauce. (insert joke about people from Louisiana putting hot sauce on EVERYTHING here) It worked really well and I'm happy with the finished product.

Before :
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After :
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What this will work on and how good it will work on other things I don't know, I do know it takes tarnish off of copper pennies though.

I love that oyster token!!!


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[doninbrewster]

Olive oil is an old method used that really doesn't work and many times ruins a coin. With that said, when cleaning it depends on what you are cleaning and the condition of the base coin. Coins that are corroded are going to remain corroded and there's nothing you can do about them. Sometimes you get a copper that's a little corroded, but still has detail. DON'T put any water or oil on it. Use an old toothbrush and try and gently brush off the dirt. On some coppers using your thumb to rub off the dirt can work. Here's the thing you must understand, many times on old coppers the details are enhanced by the little bit of dirt in the background. If you put the coin under water and remove that old dirt you also remove the details. There are cleaning pencils known as Andre's pencils that can also help They are best for Indians and 2 cent pieces, but the finishing pencil, which is kind of like 000 steel wool can help. Just a light brushing to remove surface dirt.

Indians are a different story. Some are very corroded and there's not much you can do. Many can be cleaned nicely with a variety of methods. You can put them under running water and scrape the crud off with your thumb nail. You can put them in hot peroxide for a few minutes and much of the crud will come off. I use Andre's pencils to clean my Indians and two cent pieces. If the coin is good to start with it comes out great.

Below is a 2 cent pieces cleaned with Andre's pencils.



Below is a large cent using just the finishing pencil.



Below is another large cent that was in really good condition to start with and only used the finishing pencil.



Below are a couple of KG II's, farthing and halfpence that I only rubbed the dirt off with my thumb.



Below is a better date Indian in good condition I used the pencils on. It was a dark color to start with, but got most of the crud off.



All copper coins are different when it comes to cleaning. Have patience and take a good look at what you have before you start doing anything to the coin.