Hello. I want to share my method of cleaning coins! You will need a small saucepan of 2-3 liters. We put coins in a pan, fill it up to about half with water, put it on the stove, pour about a pack of citric acid into the water, about 5-10 grams there. We wait for the water to boil and turn the heat to moderate so that the water does not boil away! So we boil for about 30 minutes, but you need to look at the coins, periodically pulling them out with tweezers. When the coins are covered with reddish scale, we take them out and wash them. Stage 2: Take an engraving machine, put on a polishing wheel, often use felt, apply a paste to the felt, and make medium turns, otherwise the coin will burn! We begin to apply the paste to the coin with gentle movements. Then we increase the pressure on the coin, and the paste should completely come off the felt. VOILA, THE COIN SHINES LIKE NEW! This method is suitable for preserved coins, but also cleans dead coins. Of course, this method will not restore the metal eaten by rust and oxide! At least it makes walkers, scoops and late Russia clean and attractive! Example of the process in the photo! there are scoops at the bottom, walkers at the top, different ones on the left!

Every numismatist has faced the need to clean coins. Coins may contain not only patina, but also particles of dirt, dust and plaque of any color, which is firmly ingrained into the metal. And since many old coins from the Soviet era were made from a certain metal alloy, collectors will definitely need information about how to clean aluminum bronze coins.

Aluminum bronze coins before and after cleaning

A patina or patina on coins develops over time as metal alloys tend to oxidize. Including aluminum similar property- form a grayish film on the surface of the alloy. But the depth of formation of such a film is small; it can be easily cleaned off at home.

How to clean coins using improvised means?

You can clean aluminum-bronze coins yourself at home. But this method has its drawbacks. First, if you choose to use acids or other strong chemicals, there are risks to your body's health. Since strong acids or alkalis have a corrosive effect on the skin, mucous membranes, and if the vapors are inhaled, they can cause burns.

Secondly, the risk of injury is especially high if you do this for the first time without following safety rules. You need to know exactly the proportions to use the substances and the time for which you should dip the coin into the solution. If you mix up the numbers or carry out the procedure incorrectly, you can end up with a copy damaged by the substance.

The same warning about the integrity of the coin cover also applies to abrasive cleaners. Since the particles of the substance are large and hard, they can easily scratch and thereby reduce the value of the coin. If you don't want to take the risk or your coin is worth more than $100, use professional factory cleaners. The products were developed specifically for contaminated coins, taking into account the alloy from which the coin is made.

Cleaning coins with citric acid

But if you consider this to be an unreasonable expense, or appearance your coin was not seriously damaged, try using the means at hand. Before cleaning, take a coin and dip it in a soap solution, and the consistency of this solution should be close to thick - this will help wash away the stuck surface dirt and wash off the lightest stains. There are no time limits. You may no longer need to use other substances. But if this method doesn’t work, find out what else you can use to clean aluminum bronze:

• Cleaning with citric acid. Every housewife has it in her kitchen. In order to use citric acid To clean coins, it is enough to dilute it in water in a ratio of 1:2. There should be twice as much water. In such a solution, the coin must be constantly turned over, since it can be cleaned down to the metal.
• Some collectors consider Coca-Cola a good solvent, so the coin can be filled with this drink and left in a glass for a week. And after that, the specimen is washed with running water and the dirt disappears.
• If you're not afraid to take risks, try scrubbing the surface of the coins with a suede brush or a regular brush, applying a little crushed baking soda to it. This method is the most traumatic for the coin, since such actions cause the most scratches. And if there are microcracks on the coin, particles of soda will get stuck in them, which will be noticeable under magnification and will be assessed by the collector as a defect. Because of this, the coin will significantly lose value.
• For comprehensive cleaning, you can place a coin in the solution vinegar essence. For a glass of water you need 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Place a coin in the solution for three minutes. Then the coin can be easily wiped with soda - then it will shine unnaturally.
• You can also take a bathroom cleaning solution and dip a coin in it, but for no more than 2 minutes. After the procedure, the coin should be rinsed under running water to remove any remaining dirt.
• It is better not to use acids and alkalis in concentrated form. In addition, they are difficult to find on sale. If the coin is too dirty, take it to a professional. Keeping concentrated substances at home is very dangerous.

There is another method that is suitable for lovers of physics and chemistry. It's called electrolysis. With its help we will clean the coin when we attach it to a negative charge. And connect the positive charge to the steel object.

Coca-Cola is great for cleaning coins

The entire system in this case is in a saline solution. Therefore, when current is passed through the electrodes, a cleaning process will occur. In this method, the main thing is to maintain your own safety.

Actions after cleaning

A shine on coins after cleaning is not a very good sign. Of course, the fact that you cleaned the coin is good, but it remains an antique piece, so it should look the part. Collectors will also not want to purchase an antique coin that is too clean and shiny.

In addition, you need to protect the specimen from external influences. To do this, it is necessary to create a patina artificially. The difference between a coin before cleaning and the final version is that the patina, created quickly and artificially, will be beautiful and uniform. It will only give the appearance of antiquity without spoiling the appearance of the coin. There are two ways to create a weak oxide layer on aluminum:

• Place the coin in the sun so that the sun's rays hit it. This option is longer, but natural.
• Lubricate the specimen with a thin layer of iodine. The procedure is faster than the first method.

Cleaning coins from contamination is not so difficult. The methods are suitable for people with different levels prosperity. To avoid doing this too often, it is enough to monitor the condition of the coins and wipe them periodically.

Cleaning bronze coins of the “early USSR” is not so easy, despite the simplicity of most coins. The aluminum bronze alloy reacts very strongly to any acids, which can cause complete damage to the coin in just a few seconds. The inability to use acids makes it extremely difficult to clean coins from various corrosion and contaminants.

In this article I will show you the easiest and most reliable way to clean inexpensive Soviet coins. This method is not suitable for everyone due to its features.

Please note that it is better not to clean rare coins (worth, for example, more than $100) using this method, since there are different types of contamination and you can choose a more gentle method of cleaning a rare coin.

For example, I took five Soviet nickels with relatively simple pollution. Of course, you can simply wash these coins thoroughly with soap and a brush, but in most cases their surface will have unsightly and discolored stains. To avoid this, you will have to clean the coins.

For cleaning, I made a solution - poured a glass of clean water into a plate and added 2 tablespoons of food grade acetic acid (created a very strong acidic environment, but not acid). I put the coins in there for 3 minutes and took them out. Then, using a small pinch of Pemolux, I began to rub each coin with my fingers, stripping off all the patina. Please note that you need “Pemolux” and not “Baking soda”, since the grains of soda are slightly larger (as one chemist I know said), which can cause mini scratches to the surface of the coin. And with the help of “Pemolux” you, as it were, polish a coin. Repeat the procedure of immersion in the solution 2-3 times, depending on the results.

Take a box with low walls (for example, from candies). Place coins in it and place the box on the sunniest windowsill of your home. Stir and turn over the coins about once a month. In the photo below you can see the difference between freshly cleaned coins and a coin that has received a natural patina in 1 year (it was previously cleaned in exactly the same way).

I use this method of cleaning USSR coins for all bronze coins minted before 1961, even expensive ones. My window sill box can hold 100-200 coins at a time, taking on a sunny natural patina.

Perhaps some numismatists will not like this method of cleaning bronze coins, but I have not yet found an alternative. In addition, if you have a lot of cheap Soviet coins, then it’s hardly worth bothering with diligent cleaning and patination.

Very important! Never try to sell coins just by stripping off the patina. At best, they simply won’t buy them from you. If you only have 2-3 early Soviet coins, then you should not clean them in this way.

I noticed... that if the coin was cleaned with aggressive chemicals - in ammonia vapor with the addition of sulfur... the result may not be predictable. The patina appears in patches, sometimes dark, sometimes light. I tried it without sulfur - it turns out some kind of color... if you look at it casually - with a bluish tint... like an oil slick on water.
I tried to smear Vaseline and in pairs... also who knows what. Such coins patina - more or less... only time probably.
But bad thoughts do not give rest to my hands... today I also played with them....
Here's three...soaked for 2 weeks in a solution of Rochelle salt. The solution removes dirt well... it does not affect the patina on yellow coins, it softens it a little - so that you can then go over it with a brush. But this procedure does not even out the color of the patina, which is patchy on the coin.
In fact..I looked through a microscope at a coin - it was spotted, and almost all of them are spotted - no shit, it’s not a patina of different colors ------ changes are already taking place in the metal - in darker spots the metal is more rusty. The metal was more corroded there.
. Another mocking experiment served as proof of this fact for me... I went over the coin with a steel brush...... spots of metal that had a certain color simply crumbled.
Well...and 3 kopecks.
I soaked it in the solution, then walked over it with a regular sponge, a rough surface.....well, and then steel wool (I don’t remember what section - I remember that glass and paint can be polished) and rubbed the cotton wool on the goy’s paste.
If you simply rub a coin with this paste - on a cloth or a polishing roller - the remaining paste gets clogged into the pores of the coin and it later appears.
Steel wool simply gets an additional polishing property from the paste - but this is from my observations.
When the coin starts to shine, use a brush with soap, don’t put it in various alcohols and acetones... they’ve been kind of bad lately... after degreasing them... you can still see (if the coin dries) some oily stains. That's why soap is also alkali... I think it also copes with degreasing.
Washed...dried...and into a jar with ammonia and sulfur...on a stand...which the shooter on yellow sends as a bonus.
The result is different every time and to be honest, I don’t really like it, sometimes it turns out well... sometimes it’s absolutely terrible... but this is not the way to become the main one. Such coins are only for pioneers to sell.
By the way, I haven’t tried the method with soap yet... the soap foams like when shaving the stigma... applied thickly to the cleaned coin with bubbles... and then the coin is placed in ammonia vapor. I keep forgetting.. to perform this trick: D
Well, three. Sorry for the photo - the camera went with the student to the regional center.

I think that cleaning depends on the rarity of the coin, but initially put it in a solution of laundry soap for 1-3 days, and then choose a method.
Here is an article for various coins that is interesting to read:
Chemical cleaning of coins

1. At the beginning of the journey
Before you begin cleaning coins, you should evaluate the need and possibility of cleaning the selected coin. Correct assessment is half the success, because... if the coin is not cleaned, it will be lost or damaged forever. Before the coin came to you, it could have been in an extremely unfavorable environment for its preservation, and turned into a piece of patina, inside of which there is a thin foil that has nothing to do with the size of the coin or the design minted on it.
Of course, correct assessment comes with experience, but a beginner can use some techniques.
Rule 1.
If a coin costs 5 or 10 rubles, it may be easier to buy another one rather than fiddling with it for an hour or two. All the same, a cleaned coin cannot be compared in quality to a coin that is simply in good condition and does not require cleaning.
Rule 2.
It is necessary to weigh the purpose and the means, or, more simply, the cost of the coin and the cost of cleaning it. Let's say you buy an expensive cleaning product that costs 300 rubles or more, you carefully read its instructions and determine that this is what you need. Make a simple calculation of the cost of cleaning one coin with the product you purchase. Let’s say the product will allow you to clean 10 coins on average, so if the product costs 300 rubles, the cost of cleaning one coin will be 30 rubles. Having determined the cost of cleaning one coin, it’s time to think about what kind of coins you are going to clean with it. By applying a cleaning agent to a coin, the value of the coin for you personally will immediately increase by the calculated 30 rubles, but the value of the coin itself on the market may remain the same. This is where it’s worth returning to rule 1 and figuring out, for example, whether it’s worth cleaning 10 coins worth 100 rubles with a product that costs 300 rubles, or whether it’s better to use it to clean coins worth at least 300 rubles each.
Rule 3.
The coins are in a special collection proof treatment and are never cleaned. Any method of cleaning them will destroy the special treatment and actually render them uncirculated. The only thing you can do with them is wash them with soap, wipe them with a dry cloth and dry them well using an incandescent table lamp.
Rule 4.
If the coin has a uniform, thin layer of patina and the entire minted design is clearly visible on the coin, these coins should not be cleaned, otherwise your collection may begin to look like a collection of shiny circles of modern coinage. The described version of patina only ennobles the coin and protects it from further destruction. It should be remembered that after cleaning the coin will show all the scratches and dents that it received during its life, which were hidden by the patina. On the other hand, you should remember that as soon as you free the coin from the patina, it will begin to form on it again. Also, it should be borne in mind that the presence of patina for many collectors serves as confirmation of the authenticity of a coin, and although patina can be applied artificially, not all patina can be applied artificially.
Rule 5.
If you decide to clean the coin, be sure to correctly identify the metal from which it is made. Definitions such as copper, because red or because this type of coins are called coppers - half way to failure. For example, Tsarist copper is indeed practically pure copper, while at the same time Soviet coinage was first minted from copper, then from a copper-aluminum alloy, and then from a copper-zinc alloy. In all cases, the base metal is copper, but a lot depends on the alloying metal, 5% of unaccounted alloy (from ligare - to bind - an admixture of metals to give the alloy greater hardness or to reduce its cost. The content of the alloy in the alloy is determined by its fineness) can ruin the coin when cleaning , covering it with chips or a matte shade, which then cannot be removed except with an abrasive.
Rule 6.
Once you have determined the material of the coin, determine how to clean it. If you have never cleaned using the chosen method, you should not immediately use it on a collectible coin. The method may have various subtleties of application that you may not be aware of, but even if there are no subtleties, the result of cleaning the coin may not be what you expected. It is best, before cleaning a collectible coin, to find a coin or piece of metal of similar composition and practice on it. Having gained at least minimal experience, you will have less chance of ruining a collector's item.
Rule 7.
When determining the cleaning method, preference should be given to chemical methods over mechanical ones. When using mechanical methods such as a pin, chalk, soda, fine river sand, Goya paste, the coin can receive significant damage in the form of deep scratches or completely destroyed pieces of the minted image. When using mechanical methods, the convex parts of the coin are cleaned the fastest, and then the convex parts of the coin suffer the most. When choosing a chemical cleaning method, you should give preference to less strong reagents, and move on to stronger ones only if the degree of purification is insufficient for a long time. It should be remembered that strong reagents, having dissolved the patina, mostly begin to dissolve the coin itself, so a strong reagent can damage the coin even more than mechanical cleaning methods, and the coin itself will look like a melted piece of metal.

2. Preparing for cleaning
It doesn’t matter what metal the coin is made of, what type of dirt is on it and what method you use to clean it, you need to do everything described here.
First you need to clean the coin from dirt. If you leave the dirt and put the coin in the reagent dirty, then gradually the dirt will soften and fall off on its own, but the surface of the coin covered with dirt will spend less time in the reagent, and the uncontaminated parts will spend more time. As a result, when the patina dissolves on uncontaminated areas, the patina on contaminated areas will only begin to dissolve. At the same time, in the cleaned areas, the reagent will begin to dissolve the coin itself. No less surprises will be thrown at you by dirt when using the mechanical cleaning method. Pieces of dirt may contain quite large and hard particles, for example grains of sand, which will scratch the entire coin, even if you use the finest polishing paste, after adding such grains of sand to the paste, the coin may look like it was sanded, and you will know about it only when you wash off the paste and nothing can be fixed.
Having realized the danger of dirt during the cleaning process, let's move on to removing the dirt itself. Despite the fact that this process seems so trivial, it also needs to be carried out correctly. The coin should be placed in water and kept in it for as long as possible until the dirt gets wet and falls off on its own under the influence of the flow of water. It is worth noting here that not all water is suitable. Tap water may contain chlorine or aggressive calcium and magnesium salts, the sediment of which can be observed on the spirals of electric kettles and boilers. To clean coins, it is better to use distilled water, which can be purchased at your nearest auto store or pharmacy. If you can't find distilled water or it's too expensive for you, you can use plain drinking bottled still water from your nearest grocery store. This precaution is necessary to avoid scratching the coin while removing dirt. As mentioned above, there may be abrasive in the dirt, and if you immediately start rubbing the coin trying to remove the dirt in this way, the coin can be ruined before you even start cleaning it.
After the dirt has been removed and it is clear that there is no abrasive on the coin, you can begin to wash the dirt from the coin. It is best to clean the coin under running warm water using a toothbrush and soap. The toothbrush effectively removes all the dirt from the tight spaces of the coin where it has been packed throughout its life. Many people prefer to clean coins with their hands, but hands will not give the same effect as a toothbrush. You should use the brush gradually moving to greater pressure, washing the soap off the coin and rinsing the brush before increasing the pressure.
Having cleared the coin of dirt, the preparation for cleaning does not end there; the coin must be degreased, this is necessary in order to wash away contaminants that are not soluble in water. Natural contaminants such as tree resin are rare, but clear varnishes and wax are quite common. To protect the coin from patina, many collectors coat it with wax or clear varnish. This storage method has its pros and cons. It should be remembered that organic solvents should be used as solvents, preferably commonly used ones, such as alcohol, gasoline, kerosene, acetone, white spirit, solvents and thinners for varnishes and paints. Under no circumstances should you use modern household solvents and cleaning products for kitchens, baths, etc. In such products, along with the degreaser, there are also a number of aggressive chemicals that will simply dissolve the coin. When choosing a solvent, you should try on a similar metal to see if the solvent will damage the metal from which the coin is made. After degreasing, the coin should be wiped well, because... not all solvents evaporate; for example, after alcohol, water may remain on a coin if the alcohol was of insufficient concentration or the air was too humid.
Now, after complete mechanical cleaning and degreasing, the coin is ready for dry cleaning.
Attention!!!. All of the above does not apply to gold, platinum and paladium coins, as well as coins made from any metal using proof technology.

Stage 3 by type of material.

Cleaning aluminum coins
After some time, aluminum coins become inconspicuous due to the dirty gray film of oxides that forms on their surface. From the point of view of coin safety, this is the best remedy protection of aluminum coins. The peculiarity of aluminum as a chemical element is that it becomes covered with protective films when reacting with most substances. Aluminum salts are insoluble, so they settle on the metal surface, thereby blocking the access of fresh reagent to pure aluminum. On the other hand, such coins look inconspicuous, so the film can be easily removed by wiping the coin with a mixture of 50 grams of borax, 5 grams of ammonia per 1 liter of water. Borax can be purchased at a hardware store, and ammonia can be purchased at the same hardware store or at a pharmacy.
To prevent the film from forming again, do not rinse the coin from the solution, but simply blot it and dry it under an incandescent lamp.

Cleaning Bronze and Brass Coins
Bronze and brass are copper alloys with various alloying additives that increase the strength and wear resistance of the copper alloy coin. Based on the fact that the main part of bronze (from the French bronze, alloys of copper with other metals - tin, aluminum, beryllium, lead, cadmium, chromium. Accordingly, bronze is called tin, aluminum, beryllium, lead, cadmium and chrome) and brass ( from the German Latun - an alloy of copper (base) with zinc (up to 50%). Aluminum, tin, iron, manganese, nickel, silicon, lead are often added - up to 10% in total. Depending on the percentage of copper, the alloys vary in color from copper-red to light yellow), coins made from these alloys are cleaned in the same way as copper coins. Sometimes on coins made of bronze and brass a patina of white, gray and gray appears, which is not typical for copper. yellow flowers. The patina of such colors is formed by alloying additives, which, fortunately for numismatists, have chemical properties similar to copper and are removed in the same ways as copper patina.
Despite the fact that bronze and brass coins are cleaned in the same way as copper coins, there are also some peculiarities that must be taken into account so as not to spoil the coin to a worse condition than it was before you started cleaning it.
Alloying additives have similar Chemical properties with copper, but still they are not it. During the cleaning process of a coin, it may become covered with a patina from the combination of alloying additives with the cleaning reagent. To avoid this problem, the coin must be constantly monitored during the cleaning process, without leaving it unattended. As soon as the coin begins to develop a patina of alloying additives with a cleaning reagent, the coin must be removed and washed in clean water. Any patina that has begun to form can be removed using a polishing paste. If you miss this step, the coin will become covered with a thick layer of new patina, which cannot be removed without damaging the coin. When using any chemicals at a reasonable price, the coin will simply be damaged, so if this happens to you, then you are left with only mechanical cleaning methods using polishing pastes. You won't be able to completely restore the coin, but you can give it a decent appearance.
Missing bronze coin, defaced with cobolt acetates - red in color. From left to right - before cleaning, after removal from the reagent, after treatment with polishing paste
To avoid the problems described above, you should not clean coins covered with dotted patina or those coins on which it is clear that the patina lies unevenly. As a compromise between the desire to clean the coin and not ruin it, you can use a combined cleaning method, first clean chemically, and when a patina begins to form, wash the coin in water and continue cleaning it with polishing paste. This combination will damage the coin less if you immediately start cleaning it using mechanical methods.

Cleaning iron coins
Cleaning iron coins is less difficult than cleaning zinc coins, but is still challenging. Iron does not react as actively with strong acids as zinc does, but otherwise the cleaning methods are the same. Based on this, the main means of cleaning iron coins is to dissolve the patina of iron salts in hydrochloric acid.
Hydrochloric acid must be used very carefully, because... 10% hydrochloric acid will dissolve a 2-3 gram coin in a couple of minutes.



Some authors recommend using a metal or brass brush for cleaning. This may be a good way in some situations, but there are also problems:
1. The brush itself will also dissolve in the acid;
2. Iron without alloying additives is a very soft metal, so, making sure that the brass brush does not scratch any metal at hand (which will definitely be steel), you can ruin the coin with the brush.

Cleaning gold coins
Cleaning gold coins, like cleaning platinum and palladium coins, differs from cleaning other coins. Gold belongs to the group of so-called chemically inert metals. The peculiarity of the metal is that it does not react with other chemical elements and compounds that may occur naturally. For example, gold coins do not become patina in the air, however, despite its inertness, gold is susceptible to corrosion. For example, there are a lot of man-made reagents that dissolve gold. One of these solvents is “Royal Vodka”, a mixture of concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acids. If you have a gold coin, you should not tempt fate by sticking it into various reagents and observing the powerlessness of the reagent in front of gold; in the end, you may come across a reagent that, if it does not dissolve the coin in a few seconds, will significantly damage it.
Many readers may object, excuse me, but there are a lot of gold coins that are covered with a slight patina - a thin film that slightly changes their color and shine. This does happen, but they are not covered with the patina of gold, but with the patina of impurities contained in gold. If there is gold a large number of impurities (very low-grade gold, for example, my father’s gold wedding ring, after lying on a shelf for 15 years, changed color to dark brown, this film is erased as soon as you run your finger a little harder on the ring), then impurities can create a dull appearance of the coin’s surface or change it color. Such patina can be easily removed by mechanical methods, but it is better not to touch it, because it will begin to form again, and at the same time, during cleaning, you will deprive the coin of a certain part of its precious metal, which in itself is worth quite a bit.
Gold coins should not be cleaned with any kind of abrasive and in general they must be cleaned very carefully. Typically, gold coins were made from fairly high-grade gold that did not develop a patina and most gold coins simply needed to be washed carefully with soap and warm water. To do this, it is better to use distilled water. If you cannot find distilled water or it is too expensive for you, you can use plain drinking bottled water without gas. The coin should be placed in soapy water and kept in it until the large dirt on the coin is simply washed away with a stream of water. After making sure that there is no abrasive on the coin, you can wash it more thoroughly. To do this, you need to change the water, which may contain abrasive washed away during the previous operation, and wash the coin in soapy water with your hands. You should not use a toothbrush to wash coins, because... it may be too hard for washing gold; of course, you won’t leave deep scratches with a toothbrush, but this may be enough to damage the polish. In general, it is better to store polished gold coins as is and not try to clean or wash them, because. During the washing process you can damage the polish.
After washing the coin in soapy water, rinse it in clean water and blot it with a rag or toilet paper. Under no circumstances should you rub the coin, i.e. wipe, because under certain pressure, the cloth in relation to the gold can turn into an abrasive and damage the polishing. After the coin is wet and no drops of water are visible, it should be dried under an incandescent lamp to remove any remaining water. visible to the eye. Before drying, the coin must be wet, because... If you start drying the coin right away, this will lead to the formation of streaks on the coin in those places where there were drops of water of any size. These stains may consist of dust that flies in the air and is captured by water droplets, or calcium and magnesium salts if you used tap water. One way or another, the washing process will have to be repeated.
It is especially worth noting that when drying a coin, you should not use heating devices other than an incandescent lamp. When using a heater, electric or gas stove, situations may arise where the coin may melt or melt. The situations are unlikely, but if they happen to you, it will be very offensive to you, first of all.
Once the coin has finally dried, you can send it for storage. When working with clean collection material, do not use your fingers, they may be dirty and the washing process will have to be repeated, and you should also not use tweezers made of any materials. Metal tweezers can scratch a coin, but plastic tweezers can not only scratch you, they can also drop the coin, which is even worse. For these purposes, it is best to buy household gloves made of fabric, which are sold at any construction market and cost, depending on the area, from 5 to 20 rubles per pair, or use special numismatic tweezers made of metal and with rubber-coated jaws.
In conclusion, as always, a couple of practical tips:
1. Don't wash coins in the sink. If your drain is old, then the coin may be lost into the drain and, at a certain water current, will not linger in the sump and go down the drain forever. Even if a coin falls into the siphon sump, the situation is still unpleasant. Use separate containers.
2. Do not shake the coin from the water. You may not be able to hold the coin and it will slip out of your hands. The result can be from a small scratch to a significant bend, it depends on your luck. Use toilet paper or a rag depending on the material of the coin.
P.S. Some authors mention the presence of dark dots on the surface of modern coins. They associate their presence with the use of a low-quality process for making blanks for minting coins. The black dots are actually slag that got into the workpiece during the casting of the metal. Subsequently, during processing of the blank and minting of the coin itself, the slag was squeezed out of the thickness of the coin onto the surface. Such contamination cannot be removed, because... this contamination is actually part of the coin, so when purchasing, you should refuse such an acquisition and look for a cleaner copy.

Cleaning copper-nickel coins
Copper-nickel coins usually do not need cleaning because... Nickel is a fairly inert metal with respect to most naturally occurring reagents. Despite this, coins with a red-brown or green patina are often found. A patina of these colors on copper-nickel coins appears if the coin contains a large amount of copper alloy. The red-brown patina is copper oxide, and the green patina is copper carbonates. This patina is removed from copper-nickel coins in the same way as from copper coins.

Cleaning Tin Coins
Tin, like lead, reacts very well with most reagents, so dry cleaning of tin coins is extremely difficult.
Tin is a very soft metal, so any cleaning with abrasive materials is also out of the question, even when using polishing pastes. When using any abrasive, even the finest, you will damage the protruding parts of the coin’s design before the remaining areas of the coin begin to be cleaned.
To summarize, it is better not to clean tin coins and leave them as is; the most that can be done with them is to wash them with soap, and without using brushes.

Cleaning palladium coins
Cleaning palladium coins, like cleaning gold and platinum coins, differs from cleaning other coins. Palladium belongs to the group of so-called chemically inert metals. The peculiarity of the metal is that it does not react with other chemical elements and compounds that may occur naturally. For example, palladium coins do not become patinated in air, however, despite its inertness, palladium is susceptible to corrosion. For example, there are man-made reagents that dissolve palladium, but the likelihood of them getting into your hands is very low.
To clean palladium coins, simply wash them in soapy water. To begin with, you just need to put the coin in warm soapy water and let the dirt adhering to it soften until it is simply washed off with a stream of water. After changing the soap solution, which might contain abrasive from soaked dirt, you should simply wash the coin with your hands and then rinse it in clean water. It should be remembered that for washing coins it is better to use distilled water or plain drinking bottled water without gas. Tap water may contain chlorine, which can settle on the coin in narrow areas of the design. Chlorine does not react with the coin and does not form a patina, but it will be very difficult to remove. Chlorine deposited on a coin can change the color of the coin and although the coin is clean, it will appear as if it has become covered with a patina.
After rinsing the coin in clean water, you need to blot it with a rag or toilet paper. If the coin is polished, it should never be wiped, because... this operation may damage the polish.

Cleaning Platinum Coins
Cleaning platinum coins, like cleaning gold and palladium coins, differs from cleaning other coins. Platinum belongs to the group of so-called chemically inert metals. The peculiarity of the metal is that it does not react with other chemical elements and compounds that may occur naturally. For example, platinum coins do not become patina in the air, however, despite its inertness, platinum is susceptible to corrosion. For example, there are man-made reagents that dissolve platinum, but the likelihood of them getting into your hands is very low. Platinum is used to make chemical utensils for the most aggressive reagents that dissolve glass, the main material for chemical utensils.
In ancient times, learned alchemists spoke about platinum - not with fire, not with skill, the essence of the statement is that platinum for a long time could not help but melt or dissolve with any reagents. Platinum is refractory, corrosion-resistant and durable. Based on these properties, methods for cleaning it follow.
To clean platinum coins, simply wash them in soapy water. To begin with, you just need to put the coin in warm soapy water and let the dirt adhering to it soften until it is simply washed off with a stream of water. After changing the soap solution, which might contain abrasive from soaked dirt, you should simply wash the coin with your hands and then rinse it in clean water. To wash coins, it is better to use distilled water or use plain drinking bottled water without gas. Tap water may contain chlorine, which can settle on the coin in narrow areas of the design. Chlorine does not react with the coin and does not form a patina, but it will be very difficult to remove. Chlorine deposited on a coin can change the color of the coin and although the coin is clean, it will appear as if it has become covered with a patina.

Cleaning lead coins
Lead reacts very well with most reagents, so dry cleaning of lead coins is extremely difficult. In principle, it is possible to clean lead coins using hydrochloric acid, but great care must be taken, even greater than when cleaning zinc coins, because lead reacts even better.
Lead is a very soft metal, so any cleaning with abrasive materials is also out of the question, even when using polishing pastes. When using any abrasive, even the finest, you will damage the protruding parts of the coin’s design before the remaining areas of the coin begin to be cleaned.
To summarize, it is better not to clean lead coins and leave them as is; the most that can be done with them is to wash them with soap, and without using brushes.

Cleaning zinc coins
Cleaning zinc coins is a very difficult task. This is explained by the fact that zinc reacts well with strong acids and at the same time its salts react weakly with weak acids. Based on this, the main means of cleaning zinc coins is to dissolve the patina of zinc salts in hydrochloric acid.
Hydrochloric acid must be used very carefully, because... 10% hydrochloric acid will dissolve a coin of 2-3 grams per minute.
Dip the coin prepared for cleaning into no more than 1% hydrochloric acid solution. A coin in hydrochloric acid should not be left unattended; it must be pulled out for inspection every 3-5 seconds in order to catch the moment when the acid dissolves the patina and takes on the coin itself.
A more effective method is to use a bowl wide enough to immerse the coin, and holding it in one hand, gently rub it with a toothbrush with the other hand. If you are not prone to dermatitis, then it is better to use this method or use rubber gloves. Hydrochloric acid, unlike sulfuric acid, is not so harmful to hands and does not dissolve rubber.
In any case, you need to have at least half a liter of water on hand to quickly wash off the acid from the coin, and the acid must be washed off under running water, and not just thrown into the coin. clean water(in this case the reaction will continue for some time).

4. At the end of the road
After the coin is cleaned, it must be rinsed well in water to remove any remaining reagents used to clean it. Residues of the reagent may subsequently become centers for the formation of patina, which has no chemical connection with the coin, but is firmly associated with it. This patina will have to be removed, most likely using an abrasive, which may damage the coin.
After washing, blot the coin with a soft cloth or toilet paper. You should not rub the coin, i.e. wipe, because the metal of the coin may turn out to be too soft, and with a certain amount of force the rag will leave barely noticeable grooves, and the polish on polished coins will be damaged.
After the coin is wet, you should then work with it using cotton gloves or tweezers. At first glance, clean hands can leave marks on the coin, which will later become centers for the formation of patina. As gloves, you can use any cotton, household gloves, which are sold on construction markets at a price of 5-20 rubles, depending on the region. You should not buy gloves with rubber pimples; they can stain the coin just like your hands.
As tweezers, you must use special numismatic tweezers made of metal with rubber-coated jaws. Using metal tweezers without rubber jaws can scratch the coin, and using plastic tweezers is even worse, hard plastic can scratch the coin, but using soft plastic tweezers can cause the coin to drop and it can get damaged from scratches to bending. Numismatic tweezers can be made from simple metal tweezers yourself by wrapping its jaws with electrical tape and rubber. It is necessary to find a rubber band, because... Using PVC tape, etc. may damage the coin in the future. Non-rubber bands are subject to gradual decomposition and carbonation, as a result of which substances harmful to the coin are released from the material of the band and can become centers for the formation of patina.
Despite the fact that the coin seems dry, it needs to be dried additionally; for this you should use an ordinary incandescent lamp. An incandescent lamp is best suited for these purposes - a high temperature that allows the water to evaporate, and at the same time a low temperature that will not melt the coin. For complete drying, using a 100-watt lamp requires at least 10 minutes; during the drying process, the coin must be turned over several times.
Before drying, the coin must be blotted; if this is not done, the coin may become covered with streaks and the washing will have to be repeated. Divorces can occur for two reasons:
1. Dust flying in the air is captured by drops of water, after which it will have to be washed off with water if it cannot be wiped off with a light movement of a rag;
2. Calcium and magnesium salts that may be contained in water. They can be observed on the spirals of electric kettles and in other vessels that are used to boil water. Given that the drying temperature can be close to the boiling point of water, these salts can precipitate, which can only be dissolved with the help of acids that dissolve most coin metals, and therefore you will have to use abrasive methods, which can also damage the coin.
The use of other heating devices such as electric heaters, electric or gas stoves may cause the coin to melt or completely melt. In the vast majority of cases, damage to the coin will not occur, but if the listed devices malfunction, this may happen. In addition, the listed devices have too high a heating temperature, at which a patina from oxides of the coin material may begin to form on the coin and cleaning will have to be repeated.
Now that the coin has been cleaned, it can be sent to the collection for storage.