Buried Coin Cleaning 101 – Learn how to clean a DIRTY coin found BURIED in the ground WITHOUT damaging the coin or its value!
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Want to learn how to clean dirty coins WITHOUT vinegar, or baking soda, or any of the other harsh agents that can easily damage a coin’s surface? Hoping to see how to clean dirty coins at home yourself, rather than paying a professional?
In this video, I’m showing you how water and acetone can be used to clean buried coins that have caked on mud and dirt. Specifically, you will see how to clean old copper coins using these methods safely. Plus, I mention 2 of the top professional coin cleaning agencies that are the best at cleaning buried coins — if your at-home method doesn’t get the coin looking the way you’d like.
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⚡TIMESTAMPS FROM THE VIDEO⚡
00:00 – How To Clean Buried Coins Found In Dirt
00:16 – How To Clean A Dirty Coin Yourself (A U.S. Penny)
00:36 – Options For Cleaning Buried Coins
00:53 – How To Use Water To Clean Old Copper Coins
01:54 – What Is Patina On A Coin?
02:10 – How To Use Acetone To Clean Buried Coins
03:11 – How NOT To Clean Dirty Coins Found In The Ground
03:58 – How To Safely Clean Coins Found Buried
05:05 – Companies That Professionally Clean Dirty Coins
06:24 – Results After Cleaning A Dirty Coin Yourself
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this is Josh from The Fun Times Guide To Coins and today I’m going to show you how to clean coins that were buried or found in dirt. I’m not just a coin collector, I’m also an avid gardener — and I came across this penny here in the soil. And I’m not sure how long it’s been there. It’s got a little dirt on there and it looks like it’s been there for… I don’t know how long. But it’s got some discoloration and maybe some light verdigris.
So I’m going to go ahead and try and safely clean this coin that was found in dirt using one of the two safe methods for cleaning coins — which is either running them under water or to soak them in acetone. You’ll see here I’ve got 100% acetone nail polish remover — so it’s free of dyes and other additives that could damage the coin inadvertently. Let’s first try and run this coin under some nice tepid water to try to remove any surface debris and dirt that might be on the coin. Let’s see… oh, there comes the dirt!
Yep, the dirt is coming right off. That’s a good thing. So, let’s see how we did here. Well, the loose dirt’s gone. But it’s got some discoloration that may not come off because that is part of toning. A lot of times coins that might appear dirty really aren’t dirty per se. They just have discoloration that’s only caused by something called environmental damage. And what that is… that’s just simply toning or patina that has been induced by exposure to fumes, to the weather, to water — just the elements in general. And I’m sure this coin has seen some time underground so… But you know what it does have though? And it’s important to note… this old copper penny does have some very nice chocolate patina which is desirable for a circulated copper coin like this.
You don’t really want to make it look brand new. The goal is to simply remove the surface debris and contaminants. Yeah, let’s go ahead and dip this coin in some acetone and remove any further surface residue and other debris. So I’ll pour some acetone here into this pie pan. You’ll note that it’s aluminum and not a plastic container — because acetone can eat right through plastic, believe it or not. I’ve got a glove on here for protecting my hands from the acetone. Also, I’ve got… in this bathroom here, I’ve got the window open for ventilation to allow odors and fumes to escape the room. I do not want to be in an enclosed room with acetone. Not good for the lungs. So I’ll go ahead and dip this coin here into the acetone bath which IS safe for coins — limited exposure. I’ll just soak it just for about a few moments. And rinse off this acetone from my fingers here and the glove — just so I don’t have prolonged exposure.
While this coin soaks here in the pie pan, it’s important to note that you don’t see any toothpaste here or ketchup or baking soda or vinegar things you typically see listed in these How To Clean Coin videos. Unfortunately, a lot of times, the agents that are suggested to be used for cleaning coins just aren’t safe. They’re not gonna do anything but damage your coin. Because they are usually either acidic or abrasive agents that will eat away at the coin’s surface, and you cannot get that back. Once a coin is damaged through cleaning, you can’t ever get that old coin back. It might re-tone over time. But the hairline scratches… the changes to the coin’s surface are generally irreparable.
So, that’s why I stress… if you’re going to clean a coin, do so SAFELY. Use one of these safe techniques as seen here with the acetone or the water. Do not dip your coins in baking soda and vinegar washes or in ketchup! That will only ruin your coin further. Let’s go ahead and see how this penny here fared in the acetone. It’s got less residue on it. But yeah, the discoloration is still there.
Yeah, that’s not going to come off — safely anyway. I’m going to rinse off this penny here in some more water. And let’s take a better look and see. Okay, so it’s a little bit better than it was just a few minutes ago. But you can still see that the coin looks discolored. Again, I’m not talking about the brown. That is a great color for an old copper coin. I do NOT want to remove the nice chocolate brown patina. That should stay. My hope would be to remove any blotchy discoloration of the coin.
In cases like this where you may not be able to achieve the results you want at home safely, I suggest submitting your coin for “conservation and restoration” through one of the major third-party grading services. Both Professional Coin Grading Service (or PCGS) and Numismatic Guarantee Company (or NGC) offer restoration and conservation services that are designed for helping to preserve a coin’s surface and to restore a coin by removing its… They’ll attempt to remove spotting or attempt to remove discoloration or other contaminants that could further damage your coin. There’s never a guarantee that they can be able to achieve those results, but these are professionals who know how to safely conserve and restore coins without damaging them.
So again, if the acetone bath or the water rinses don’t work in helping to clean your coin safely (especially it’s been buried or has dirt on it), then i would resort to using one of those services there. And they are very, very good. Both of them are. Again, these are professionals who know how to safely conserve and restore coins that have been buried or under dirt. This coin might be a good candidate for that kind of service. But it does look better! The water removed the surface dirt which is a very important first step. And the acetone bath did remove some of the the deeper residue and a bit of the discoloration. But again, not all of it. So anyway, this is how you safely clean a coin that’s been buried or has dirt on it. I hope you find these tips useful. And I wish you all the best of luck in your coin collecting journeys. Thank you for your time!
