How do you clean a penny?

Answer 1

There is no real way to clean a penny. Believe me i just done this experiment and the myths about vinegar and baking soda and vinegar and salt and ketchup and hot sauce and lemon juice and salt DO NOT WORK. When i done the experiment i left them sitting over night nothing changed. The one thing that cleaned the penny the most was the lemon juice and salt and this is how that experiment goes.

Step #1: Get a cup of lemon juice and add salt.

Step #2: Spin the cup slowly to blend in the salt.

Step #3: Add the penny and for three minutes spin the cup around.

Step #4:Take the penny out and scrub it with a towel then wash it with cool water.

Step #5:Enjoy a clean penny.

Yes BUTTTTT ....NEVER, EVER try to clean RARE coins to make them "look better". Dumping a modern penny in Coke to see what happens is a good chemistry experiment, but don't try it with an Indian penny from your grandfather's coin collection because it'll go from being worth possibly several dollars as a collectible, down to only a cent or two as a damaged coin.

Answer 2

I have handled coins that have been cleaned with several household cleaners as well as chemicals that are sold specifically for cleaning coins and all of them have one thing in common - no matter how "nice" they look when freshly cleaned, in a year or so they will look worse than before the "improvement". If there is any possibility that your coin has any collector value, you should never use any type of chemical, acid, or abrasive cleaner on it. A collector will prefer a naturally aged surface to a chemically altered one. If you must clean a coin, soak it in distilled water and brush away any loosened dirt with an artist's camel hair brush and let it air dry lying on a soft, lint-free cloth.

Answer 3

If you have a modern penny, you can put it in a mild acid like vinegar or Coca-Cola.

BUTTTTT ....NEVER, EVER try to clean valuable coins to make them "look better". Dumping a modern penny in Coke to see what happens is a good chemistry experiment, but don't try it with an Indian penny from your grandfather's coin collection because it'll go from being worth possibly several dollars as a collectible, down to only a cent or two as a damaged coin.

Answer 4

I heard you can clean it with vinegar

MoreBut you should NEVER attempt to clean a collectible coin like a silver dollar or an Indian head penny. Cleaning a coin may make it look "pretty" for a while but it'll damage the surface so that the coin will eventually be worse than before. In fact, cleaning a collectible coin can reduce its value significantly, 80% or more in some cases.

Answer 5

You can use ketchup - the acid will react with the copper oxide.....assuming that's what's making the penny dirty....which is what it usually is. Vinegar should work too, but I've never tried it. Basically any weak acid should work

Apparently Soda works as well, if you leave it for a long time.

Answer 6

All sorts of things can be used to clean pennies, inculding basic household cleaners, salt and vinegar, hot sauce, pencil erasers, and even coke.

Answer 7

put it in the cup and let it sit for 3 minuets

Answer 8

You rub it with vinegar

Answer 9

coke