How to clean Silver and Copper Coins
- Very Corroded Australian 1919 Penny – Salt Water Metal Detecting Find
Click to Enlarge
When metal detecting in Rivers, Lakes and the Ocean, I find heaps of coins, and alot of the Coins of Australia I find are Pre-Decimal Australian Coins (Pre 1966 before the Australian Dollar and Cent was introduced and Pounds, Penny, Half Penny, Pence, Shilling, Six Pence and Three pence were removed) These Coins are either Silver such as the Florin, Six Pence and the Three Pence or are Copper, such as the Penny and Half Penny. Silver coins left in Salty or Fresh water for long periods of time do not corrode, but depending on the water movement, whether strong, or calm, these silver coins can still be damaged, such as being washed over the sand and shell grit over and over for many years, this will damage the coin, such as scratching it, wearing the face away, and putting little dings in the coin.
No different really than find a stone in the water which has been worn smooth over thousands of years of rolling in the water, once probably jaggard, now nice and round. Copper Coins left in Salty or Fresh water will definitely corrode, even if left in the water for very short periods of time, corrosion will start almost straight away. With the silver coins I find in the water, most of the time, they are tarnished black, this is a normal process of what happens to silver when left in a moist environment for long periods of time. Coins which have been left in the water for many years can become a home to microscopic crustaceans, shell grit and sand. Below is a photo of a coin which is encrusted with sand and shell grit.
The 1953 Australian Florin Covered in Sand and Shell Grit
Click to Enlarge
To clean the silver coins I find, I usually use three or four steps as follows:
Impatient Coin Cleaning Method
- Soak in hot soapy water for around 24hours
- Start the Electrolysis Coin Cleaning Method / clean with water and use thumb and finger to gently clean coin under running water
- Soak in Ammonia for 24 hours
- clean with silver cleaner and soft cloth
Note: (DO NOT CLEAN COPPER COINS USING THE ABOVE ELECTROLYSIS METHOD YOU WILL DAMAGE THE COIN, USE THE BELOW COIN CLEANING METHOD)
Patient Cleaning Method
Clean Silver or Copper Coins in Olive Oil or Distilled Water
Worn and Damaged 1953 Australian Florin - Swan River Metal Detecting Find - Cleaned using Electrolysis and Amonia Soaking
Click to Enlarge
The above Silver Florin was found by myself metal detecting on the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.
Metal Detecting the Dog Beach
Dog ID Tags and Australian Decimal Coins
A few days ago I wrote a post on Metal Detecting the Swan River in Perth – Western Australia and found some great metal detecting finds.
Well a few days ago I was back in Perth for the night and decided to head back to the same location, but this time around 5oo metres from the last spot, a place where people exercise their dogs on the sandy river bank.
And guess what I found? Yep your right, heaps of lost dog id tags, plus around $10 in loose clad (coins)
When out metal detecting, on a river which is used by fisherman, expect that you will find pleny of old fishing sinkers, and I do find hundreds, and they are a right pain in the ass! But I keep them… might come in handy one day when I need to make myself a new boat anchor, I have many kilograms of lead I have found!
Here some of the sinkers I found on the same day
Heaps of Fishing Sinkers
Recent Silver Coins Found with Metal Detector
1958 Silver Australian Six Pence
A few days ago I went coin shooting around an old town hall, and managed to find only a couple of coins, the area I searched had recently been graded so I was expecting to find a few more, but only managed two coins.
Here are some photos of the coins after I cleaned them up.
The 1956 Shilling is quite rare, according to BlueSheet.com.au worth $200 plus apparently.
1956 Australian Silver Shilling
1956 Australian Shilling
Sorrento Beach Metal Detecting Finds
Sorrento Beach Metal Detecting Finds
I was in Perth the other day and decided to hit the beach for a few hours of metal detecting. The night before a big storm front came through so I knew I would have a good chance of finding some jewellery and coins.
I decided to go to Sorrento Beach, because I had been there before doing a search for a guys lost wedding ring, but unfortunately could not find it, so I go back to the beach, hoping I still may find it by some miraculous chance.
Anyhow, I found plenty of coins and a few pieces of jewellery including a small silver toe ring.
Small Silver Toe Ring - Sorrento Beach Find
Attention Australian Bottle Hunters and Coin Shooters!
If you are an avid Australian Bottle Hunter and Coin Shooter like I am, I would like to recommend a couple of great websites that may be of use to you as they are for me.
Bottle Guide Australia
This is a brilliant website for collectors and searchers of Old Bottles, there is nothing better than coming home from a Bottle Hunt and then to bring your old bottles inside, put them on the floor next to your computer and then to do some research on the bottles you have found.
You do a keyword search of the bottle you have found e.g. “Fremantle” and Bottle Guide will present you with a list of all bottles which have Fremantle stamped on them, then you can browse through the photos of bottles listed and find the bottle you have found on the day, if it is on their database, the database will give you information on how much the bottle is worth, the rarity of the bottle, past auction results and prices paid for that bottle. And so much more.
See attached image for an example.
Bottle Information Page on BottleGuide.com.au
BottleGuide.com.au is not free though to search for bottle prices and bottles on their database, it costs $33 AUD for a one year membership, but it is well worth paying that outlay, you can pay via paypal, cheque, credit card or postal order.
I like to also use bottle guide when looking at bottles for sale on Ebay, you can get some great bargains from sellers or are unaware of the bottles value that they are selling.
They currently have over 10,000 bottles on their database.
So if you love bottle hunting, make sure you join bottle guide!
BlueSheet.com.au
The same goes with what I said about Bottle Hunting, I also love coming home with the old coins I have found to see if they have some value to them. So once I sort them, then I go to BlueSheet.com.au and browse through that dates I have found.
This site is great also, before I found BlueSheet.com.au I used to go to a couple of websites which did show current valuations, but their information was out of date, and BlueSheet.com.au coin values are always up to date and accurate.
Highly recommended for coin collectors, coin hunters, or people with a big jar of old Australian Coins laying under their bed!
BlueSheet.com.au cost me $26.95 AUD for a 12 Month Subscription, but they have many more membership options.
BlueSheet.com.au Half-Penny Prices
BlueSheet.com.au specialises in the following Australian Coin Valuations
EARLY AUSTRALIAN COINAGE
NEW SOUTH WALES (1813)
HOLEY DOLLAR (1813)
DUMP (1813)
AUSTRALIAN GOLDADELAIDE ASSAY OFFICE (1852)
ONE POUND (1852)
FIVE POUND (1852)
HALF SOVEREIGN (1853 – 1920)
SYDNEY MINT (1853 – 1869)
YOUNG HEAD (1871 – 1887)
JUBILEE HEAD (1887 – 1893)
OLD HEAD (1893 – 1901)
EDWARD VII (1902 – 1910)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1920)FULL SOVEREIGN (1853 – 1931)
SYDNEY MINT (1853 – 1870)
YOUNG HEAD (1871 – 1887)
JUBILEE HEAD (1887 – 1893)
OLD HEAD (1893 – 1901)
EDWARD VII (1902 – 1910)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1931)TWO POUNDS (1887 – 1902)
JUBILEE HEAD (1887)
EDWARD VII (1902)FIVE POUNDS (1887 – 1902)
JUBILEE HEAD (1887)
EDWARD VII (1902)
AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH COINAGE
HALF PENNY (1911 – 1964)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1936)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1952)
ELIZABETH II (1953 – 1964)
PENNY (1911 – 1964)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1936)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1952)
ELIZABETH II (1953 – 1964)THREEPENCE (1910 – 1964)
EDWARD VII (1910)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1936)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1952)
ELIZABETH II (1953 – 1964)
SIXPENCE (1910 – 1963)
EDWARD VII (1910)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1936)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1952)
ELIZABETH II (1953 – 1963)
SHILLING (1910 – 1963)
EDWARD VII (1910)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1936)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1952)
ELIZABETH II (1953 – 1963)
PATTERN (1927)FLORIN (1910 – 1963)
EDWARD VII (1910)
GEORGE V (1911 – 1936)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1952)
ELIZABETH II (1953 – 1963)COMMEMORATIVES (1927 – 1954)
CROWN (1937 – 1938)
GEORGE VI (1937 – 1938)
KOOKABURRA PATTERNS (1919 – 1921)
HALF PENNY (1920 – 1921)
PENNY (1919 – 1921)
No Bull! I found a Bull!
Metal Detecting Find - Old Lead Cow or Bull - Made by Timpo Toys England
Another beautiful day here today, but I forced myself to do some household chores today, washing clothes, watering plants, gardening, and preparing a wooden Jarrah Walkway I am building in my garden this weekend … can’t wait!
After I did all my jobs around the house today, I thought stuff it! I might as well go and do some more metal detecting, seeing as though I had been every day for the last 3 weeks, I might as well do it one more time… and then I am having a break for a few days.
I rang up a local farmer today to see if I could go and do some metal detecting around one of my favourite old abanoned houses in the district, and his wife answered and she said no problems, so I was pretty happy about that.
Old Brick House
The old brick house above is 300 metres from the house I went detecting at today, owned by the same family.
I only had around an hour to detect before the sun went down, so off I went.
My Favourite House in Dumbleyung - Nippering Hill
It overlooks Lake Dumbleyung
As usual … alot of these old house I go to have corrogated sheets of roofing tin laying around the house, due to being blown off the roof by strong wind and storms, and I find this really frustrating, because alot of it is buried, and you have to be careful moving the tin, due to the risk of being bitten by a deadly snake, which may be hiding or living under the tin, and obviously besides being bitten, you are disturbing it’s home, or another animals home, and that’s not the best thing to do.
In an hour of detecting I only found a couple of things worth keeping… enjoy the pics!
I found a 1943 Three Pence and another find to add to my favourites, a kids toy, an old lead Cow or Bull – Made by Timpo Toys England
1943 Australian Three Pence
Metal Detecting Find - Old Lead Cow or Bull - Made by Timpo Toys England
Cleaning Coins – My Olive Oil versus Distilled Water Experiment
Cleaning Coins using Olive Oil and Distilled Water
I have previously tried other methods, such as electrolysis and also coin tumbling in which I found that electrolysis works well only on silver coins and coin tumbling should only be done by experts, and I learnt that I am definitely not an expert.
