Cleaning Copper Pennies

Cleaning copper pennies is easy to do if you know the right way to go about it. There are two different things you want to clean off your pennies: copper oxide, the grayish or greenish film also known as tarnish, or regular old dust, dirt and debris. Before you begin cleaning your pennies in any way whatsoever, note that doing so can diminish their collector’s value in the future. If you’re not too worried about that and just want pretty shiny, coins, go ahead and proceed.

Pennies can get dusty in the coin jar.

For the purpose of this article, copper pennies refers to any penny made in the United States. However, in truth, American pennies have not been entirely made of copper since 1981. In 1982 the official mints phased over to a penny that is zinc with a 0.8% copper coating on the outside, since the cost of pure copper became prohibitively high. That means 1982 pennies can go either way.

This method will get mud, dust, salt and other common substances off of your pennies in no time:

1. Gather the following materials: two cereal bowls, a gallon of boiling water, a gallon of lukewarm distilled water, a paper towel or dish towel, a bottle of hand dish soap and a metal mixing spoon.
2. Fill the cereal bowl with the boiling water, being careful to avoid burning your hands.
3. Pour in a teaspoon of the dish soap and stir it into the water with the spoon.
4. Drop your pennies into the water and leave them to soak for five to ten minutes. If you have a large number of coins, only soak about ten at a time.
5. Pull the pennies out of the water using the spoon so you don’t burn yourself. Rub them gently with your fingers to dislodge any stubborn debris. (Never try to pick out the dirt with your nails, as you could scratch the coin.)
6. Rinse the pennies with distilled water so they don’t get hard water spots. Pour the water into a bowl and dip them for about five seconds each.
7. Set the pennies on the towel to air dry.

If you have any stubborn pennies that don’t want to come clean, repeat the procedure using rubbing alcohol instead of the boiling water.

This method of cleaning copper pennies is a lot more fun than just using soap and water. Some kids even use it for their school science fairs. Here is what to do:

1. Grab a cereal bowl, a box of salt and a bottle of white vinegar.
2. Pour two cups of vinegar into the bowl and add a teaspoon of salt.
3. Stir the mixture with the spoon until the salt is dissolved.
4. Drop the pennies in the bowl and let them set for about seven minutes.
5. Rinse them with distilled water, as described above.
6. Set them out to air dry.

There are also other solutions that will clean pennies. The key is that they contain acid that will dissolve the copper oxide, which formed when the copper reacted with the oxygen in the air. Some of these are lemon juice, ketchup, hot sauce and pickle juice. However, vinegar and salt remains the go-to solution, so you may want to just stick with that one unless you’re dying to get rid of that old bottle of Tabasco.

This solution will work better on pure copper pennies. In fact, zinc ones could get damaged if left in longer than ten minutes. You may find it fun to check the dates on your pennies and then compare the results depending on their makeup.

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