Knowing Which Coins to Clean
Don't clean your coins if you plan to sell them, or if they have any potential value. Cleaning will decrease their value significantly. Avoid cleaning corrosion (such as rust), buildup (such as dirt), and other filth from old coins if you are hoping to sell them for prices anywhere near coin-collecting book values. If the coins you want to clean are part of a numismatic (serious study of coins) collection, do not clean them. Doing so can greatly diminish their coin-collecting values. Leave the cleaning of valuable coinage to experts, who are in the business of this work.
Handle coins with care. Any potentially valuable coins should not even be handled with your bare hands. Don gloves, and put the coins in plastic coin envelopes. Get your coins appraised by a professional before you proceed. The same goes for all antiques: don't clean, paint or polish anything that may have value before getting them appraised.
Clean mostly-copper coins (like pennies) and non-copper coins separately. Copper can discolor other coin surfaces when they are left to soak together in a cleaning solution. In terms of American currency: clean pennies separately from nickles, dimes, quarters, etc. Do not leave copper pennies to soak with steel pennies. The copper could react with the cleaning chemicals and somewhat dissolve in the solution. The dissolved copper will bind to the steel pennies, ruining their finishes.
Using Coin-Cleaning Products
Use a metal-polishing soap. To remove rust and similar corrosion from most coins, try S100 Polishing Soap. You may be surprised at how well this removes rust from coin surfaces. It is also well suited to silver coins, and it is used by German silversmiths to clean silver jewelry. Silver cleaning wadding or batting products are sometimes helpful since these wool or cotton fibers help clean uneven surfaces on coins. Weiman metal polish should do the trick, along with many other brands.
Look for metal cleaners at an auto-parts store. Try the automobile section of your local department store to find a variety of metal polishes and cleaners that can also be used to clean metal coins. You can use silver cleaner, copper cleaner, or other metal cleaner – but the results of any product will be most effective if you're using it on the type of metal for which it is advertised.
Try using ultrasonic jewelry cleaners. Again, only if these coins aren't being cleaned for the purposes of coin collecting – such as in a collection of coins with any emphasis on building monetary value. Be sure to follow all of the manufacturer's instructions and recommendations whenever using ultrasonic cleaning devices.
Cleaning Coins with Household Products
Wash the coin under cold running water. Hold the coin by its edges: touching the surface directly can leave small scratches in the surface. If you want to protect the coin’s surface, don't rub it.
Run the water over the coin for about a minute. The higher your water pressure, the better. Make sure to not use a high-powered water jet that could go straight through the coin.
Lightly brush the coin. If dirt remains, lightly scrub the coin with a soft toothbrush and dish soap. Run the toothbrush under warm water to further soften the bristles. Rinse the brush and the coin frequently to avoid scratching the coin with the loosened dirt. Do not apply much pressure, and focus on brushing only the soiled area of the coin. Toothbrush bristles come with varying degrees of firmness — you want one labeled as soft or extra-soft. If you use a firm bristle, you risk damaging the coin.
Spot-clean encrusted dirt. Especially on ancient coins, there may be dirt that remains after soaking and brushing. To remove this, use a small, sharp implement such as a toothpick or a precision screwdriver. Carefully pry and chip off the encrusted dirt, and try not to scratch the surface of the coin. You can spot-clean more precisely if you work under good lighting and use a microscope or magnifying glass.
Pour some vinegar over the coin. Wait about ten minutes, then rub the vinegar off with a toothbrush. This may give the coin a more polished finish. Consider using anything acidic: lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and even sodas have been said to help clean rust off of old coins. Consider adding salt to your vinegar/citric acid/soda. The combination of acid and chloride may make your cleaning solution even more powerful.
Rinse the coin again. After soaking, thoroughly rinse the coin under very warm, running water. If the coin is clean enough for your taste, proceed to drying. Don't leave the acid on the coin, or it will keep etching and produce an unsightly green coating of copper salts.
Dry the coin. Pat the coin dry with a soft, lint-free cloth, and then lay the coin on a soft, dry cloth to finish drying. Do not rub the coin dry.
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