Cleaning Solutions For Rock Tumblers

It's quite evident that many of you use rock tumblers to clean coins. There also seems to be much confusion & controversy on what solution to use for cleaning either clad or copper coins.

Well, fear & question no more. I will clarify & rectify & solidify the problem once & for all.

When first trying a rock tumbler, I experimented to determine the best cleaning solutions and the time required to clean coins. For a good cleaning solution, I wanted one that would adequately clean coins with substances reasonably available around most homes. The first solution I developed was for copper coins, which I then used to clean clad coins. It cleaned away corrosion all right, but left the coins a copper color. A copper colored nickel, dime or quarter looks a bit strange. Further experimentation produced the following techniques, which have provided good results.

First, separate cents or other copper coins from your nickels and clad coins.

To clean copper coins, use the following:

1/4 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of sodium salt, 1/2 cup of pea-size or smaller gravel. Tumble an approximate quantity of cents (depending on the capacity of your tumbler) in this mixture. About four hours will do the job. The copper coins are then rinsed in plain water. You will find that they are completely acceptable. The gravel can be saved for future use.

To clean nickels and clad coins, you will need a different solution: 1/2 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of automatic dish water detergent, 1 tablespoon household ammonia, 1/2 cup of pea-size or smaller gravel. Add the coins and tumble for 24 hours. When rinsed in plain water, your nickels and clad coins will be gray in color, but most corrosion will be gone. Your coins will be equal to most in circulation and spend able.

Always arrange clean coins on an old newspaper or cardboard to air dry. To avoid discoloring, wet coins should not overlap each other. Whew! So there you have it. Remember old vintage coins should not be cleaned in this fashion or you greatly risk degrading them substantially and badly, thus making them worthless or less valuable or collectible coins. Leave the cleaning up to the experts when it comes to the more valuable & collectible coins. Good luck & here's to successful tumbling. Barry Wainwright.