And recognise...KT has NO KEY DATES or RARE coins! Just fed up with not being able to get them to pass back into circulation.
This thread is pic heavy.
All these mems have been first cleaned with running water and gentle rubbing just to get the dirt off enough to see the back to determine that they are mems or newer.
The basic coin may or may not have corrosion and the corrosion may vary from very mild...like a single pinhole, to your totally rotten mem with no edge left on it and up to half eaten up!
Using a teaspoon of salt to a half quart of white vinegar, KT starts the basic cleaning process. This is done in a plastic V8 bottle, after KT finished it off!
First pour in the vinegar, add salt, and add a cup or so of cruddy mems. Place lid on and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. The crack the cap and set aside for 20 minutes, then repeat shaking, and setting....about 3 to 4 times. As cruddy as these coins are you won't see a lot of change in them but you will see the vinegar/salt mixture start to get "dirty". Personally, KT salvages the vinegar/salt mixture and does a second batch before tossing it down the sink and starting over.
Anyway, KT dumps the coins into a colander inside a 5 qt icecream plastic bucket and then rinses the coins under the sink to remove salt/vinegar solution. Then onto an old towel to dry. Separate coins as you spread them. You can immediately pull out all the most rotten ones as that's as far as they need to go...no matter what you do to them, they are shot! Those are the ones KT will plant on the beach at Galveston next month!
Now to the others. When they are thoroughly dry you will see some differences in them. The zincolns will be black or dark brown where the full coppers will be brownish red, due to formation of Cuprite, CuO, on the surface. The zincolns often show smallish pits or round holes, like pinholes dotted around.
Now comes the more tedious part. Once separated from the truly bad ones, KT has a small wire brush in his Royal Dremel MotoTool and He begins to brush each one, first the front and then the reverse. If white metal is seen on the front, then it is too rotten and is tossed into the rotten can. They rapidly clean right up! And are certainly shiny enough to put back into circulation by leaving with your normal change at Wendy's or your fav fast food shop!
Pics show the basic sequence described above. Pic 1 water washed raw mems, Pic 2 vinegar & salt washed, Pic 3 rotten mems removed, Pic 4 wire brushed with Dremel, Pic 5 KT's big surprize!
This thread is pic heavy.
All these mems have been first cleaned with running water and gentle rubbing just to get the dirt off enough to see the back to determine that they are mems or newer.
The basic coin may or may not have corrosion and the corrosion may vary from very mild...like a single pinhole, to your totally rotten mem with no edge left on it and up to half eaten up!
Using a teaspoon of salt to a half quart of white vinegar, KT starts the basic cleaning process. This is done in a plastic V8 bottle, after KT finished it off!
First pour in the vinegar, add salt, and add a cup or so of cruddy mems. Place lid on and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. The crack the cap and set aside for 20 minutes, then repeat shaking, and setting....about 3 to 4 times. As cruddy as these coins are you won't see a lot of change in them but you will see the vinegar/salt mixture start to get "dirty". Personally, KT salvages the vinegar/salt mixture and does a second batch before tossing it down the sink and starting over.
Anyway, KT dumps the coins into a colander inside a 5 qt icecream plastic bucket and then rinses the coins under the sink to remove salt/vinegar solution. Then onto an old towel to dry. Separate coins as you spread them. You can immediately pull out all the most rotten ones as that's as far as they need to go...no matter what you do to them, they are shot! Those are the ones KT will plant on the beach at Galveston next month!
Now to the others. When they are thoroughly dry you will see some differences in them. The zincolns will be black or dark brown where the full coppers will be brownish red, due to formation of Cuprite, CuO, on the surface. The zincolns often show smallish pits or round holes, like pinholes dotted around.
Now comes the more tedious part. Once separated from the truly bad ones, KT has a small wire brush in his Royal Dremel MotoTool and He begins to brush each one, first the front and then the reverse. If white metal is seen on the front, then it is too rotten and is tossed into the rotten can. They rapidly clean right up! And are certainly shiny enough to put back into circulation by leaving with your normal change at Wendy's or your fav fast food shop!
Pics show the basic sequence described above. Pic 1 water washed raw mems, Pic 2 vinegar & salt washed, Pic 3 rotten mems removed, Pic 4 wire brushed with Dremel, Pic 5 KT's big surprize!
