How To Clean Copper Coins Found Metal Detecting
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- čas přidán 5. 03. 2022
- This is the best method of cleaning old copper coins that have been found buried in the ground while metal detecting, in my opinion. Many CZcamsrs immediately spray old colonial coppers and large cents that they dig with water and scrub the dirt and mud off of them with a toothbrush. I believe this to be a mistake, although I do understand the desire to immediately try to clean a coin for quick identification.
In this video, I describe and show why should never do that if you want the best opportunity to be able to identify the coin. In short, if you really want to spray the coin with water and brush it to clean it, you can always do that AFTER trying this method if you are not satisfied with the results. However, if you go straight to the water spray and rub, you forever forfeit the opportunity to observe the results of this less harsh cleaning method. This is especially important with dug coins that are very worn and those with poor strikes.
I enjoy metal detecting for historical items like gold coins, relics, silver coins, and other buried treasures. I also metal detect for gold and silver nuggets and even meteorites. I like to make videos that promote my choice of lifestyle that includes outdoor adventure,
metal detecting, yapping, searching for river treasure, SCUBA diving, exploring abandoned places, hiking, caving, caring for animals and pets, and observing the things outdoors that often go unnoticed by most people who are not familiar with outdoor adventures and nature. I keep my CZcams "Aquachigger" channel family-friendly and hope you subscribe if you like my style.
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I learned in conserving ancient Roman coins that the patina often displaces the metal, meaning the detail is preserved in the patina itself. Removing the patina almost always removes the details of the coin. Nice lesson, thanks Chigg.
I cleaned up lots of roman bronze and didn't worry too much about it. Olive oil soaks alternated with soft copper brushing (not brass). Even used electrolysis on the real stubborn crusties. They would have been fugly forever without it. Favorite was finding Germanicus / Caligula under thick encrustations. Wish I could still get the large imperials cheaply like in the good old days about 25 years ago, but those days are gone.
Coin definitely looked better before cleaning it. I appreciate you passing on your vast knowledge for to the rest of us.
Definitely loved the look of the coin prior to the water and oil “bath”. Thanks for the copper coin cleaning sequel Chigg!
What do you think? What step of this cleaning process resulted in a coin that best shows the coin's details and would be most interesting for others to look at in one of your displays? No water cleaning? Cleaning with water? Cleaning with water and a soak in oil? I like the "no water" one myself.
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Thanks for watching…. The Chigg
No water! I think we all started off there though. Spray some water on and poof! There goes all your detail...
No water and some face oil 👍🏼
I like the oil idea. The pre water coin looked better
No water 👍
Don't clean.
Chig anytime someone asks me how to clean a largie or copper we pull I share your older video “clean it ruin” one. I totally agree with that one watching this now
My number one rule for dug coppers is to keep them away from water and brushes at all costs. I always use the toothpick method. Gotta love that green patina.
These videos are extremely useful. It's obvious from the before-after that the features of the coin are much more easily discerned before the water and oil treatments. The patina kind of outlines the raised features and all of that delineation is lost when you scrubbed it.
Once you hit the coin with water it only looks decent when wet. One way to preserve a coin that was scrubbed like that (in my opinion) is to use a buffable crystalene wax like RenWax (or buffable floor wax). Apply warm, let it dry, buff to a sheen, and the details come out better. But the coin looked much better before you scrubbed with a toothbrush, wish people would learn that.
Thank you for remaking this vid Chig.
So many people needed to see this.
Even old Wheaties, which most of us find to be a treasure, the same treatment goes for.
We can't all be masters of the dig like you sir.
Best detecting channel on CZcams hands down.
I remember watching your first video about cleaning copper coins. It is one of the best how-to videos for our hobby on CZcams. Thanks Chigg!
Agreed
Your first no water cleaning was hands down the best. I have plenty of nose oil 😀 thanks for the heads up 👍
Snot works?
@@terrysnyder3599 XD
Great instruction! As I write this you instructed 2,800 viewers in the proper way to clean a copper coin found in the ground. Well worth showing one coin being scrubbed with water and a toothbrush!
Thanks for the update on this video. Really important info for those of us lucky enough to dig an occasional copper. And yes, I have ruined a few in the past. Thanks again Mr. Chigg.
Best info I've heard so far...thanks!
Your original video was terrific. I've shared it with people many times. Thanks for taking one (or two) for the team.
My grandparents have an enormous 3ft tall jar of coins sitting in their dining room that they have found over the years metal detecting. I remember getting them out and looking at them all and asking my grandad why they were still dirty. He told me exactly what you just said, and now seeing it demonstrated, I totally agree. Thanks for the demo Chigg.
Your a good man chigg, you just possibly saved thousands of old coins for collectors. Colonial coppers can be very very rare, and the difference in value from poor condition to good condition can thousands of dollars.
Collectors won't buy coins that have been cleaned 🤣🤣🤣
I watch 8 CZcams channels that metal detect that includes your Channel too. None of them use water on old copper coins!!! Thank you for sharing this vlog with us!!! You can truly tell NOT to use water on an old copper coin!!! God bless!!!
Without a doubt, "No water" is the best. Thank you for your informative and entertaining videos!
Amazing video. Definitely looked better before the water. Thank you for the knowledge. Keep up the amazing work
That was a lesson worth remembering. Thanks chigg
Thanks Beau, I'm new to the hobby, and you just helped me to clean my first coin; a George VI 1940 Half Penny. Thank God I found your video before taking a toothbrush and water to it!!
Back in the 70's a major metal detector manufacture company (name withheld) strongly recommended that freshly dug coins should be soaked in olive oil and then cleaned. So back then,I always carried a small jar of the oil and dropped the coins in as soon as they were dug. After a few years of this method, I realized that this more often than not hurt the appearance of the coins. I then began using the "dry" method that you have explained in your video and began achieving much better results. Thanks for the very informative video. If today's newer coin hunters follow your advice, many dug coins will much better off.
Olive oil is an acid!
Great information for newbies like myself. Thank you
Great video, Chigg! You are the best
Thanx Chigg
Great information on keeping from damaging your finds.
Keep on doing what your doing
Your method is definitely the best.
If I had ever come across a potentially old coin I bet I would’ve to cleaned it with water first thing, without knowing it would ruin it.
Seriously thank you, I learned something before making a mistake.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 1st cleaning definitely looked the best.
thank you,really enjoy these type of videos.
very well demonstrated.. nice process..
Wow, I learned a lot from your demonstration! I found two brittish pennies from 1863 in my garden and cleaned them a little with water and brush, wish I'd seen your video first.
Great video Chigg! I'd love to see a tour of your collection of finds and memorabilia and I think others would like that too. Have a good day Mr. Beau!
Chiggs We took your advice a few years ago and also use the oil from our face. It is amazing how it works.
Thx Chigg, you are the best! Chigg's ARMY 4 LIFE
I made this mistake just today. Thanks for the video
The coin was beautiful before the last steps ( mistakes). Thank you for sharing the knowledge in preserving history and the age of a find.
Relic room and shelves got a paint job. Looking good.
Thanks for the coin advice.
Thank you for this helpful information
Thank you. Will never forget it.
I think you are right on. I would treat any coin I find like you do. Great video!
As a young man who was born in 99 I can honestly say I have appreciated your channel. You have made me reconsider my idea, of cleaning my sheet pennies.
And all this may be a personal opinion I think you are a good man Chig. Sorry if I misspelled it
No worries. Happy to see your comment.
Thank you for the tutorial. 👍
Hi Chigg! That was very enlightening. Your practices make sense on cleaning and/or not cleaning coin finds. In my opinion the first method was the BETTER of the methods. The secondary cleaning methods did wreck the coin. Thank You for the first hand demonstration! Sorry a nice coin was sacrificed t to make the point. I'm sure that the demonstration will help many preserve their finds and be able to appreciate them better after doing a proper cleaning. Anyhow....... Have a Great Day!
DEFINITELY LOOKED BETTER AT FIRST. YOU HAVE MADE A GREAT POINT!!
Great video Beau, we don't generally even clean our coins, we have a few preserved in soil clumps in the display cabinet - look great that way too. All the best mate, great idea to publish these instructional videos. Cheers mate and Happy Fossicking! Warren.
Great information. You are so right. Uncleaned is best. 👍
Good information!!! Thanks
Great info for a newbie such as I am. Thanks, Chig. Havagudun bud.
Thank you! All the best from Norway..
Great informative video Beau. See ya on the next one.
Hiya Beau, I agree with you on what you said, because I had found a old coin one time, and I cleaned it with a tooth brush and water, and it took everything off and now you can't tell what it is, and I regretted it ever since. I could kick my own but....for doing that.
That was 30 years ago and I still think about how I ruined a beautiful coin I found inside the woods when I was hunting for old bottles. Thanks for sharing this important information about how, not to ruin your old coins.
I hope you and yours, have a awesome blessed day.
Cya! 😺🐟 out!
Great Video, I like the first cleaning you did, I stopped cleaning my old copper with water. I only use water in the field on silver. Thanks for sharing.😀
Much better with NO water. Thanks for sharing. Love your videos.
Thank you for this! I just recently started metal detecting and a few weeks ago I dug a mercury dime from 1926 in absolute prestine condition! No cleaning necessary. However, I did dig some wheat pennies, that I cleaned with a brush and water and they didn't turn out like I thought they would. Anyway, I think you just saved me some heartache if I eventually dig a nice Indian head. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Such a useful video. I think everyone should educate themselves about finds restoration. It's all part of the hobby in my opinion. Thanks chigg 👍🇬🇧
This video makes sense to me!! Except I don't see a lot of you tubers spraying their coppers. 👍👍👍
Subbed for years, thanks
I attended your previous lecture and the proof is there to see.
Too bad so many will ignore good advice.
Chigg, really enjoying the channel. And I agree with you
Great video! I use your same method too, works great. That thin layer of dirt silhouetting those minute details is what makes it artifact like. I don't know why people worry about ruining a crusty dug coin anyways, it's your coin, do what you want with it, Cheers!!
I just ordered the garret at pro through the link in your description and it is my first metal detector. So I'm excited to look for some old coins and stuff. I'm just waiting for it to get here!
Much better without water or oil, great tip. Thanks Chig
Good info, thanks.
I agree with all you are saying. Have sadly discovered for myself the error of putting water or soap and water and scrubbing a coin. Toothpick method works well, sometimes I use a piece of copper wire to scrape if a toothpick is too soft to do the job. Have to be a little more careful with the piece of wire so as not to scratch the base metal.
You’re very right chigg cheers from Australia 🇦🇺
👍Really great advice for all👍
Thanks Chig for your valuable info. The coin was so much better before the water.
Al, NJ
Great advice. Thanks!
Wow!!! thanks for the tip!!! I had no idea.
I agree that the cleaning without the water looks much better. I never shoot water on coppers only silvers in the field. Good info.
Great video, again!!! Thank you!!! I am new to coin collecting. I have experimented using an ultrasonic cleaner, plastic basket and solution on some wheat pennies for approx. 480 seconds. The results were satisfactory. The coins kept their toning and the solution had dirt particulates. Also, somewhere I read that old cardboard with sulfur in it can create some toning effects on silver coins. Maybe it will work on copper too? More experiments... I think so.
Definitely better before. Nice job explaining the difference 👍
Like the look of the coin when you used the oil from your face. It was the best way to see more detail on it.
Thank you!
I agree with you Aquachigger, you messed that coin up. But I appreciate the good information that came from it. Thank you.
Patina is the best look hands down great video for those who don't know how to handle precious vintage oils from the ground Fig On! Chigg 👍
It looked better with original patina. Thanks for demonstration. You ruined one coin but saved countless others from being destroyed. Good job.
Ive been looking for this thanks
Yup, I’ll be leavin’ the patina! Looks worse after all the scrubbing! Good lesson for us, Chigg. Thanks!
Agree totally ~ I only use a DRY stiff tooth brush or similar ~ the best result and I too have tried every thing ~
Thank you for taking the time and using your precious treasue to educate many of us viewer's and hopefully a few of us keyboard warriors
i like the patina look and i like the way you teach us how to make the best out of our finds thanks Chigg Dig on brother
Excellent advice. Great video. I dug up an old penny and cleaned it with water . Ruined it really. Lost a lot of detail. Wish I had seen this video before digging it up. Next one I come across defo no water ! 👍
It definitely looked much better before the water! I can't believe it got that much worse after the oil, I thought after the water step it couldn't lose much more definition but it sure did.
Your so right Beau, I see so many newbies on yt spraying them with water and I cringe. Same thing goes for them wiping a silver coin without spaying them too get the dirt off first. I'm sorry you ruined your king George 11 but it was in a fertlized field when you dug it. So it is what it is. But it did have a good strike on it. Oil can also take away the patina of a coin too. But face oil is the lesser of 2 evils. Thanku for trying too help the new detectorist enjoy the hobby and to help preserve history.
Thank you Sir for this video---
great video- I too used water and olive oil etc years ago when I started out and got a bunch purple buttons ands blank coins!
I use vinagar and nothing else, soak it over night in it and wipe with cotton! Beautiful patina with a luster and great detail. God Bless, (Glen). WV.
Love you Chigg!
Mr. Chig, this is a very good video. I can’t agree more…I have put artificial patinas on bronze sculptures for 48 years. The average patina applied to silicon bronze takes several hours to achieve. We use acid combined with water, plus heat at perhaps 220 degrees Fahrenheit. When the desired patina effect is achieved, I do not wash the sculpture. I seal the bronze, when cold, with either spray lacquer or floor wax. The patina resides on the surface and is somewhat locked into the porous casting. I seek to replicate the patina that existed on your coin. And I agree don’t scrub it off, it is part of the antiquity.
Thanks Chigg for the information. I like it best, no water. I cringed when you put the water on then toothbrushed it. The first old coin I found, I made that mistake (water and toothbrush) never again. Thanks again. Take care my friend 👍
Thanks for the video, Chigg! Best view was before water & brush. Lost highlights and definition thereafter.
Thanks for the informational video. Definitely no water! Thanks Chigg
I'm with you on this, definitely looked better in it's unmolested state
Thank you 😎👍
I wish I had watched this last week. I have just wrecked a token and bun halfpenny. Not anymore though. Thanks for the info. 😊
I'm with you glad you did that video
Thank you
I think your original video on this same subject was the very first video I watched of yours. I appreciated the info then and I appreciate just as much now. There’s nothing worse than seeing some detail and going too far to the point that nothing is left.