Question about finds after cleaning and any tips for using a tumbler.

[Clad grabber]

I am going to finally start to clean up all of the clad I have laying around in my workshop. I went and got a double tumbler. I did have a question in regards to has anyone found anything good (ie silver) after cleaning/tumbling their coins? I try to be very careful when I come in from a hunt to check all my finds. Also any tips from you pro cleaners...lol. I have done some research and sounds fairly straight forward but never hurts to ask. Thanks CG

 

[stetam]

I check my clad thoroughly before it goes in my tumbler so no, never missed a silver. They stick out like a sore thumb anyway. As far as tumbling, use aquarium gravel, cover gravel and clad with water snd a drop of dish soap. I put in a little CLR and it really cleans well. One drum for copper and the rest of the clad in the other.

 

[Clad grabber]

Sounds good - thanks!

I check my clad thoroughly before it goes in my tumbler so no, never missed a silver. They stick out like a sore thumb anyway. As far as tumbling, use aquarium gravel, cover gravel and clad with water snd a drop of dish soap. I put in a little CLR and it really cleans well. One drum for copper and the rest of the clad in the other

 

[hoser]

I check my clad thoroughly before it goes in my tumbler so no, never missed a silver. They stick out like a sore thumb anyway. As far as tumbling, use aquarium gravel, cover gravel and clad with water and a drop of dish soap. I put in a little CLR and it really cleans well. One drum for copper and the rest of the clad in the other.

Steve has nailed it. I'm speaking from experience here, don't tumble pennies with the clad in the same drum. When done, everything looks like a penny.

 

[Iggyks]

An interesting glob turned out to be a silver Washington quarter, you could see a bit of milled edge and a few letters, enough to ID it.

 

[marcomo]

As hoser said, Steve nailed it. Adding CLR works great for tumbling purposes. One thing I would add is make sure you wear appropriate gloves. Even the water exposure by itself is hard on the hands but throw in CLR and it will really tear up your paws.I use throwaway nitrile gloves, they are cheap to buy in quantity at Costco or
Sam's.

Silver is usually east to spot. Over 1100 silver coins later, that first glimpse of silver in the hole (or in the frisbee I use to put dirt in) is still a big dopamine rush for me just like when I first started. But what I have noticed is that while the majority of silver still comes out of the ground pretty and white, I'm seeing a higher percentage. of environmentally damaged silver coins than I used to. Several times I've had to look closely to realize a coin was silver and not clad, the only giveaway being a glimpse on a small part of the coin like around the rim.

 

[Picketwire]

Don't use vinegar or lemon juice mix on zincolns; they will produce enough gas to bulge your container and even cause it to leak.

 

[Clad grabber]

Don't use vinegar or lemon juice mix on zincolns; they will produce enough gas to bulge your container and even cause it to leak.

oh wow, thanks!

 

[Joker23]

I check my clad thoroughly before it goes in my tumbler so no, never missed a silver. They stick out like a sore thumb anyway. As far as tumbling, use aquarium gravel, cover gravel and clad with water snd a drop of dish soap. I put in a little CLR and it really cleans well. One drum for copper and the rest of the clad in the other.

I just bought a tumbler and did my first load of quarters with just water and a spritz of Dawn. The water came out brown, but the quarters are still really dark. I wanted to try a round or two without any tumbling media to see how it would go (don't have any yet). I'm running a second round right now with just the quarters, water, and Dawn again. I wish I had read this first, I would have added a little CLR (which I do have).

I guess I need to pick up some aquarium gravel, too.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Joker23]

Turned out I did not have any CLR, was pretty sure I did. Bought some CLR and aquarium gravel today.

Not happy with the results so far, wondering what I'm doing wrong.

I had already done all of my quarters by themselves twice. Each time, one hour with water and Dawn.

Today I did them a third time with water, Dawn, aquarium gravel, and CLR.

Some are clean, some are not:


Is there a certain type of gravel that is best. I bought what was on clearance:


Thanks!

 

[Iggyks]

Any quarters/dimes/nickels that have spent any time in the soil around here do not regain their shine after tumbling for me. If you can still see some shine when you dig them they may clean up. My brown ones either go into the machine to buy the local newspaper or the coin counter at my bank.

 

[Picketwire]

I've had better luck with gravel from a playground or parking lot than aquarium gravel for getting the brown off. I just run a load in water, vinegar, dawn and gravel, and take out the clean ones and run the brown ones in the next load. Some people use metal media, also called stainless tumbling media for jewelers, to clean up coins. I haven't tried them but I might at some point.

 

[Lt.Dan]

As hoser said, Steve nailed it. Adding CLR works great for tumbling purposes. One thing I would add is make sure you wear appropriate gloves. Even the water exposure by itself is hard on the hands but throw in CLR and it will really tear up your paws.I use throwaway nitrile gloves, they are cheap to buy in quantity at Costco or
Sam's.

Silver is usually east to spot. Over 1100 silver coins later, that first glimpse of silver in the hole (or in the frisbee I use to put dirt in) is still a big dopamine rush for me just like when I first started. But what I have noticed is that while the majority of silver still comes out of the ground pretty and white, I'm seeing a higher percentage. of environmentally damaged silver coins than I used to. Several times I've had to look closely to realize a coin was silver and not clad, the only giveaway being a glimpse on a small part of the coin like around the rim.

Still waiting to see my first silver.

 

[Lt.Dan]

The soil in SE Tennessee is so acidic it takes no time to remove the outer layer and turn everything looking like copper.

 

[Pete e]

I am going to finally start to clean up all of the clad I have laying around in my workshop. I went and got a double tumbler. I did have a question in regards to has anyone found anything good (ie silver) after cleaning/tumbling their coins? I try to be very careful when I come in from a hunt to check all my finds. Also any tips from you pro cleaners...lol. I have done some research and sounds fairly straight forward but never hurts to ask. Thanks CG

Turned out I did not have any CLR, was pretty sure I did. Bought some CLR and aquarium gravel today.

Not happy with the results so far, wondering what I'm doing wrong.

I had already done all of my quarters by themselves twice. Each time, one hour with water and Dawn.

Today I did them a third time with water, Dawn, aquarium gravel, and CLR.

Some are clean, some are not:
View attachment 627205

Is there a certain type of gravel that is best. I bought what was on clearance:
View attachment 627206

Thanks!

Just curious, but why so much effort cleaning clad? Are you looking for key date coins or are you trying to tidy them up to spend?

I dont get a huge amount of clad, but those coins I do get, I give a basic clean and then use them in vending machines ect...if I needed to, I could bag them up and exchange them for clean coins at the bank...

 

[Joker23]

Just curious, but why so much effort cleaning clad? Are you looking for key date coins or are you trying to tidy them up to spend?

I dont get a huge amount of clad, but those coins I do get, I give a basic clean and then use them in vending machines ect...if I needed to, I could bag them up and exchange them for clean coins at the bank...

For me it's more about trying to figure out what works and what doesn't - to understand the issue. It's kind of a challenge. It would be nice to see them restored to original condition. If that's just not going to happen, then I'll just do a basic cleaning going forward and move on.

In the end, I'll probably take all of the 1965 and newer nickels, dimes and quarters and all of the zinc pennies that aren't crumbling to the bank and deposit them. They don't need to be shiny to be deposited. I've already spent more time than they're worth, I currently have about $20 in clad.

 

[Pete e]

For me it's more about trying to figure out what works and what doesn't - to understand the issue. It's kind of a challenge. It would be nice to see them restored to original condition. If that's just not going to happen, then I'll just do a basic cleaning going forward and move on.

In the end, I'll probably take all of the 1965 and newer nickels, dimes and quarters and all of the zinc pennies that aren't crumbling to the bank and deposit them. They don't need to be shiny to be deposited. I've already spent more time than they're worth, I currently have about $20 in clad.

I m in the UK and our current "silver" coins are cupronickel, and once they have been in the ground any length of time, they loose their silver colour and come up brown...At that point, I ve never been able to restore them....

 

[simon l]

For silver,if its a coin what i do is get some foil ( this might sound strange),i spit into the foil then wrap the coin into it .You wait 10 mins or so and you should get a rotten egg smell and it will be warm.Unwrap it and rub it with your fingers,it will become clean with no scratches from any abrasive materials.Its what i do anyway and works for me

 

[BUCKETMOUTH]

Quick question for you experienced tumblers.... I reload ammo for competitive shooting matches and we clean the brass cases that are collected from the ground after a match is over. We use a vibratory "tumbler" but it just vibrates ground corn cob with. few drops of nu finish car polish. Brass comes out clean and shiny after a few hours. Would this work well for non crusty, just stained clad I dig out of the mulch ground cover at tot lots? I could always give it a try but replacing the corn cobe media costs money and I dont want to ruin a batch just giving it whirl.

 

[Pete e]

Quick question for you experienced tumblers.... I reload ammo for competitive shooting matches and we clean the brass cases that are collected from the ground after a match is over. We use a vibratory "tumbler" but it just vibrates ground corn cob with. few drops of nu finish car polish. Brass comes out clean and shiny after a few hours. Would this work well for non crusty, just stained clad I dig out of the mulch ground cover at tot lots? I could always give it a try but replacing the corn cobe media costs money and I dont want to ruin a batch just giving it whirl.

I tried it and the process and media that shined up my brass in just a couple of hours had virtually no meaningful effect on my old coppers, even when run overnight. Whether using stainless steel media would help, I have no idea...